The Mega-Brands That Built America

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.

The Mega-Brands That Built America Season 1 release dates →

1. E4

   4. Dirty Work

   Finale 3 years ago

   In the 1800s, when Americans barely bathed and deadly diseases were commonplace, James Gamble and Harley Procter invent a new soap that revolutionizes America and opens up a market to entrepreneurs. This includes King Gillette and Jacob Schick whose bitter rivalry will birth the billion-dollar shaving industry as we know it, and changing Americans daily lives forever.

2. E3

   3. A Whole New Ballgame

   3 years ago

   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.

3. E2

   2. The World Delivered

   3 years ago

   A century ago, shipping packages was slow and shipping overnight was impossible, until two Seattle brothers risk everything to reinvent shipping packages for all; a tenacious Yale graduate creates a world-famous express delivery service.

4. E1

   1. Battle of the Superstores

   3 years ago

   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.

The Mega-Brands That Built America Season 2 release dates →

1. E8

   8. Sneaker Head-to-Head

   Finale 2 years ago

   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.

2. E7

   7. Rentals to Riches

   2 years ago

   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.

3. E6

   6. Clash of the Computer Titans

   2 years ago

   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.

4. E5

   5. Music on the Move

   2 years ago

   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.

5. E4

   4. Suite Dreams: Birth of the Modern Hotel

   2 years ago

   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.

6. E3

   3. Easy Money

   2 years ago

   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.

7. E2

   2. Internet Killed the Video Store

   2 years ago

   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.

8. E1

   1. End of the Landlines

   2 years ago

   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.

The Mega-Brands That Built America Season 3 release dates →

1. E10

   10. Reinventing the Wheel

   1 year ago

   Harvey Firestone races to innovation against a crosstown rival as they both bet big on bringing car tires to the nation.

2. E9

   9. Wipe Out the Competition

   1 year ago

   Before toilet paper, Americans used just about anything–until the Scott brothers turn a mistake into an opportunity and invent the toilet paper roll, giving birth to a new billion-dollar industry.

3. E8

   8. Pants on Fire

   1 year ago

   Levi Strauss partners with a tailor who makes a groundbreaking discovery during the Gold Rush—sparking a blue jean boom and a fierce rivalry between two iconic companies that spans generations and builds a billion-dollar industry.

4. E7

   7. Fight for the Fast Lane

   1 year ago

   American cars get a makeover when an engineer creates the first sports car.

5. E6

   6. Photo Bombs

   1 year ago

   An underdog breaks the mold by creating instant photography, revolutionizing how we take photos. And it kicks off a war of innovation between two iconic companies battling to be the number one camera brand in the country.

6. E5

   5. Rise of the Office Machines

   1 year ago

   To simplify tedious office tasks in the mid-20th century, one unknown company introduces the world's first photocopier and becomes a household name.

7. E4

   4. Hardware Warfare

   1 year ago

   Family-owned hardware stores become behemoth brands who battle it out taking big risks, ushering in new innovations, and betting it all in a race to become the number one hardware store chain in America.

8. E3

   3. Rise of the Internet Empires

   1 year ago

   An ambitious upstart leaves Wall Street to start an internet store that becomes a global empire, while a young computer programmer revolutionizes the way we buy and sell online--creating rival multibillion-dollar brands that become household names.

9. E2

   2. The Retail Reckoning

   1 year ago

   Three American retail icons are born within months of each other in 1962, sparking a rivalry for the ages.

10. E1

    1. The World in Your Palm

    1 year ago

    The biggest names in computers go head-to-head in a race to create the first portable computers; through failures, alliances and the return of an American icon, they'll usher in their first ever handheld device.

The Mega-Brands That Built America Season 4 release dates →

1. S4 E6

   E6

   6. Rise of the Personal Computer

   2 months ago

   A pair of garage tinkerers, a copier company's secret lab, and a college-dropout programmer spark a decades-long battle for the future of computing - shrinking the computer from a room-sized machine to the device billions carry every day.

2. S4 E5

   E5

   5. The Underwear Boom

   2 months ago

   P.H. Hanes sparks a revolution in American underwear, but rivals answer with breakthrough designs, bold branding, and a wartime windfall—transforming an unmentionable necessity into a $100 billion global industry.

3. E4

   4. Racing to the Top

   2 months ago

   A down-on-his-luck mechanic transforms outlaw moonshine racing into a major American spectator sport, overcoming rivals, setbacks, and financial crises to build a billion-dollar sports empire.

4. E3

   3. Ideas That Stick

   2 months ago

   A husband's homemade bandage, a college dropout's breakthrough adhesive, and a factory worker's wartime fix transform simple strips of tape into indispensable American icons - creating a $90 billion industry, one sticky invention at a time.

5. E2

   2. The Game Makers

   3 months ago

   A showman named Mark Goodson and a former nightclub singer named Merv Griffin wage a three-decades battle to reinvent the television game show, creating franchises with spinning wheels, buzzers, and catchphrases that become ingrained in American culture as billion-dollar global brands.

6. E1

   1. Road Warriors

   3 months ago

   During WWII, a struggling automaker and Detroit's industry titan race to build a revolutionary all-purpose military vehicle, then spend decades battling to reinvent their wartime creation into America's most popular type of car: the SUV.