Plot Synopsis

THE MEGA-BRANDS THAT BUILT AMERICA, the latest installment of the THAT BUILT franchise, is a one-hour documentary series that delves into the surprising origin stories behind some of the world's biggest brands and highlights the trailblazing founders whose brilliance, tenacity, and fearlessness cemented cutting-edge products in the hearts and minds of consumers. The series takes on the greatest leaders in American consumer history from the top-name brands in retail, sports, healthcare, electronics, and more. It explores industry-leading innovators including Sam Walton, Sol Price, A.G. Spalding, Harley Procter, James Gamble, Jacob Schick, and King C. Gillette. These pioneers invented, built, expanded, and led successful businesses in markets they helped create while being pitted against their biggest rivals. Weaving together expert interviews, archival footage, and original recreations, the series recounts the groundbreaking innovations that revolutionized the most colossal and profitable consumer empires and their profound influence on our nation.

The series opener, "Battle of the Superstores," begins with the astounding $30 trillion-a-year industry dominated by two retail masterminds. Sol Price, a former attorney, forever transforms the retail landscape with FedMart, the first-ever for-profit discount retail store exclusively catering to federal employees. Price introduces the superstore concept by adding a gas station, pharmacy, and food to reshape the consumer shopping experience. Then, Sam Walton goes from a small business owner to one of the top businessmen of the 20th century. Walton builds the world's largest retail empire and puts himself into direct rivalry with Price. What happens next is a race to innovate the market, as friends become foes and rivals join forces, in a battle to revolutionize American shopping and be the last empire standing.

Additional episodes include:

"The World Delivered" (Sunday, July 30, 2023): 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.

"A Whole New Ballgame" (Sunday, August 6, 2023): 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

"Dirty Work" (Sunday, August 13, 2023): 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.
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The sophomore season of THE MEGA-BRANDS THAT BUILT AMERICA debuted on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT on History Channel, with Peyton Manning joining as Executive Producer for the new season. Weaving together archival footage, original recreations, and expert interviews from Bill Rancic, Adam Richman, Yohuru Williams, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and others, each hour-long episode recounts the triumphs, failures, rivalries, and groundbreaking innovations of the colossal brands that revolutionized America. Season 2 begins with the introduction of the first handheld portable telephone and the fierce battle that ensues among several international telecommunications companies to produce the most popular cell phone. Episodes include:

"End of the Landlines" (Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 9pm): 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.

"Internet Killed the Video Store" (Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 9pm): 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.

"Easy Money" (Sunday, May 12, 2024 at 9pm): In the middle of the 20th century, a small piece of plastic revolutionizes the world of commerce as Diners' Club, Bank of America, and American Express race to change how people pay for everything kicking off the $6 trillion dollar a year credit card industry.

"Suite Dreams: Birth of the Modern Hotel" (Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 9pm): Two visionaries breathe new life into the hotel industry in America and the world, by setting the modern standard for hospitality. Despite setbacks, economic downturns, and international conflict, these rivals will stop at nothing to be number one.

"Music on the Move" (Sunday, June 2, 2024 at 9pm): In the 1950s, rival electronics companies aim to make music portable for the first time ever. What follows is a decades-long rivalry that prompts the creation of iconic products like the Pocket Radio, Cassette Tape, Walkman and the CD, alongside the rise of two of the biggest companies in the world.

"Clash of the Computer Titans" (Sunday, June 9, 2024 at 9pm): A game designer named Steve Jobs starts a personal computer company in his parents' garage on his way to bringing computers mainstream. But when he commissions the help of a software design company run by Bill Gates, it's the beginning of one of the biggest rivalries in the history of American industry.

"Rentals to Riches" (Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 9pm): A down-on-his-luck car salesman has the visionary idea to start the first rental car company in America, and when he joins forces with cab company owner John Hertz, they spread their revolutionary business across the country. But when WWII veteran Warren Avis starts his own rental car company, fierce competition between the two gives rise to a new industry with a $100 billion annual market.

"Sneaker Head-to-Head" (Sunday, June 30, 2024 at 9pm): Two sneaker companies become industry titans through a decades long battle for global dominance, as they unleash iconic footwear that will bring sneakers mainstream and make them part of the fabric of American culture.