The Mega-Brands That Built America
TV Show · Documentary · History

The innovations, failures and incredible achievements of some of the most successful businesses in history, from megastores like Costco and Walmart to shipping giants like FedEx and UPS, that forever changed the way Americans live.

2023 · 1h 0m

Season 1

  • EPISODE 1
    Battle of the Superstores
    Founding fathers of the biggest retail stores in the world battle to be the first to innovate, build, and revolutionize the industry. And one of the top businessmen of the 20th century, Sam Walton, will construct the world's largest retail empire.
    40m
  • EPISODE 2
    The World Delivered
    100 years ago, shipping packages was slow, and shipping overnight was impossible, until two Seattle brothers risk everything to reinvent shipping packages for all. And a tenacious Yale graduate creates a world-famous express delivery service that transforms shipping into the essential global industry we rely on today.
    42m
  • EPISODE 3
    A Whole New Ballgame
    The evolution of America's most beloved sports of Baseball, Basketball and Football are made possible by the innovations of sporting goods pioneers named Spalding, Wilson, and the Rawlings brothers.
    40m
  • EPISODE 4
    Dirty Work
    In the late 1800s Americans rarely bathed, lived in filthy conditions and deadly diseases were commonplace. But James Gamble and Harley Procter invent a revolutionary new soap that revolutionizes America and opens up a market to entrepreneurs including King Gillette and Jacob Schick whose bitter rivalry will birth the shaving industry as we know it, spawning a new billion-dollar industry and changing Americans daily lives forever.
    42m
  • EPISODE 1
    End of the Landlines
    When Motorola introduces the first handheld portable telephone to the world, the futuristic technology sets off a fierce battle among international telecommunications companies to produce the most popular cell phone. The competition for the next great mobile device produces innovations such as flip phones, ringtones, and text messaging. But when a little-known tech upstart from Canada decides to combine the features of a computer with a cell phone to make a smartphone called the Blackberry, the way we use phones will never be the same again.
    40m
  • EPISODE 2
    Internet Killed the Video Store
    A database software engineer is inspired to create a bigger, unprecedented family friendly video-store, Blockbuster. But, as the dot com boom explodes an opening appears for two software executives in California to redefine the industry and take on the media giant with their online subscription service, Netflix.
    40m

Related

Cast & Crew

  • K‌W
    Kim Woodard
    Producer
  • G‌H
    Greg Henry
    Producer
  • I‌H
    Isaac Holub
    Producer
  • G‌K
    George Kralovansky
    Producer
  • S‌O
    Shari Ortner
    Producer
  • B‌B
    Brian Burstein
    Producer
  • H‌C
    Harry Courniotes
    Producer
  • J‌P
    Jim Pasquarella
    Producer
  • B‌C
    Brandy Crawford-Uriu
    Producer

About

The Mega-Brands That Built America

Documentary

The innovations, failures and incredible achievements of some of the most successful businesses in history, from megastores like Costco and Walmart to shipping giants like FedEx and UPS, that forever changed the way Americans live.

Information

Studio
HISTORY
Released
2023
Rated
TV-PG
Region of Origin
United States
© 2023 A+E Networks. All Rights Reserved.

Languages

Original Audio
English
Audio

English (United States) (AAC)

Subtitles

English (United States) (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • 대한민국
  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Armenia
  • Österreich
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (English)
  • Malta
  • Moldova, Republic Of
  • Nederland
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal (Português)
  • Россия
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • España
  • Sverige
  • Schweiz
  • Türkiye (English)
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina (Español)
  • Bahamas
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bolivia (Español)
  • Brasil
  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile (Español)
  • Colombia (Español)
  • Costa Rica (Español)
  • Dominica
  • República Dominicana
  • Ecuador (Español)
  • El Salvador (Español)
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala (Español)
  • Honduras (Español)
  • México
  • Nicaragua (Español)
  • Panamá
  • Paraguay (Español)
  • Perú
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Venezuela (Español)

The United States and Canada

  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • United States
  • Estados Unidos (Español México)