American digital multicast TV network
Television channel
Ion Mystery
(formerly
Escape
and
Court TV Mystery
, stylized as
ESCAPE
and
MYSTERY
; formerly branded on-air as
Mystery
) is an American
free-to-air
television network
owned by the
Scripps Networks
subsidiary of the
E. W. Scripps Company
. It focuses primarily on mystery,
true crime
, and police/legal procedural programs.
[3]
It is available in several
media markets
via the
digital subchannels
of
terrestrial
television stations
and on the
digital
tiers of select
cable
providers through a local affiliate of the network.
History
[
edit
]
Katz Broadcasting
announced the formation of Escape and sister network
Grit
on April 3, 2014, with a formal launch scheduled for that summer. When the network was first announced, Katz Broadcasting entered into an affiliation agreement with
Univision Communications
, which planned to launch Grit in 22 markets served by a station owned by the group or operated through
local marketing agreements
with
Entravision Communications
? giving Grit affiliates in 17 of the 20 largest U.S. television markets (including markets such as
New York City
,
Los Angeles
,
Chicago
, and
Dallas
-
Fort Worth
). The network immediately sought carriage on the digital subchannels of television stations owned by other broadcasting companies.
[4]
On August 11, 2014, Katz announced that the two networks would launch simultaneously on August 18. Escape launched at 12:00 p.m.
Eastern Time
on that date,
[5]
with the 1981 film
Body Heat
as the network's inaugural broadcast.
[6]
On August 1, 2017, in an expansion of the company's existing interest, the
E. W. Scripps Company
announced it would purchase a 95% majority stake in Katz Broadcasting's assets (Escape, Grit, and
Laff
as well as the managerial rights for
Bounce TV
parent Bounce Media, LLC) for $292 million. Although Scripps assumed ownership of the group upon the purchase's completion on October 2, Katz will remain headquartered in
Marietta, Georgia
as an autonomous division of its new corporate parent.
[1]
[7]
On September 30, 2019, Escape was rebranded as
Court TV Mystery
, serving as an extension to the
Court TV
brand.
[8]
Following Scripps' acquisition of
Ion Media
in 2021, many of its digital subchannels, including Court TV and Court TV Mystery, were moved over to
Ion
-owned affiliates and on Scripps stations, were separated from stations also carrying Court TV, causing viewer confusion regarding the channel positions and carriage status of the two networks.
[9]
The network was subsequently rebranded to Ion Mystery on February 24, 2022, with the "Ion" brand now more established regarding
procedural dramas
in general, including Ion Mystery's overall programming, whereas Court TV is more associated with its news division.
[10]
Programming on Ion Mystery
[
edit
]
Current programming
[
edit
]
Former programming
[
edit
]
Programming
[
edit
]
Ion Mystery mainly features a mix of procedural
crime dramas
and mystery series, as well as off-network reality-based crime re-enactment series and some films.
Originally, the network had a specific focus on true crime programming directed explicitly towards women. Katz Broadcasting president and CEO Jonathan Katz based the demographic-targeted concept of the Escape and male-targeting
Grit
on
Bounce TV
, a network Katz co-founded with
Martin Luther King III
and
Andrew Young
in 2011 that is targeted at Black audiences; Katz stated Escape and Grit would be "the...first-ever (adult) male-centric and female-centric broadcast networks," featuring different programming from other classic television multicast networks that Katz claimed were "generic brands with generic names, created by studios to serve the studios" (referring to
NBCUniversal
's
Cozi TV
and
Sony
's
getTV
, and indirectly to
Weigel Broadcasting
's
MeTV
, which was independently created but licenses programming from several studios).
[3]
Movies
[
edit
]
Ion Mystery carries a broad roster of crime drama and mystery film releases from the 1980s to the 2000s (including theatrical
feature films
,
made-for-TV movies
, and documentaries) on Saturdays and Sundays. The network's movie lineup relies primarily on an extensive library of titles through multi-year program licensing agreements with several major
film studios
, including
Reel One Entertainment
, Multicom Entertainment Group,
Sonar Entertainment
,
Warner Bros. Pictures
(distributed through
Warner Bros. Television Distribution
),
[11]
Universal Pictures
(through
NBCUniversal Television Distribution
),
[12]
Paramount Pictures
(through
Trifecta Entertainment & Media
),
[13]
and
Sony Pictures Entertainment
(through
Sony Pictures Television
).
[14]
Television series
[
edit
]
The majority of Ion Mystery's schedule consists of off-network reality-based crime re-enactment series. Shortly before the network's launch, on August 1, 2014, the network acquired the
syndication
rights to three true crime series ?
Forensic Files
,
Snapped
, and the
Dennis Farina
run of
Unsolved Mysteries
? through respective deals with Trifecta Entertainment & Media, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, and Cosgrove/Meurer Productions for its initial schedule.
[15]
[16]
In May 2016, the network acquired the syndication rights to
American Greed
and
Corrupt Crimes
, under agreements with NBCUniversal Television Distribution and
Bellum Entertainment
. In conjunction, Katz announced the network's entry into original programming by entering into a production agreement with Bellum to develop five true crime shows for first-run broadcast on the network; these programs included
Lady Killers
(about women killing someone close to them),
Murderous Affairs
(centering on "lethal love affairs"),
It Takes a Killer
(which profiles infamous murders),
Deep Undercover
(a series hosted by
Joe Pistone
, that profiles real-life undercover missions), and
They Kill for It
(which deals with passion-motivated and fully planned killings).
[17]
Among the five announced shows, however, only
Deep Undercover
actually aired, due to various issues which did not involve Escape or Katz, but Bellum unable to produce the shows as talent was unpaid for previous Bellum productions, and their refusal to continue working with any further Bellum-involved productions; that company went bankrupt, then out of business, in 2019.
On December 6, 2017, Katz signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to acquire the syndication rights to
Cold Case
. The 2003?10
CBS
crime drama ? the first scripted program acquisition for Escape ? joined the network on
January 1
, 2018 with a twelve-episode marathon, before being added to its regular schedule the following night (January 2).
[18]
[19]
[20]
Several other series, including
John Doe
,
Killer Instinct
, and the original
Law & Order
have since been picked up by the network, along with the Canadian series
DaVinci's Inquest
, a mainstay of syndication since the mid-2000s.
Affiliates
[
edit
]
As of January 1, 2018
[update]
, Ion Mystery has current or pending affiliation agreements with 165 television stations in 65 media markets (including 24 of the top 30), covering 86% of all households in the United States (or 268,780,687 Americans with at least one television set).
[21]
Originally, Katz sold Escape and sister network Grit to prospective affiliate stations under an advertising split structure; by October 2015, the company had shifted to having affiliates pay carriage fees to provide Escape and Grit programming, in exchange for a share of the network's ad inventory; the company also initially utilized
direct response advertising
as a metric for viewership for Escape.
[22]
In September 2015, Katz enrolled Escape and sister network Grit to begin having their viewership measured under the
Nielsen
national ratings
, in addition to switching to the
Nielsen rating C-3
ratings metric for advertising.
[22]
[23]
When the network was first announced, Katz Broadcasting entered into an affiliation agreement with Univision Communications, which planned to launch Escape in 22 markets served by a station owned by the group or operated through
local marketing agreements
with
Entravision Communications
? giving Escape affiliates in 17 of the 20 largest U.S. television markets (including markets such as
New York City
,
Los Angeles
,
Chicago
, and
Dallas
-
Fort Worth
). The network immediately sought carriage on the digital subchannels of television stations owned by other broadcasting companies;
[4]
on June 17, 2014, Katz signed group deals to carry Escape on stations owned and/or operated by
Raycom Media
in six markets.
[24]
On July 17, 2014, Katz announced affiliation deals with the
Cox Media Group
to carry Escape on
WAXN-TV
in
Charlotte, North Carolina
and
KMYT-TV
in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
. It also reached a deal with PMCM TV, LLC to carry Escape and Grit on
KJWP
in the
Philadelphia
market, and with
Citadel Communications
to carry the network on its stations in
Providence
(
WLNE-TV
) and
Lincoln
(
KLKN
). Katz also expanded its affiliation agreement with Univision Communications to add Univision-owned stations in
Washington, D.C.
,
San Francisco
, and
Phoenix
to the group's originally announced Escape charter affiliates.
[25]
[26]
At the network's introduction in August 2014, Escape had affiliation agreements with television stations in 33
media markets
(including stations in 23 of the 50 largest
Nielsen
markets), with an approximate estimated reach of 50% of all television-equipped households in the United States.
On May 18, 2015, the
E. W. Scripps Company
signed a multi-year agreement with Katz Broadcasting to expand distribution of Escape and sister networks Grit and Laff, which extended Escape's availability to 70 million homes (covering 60% of the U.S.), adding the network to Scripps-owned stations in markets such as
Detroit
(
WMYD
);
Indianapolis
(
WRTV
);
Kansas City
(
KMCI-TV
),
Cincinnati
(
WCPO-TV
), and
Milwaukee
(
WTMJ-TV
).
[27]
On November 16, 2015, Katz announced new affiliation deals with
Media General
and
Tribune Media
adding the network to eight more markets, including
Seattle
(
KCPQ
),
Grand Rapids
(
WXSP-CD
),
Albuquerque
(
KASY-TV
),
St. Louis
(
KTVI
), and
New Orleans
(
WGNO
).
[28]
Additional agreements were reached on June 15, 2016, that brought Escape to stations owned and/or operated by
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
(as well as subsidiaries
Mission Broadcasting
and White Knight Broadcasting) and for
Cordillera Communications
's
KVOA
/
Tucson
.
[29]
By January 2017, Escape had affiliates covering over 76% of all U.S. households with at least one television set.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Diana Marszalek (August 1, 2017).
"E.W. Scripps Buys Katz Networks in $302M Deal"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. NewBay Media
. Retrieved
February 24,
2022
.
- ^
"Cox, Naar named Grit, Escape Programmers"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. July 22, 2014
. Retrieved
August 11,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Elizabeth Guider (June 18, 2014).
"Classic TV Diginets Make The Old New Again"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Jon Lafayette (April 3, 2014).
"Exclusive: Bounce TV Exec Plans Two New Channels"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
.
NewBay Media
. Retrieved
February 24,
2022
.
- ^
"New Grit and Escape Networks Set For August 18 Launch"
.
Deadline Hollywood
.
Penske Media Corporation
. August 11, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
"Grit, Escape Diginets To Launch Aug. 18"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. August 11, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
Mark K. Miller (October 2, 2017).
"E.W. Scripps Closes $302M Katz Purchase"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media
. Retrieved
November 7,
2017
.
- ^
Lafayette, Jon (September 18, 2019).
"Katz Rebranding Escape Net as Court TV Mystery"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. Retrieved
September 19,
2019
.
- ^
Balderston, Michael (January 14, 2021).
"Scripps Moving Multicast Networks onto Ion TV Stations"
.
Tvtech
.
Archived
from the original on January 14, 2021
. Retrieved
July 22,
2021
.
- ^
Lafayette, Jon (February 24, 2022).
"Scripps' Court TV Mystery Rebranded as Ion Mystery"
.
NextTV
. Retrieved
February 24,
2022
.
- ^
Kevin Downey (June 10, 2014).
"Grit, Escape Diginets In Warner Bros. Deal"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
"Grit & Escape Add 157 NBCU Movies To Library"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. June 24, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
"Paramount Movies Added to Escape, Grit Networks"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. NewBay Media. July 22, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
"Grit, Escape Add Sony Pictures Films"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. September 3, 2014.
- ^
"Escape Acquires Rights to More Than 500 Episodes of Three Popular True Crime Television Series"
.
The Futon Critic
. August 1, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
"Escape Adds Three True Crime Series"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. August 1, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
Erik Pedersen (May 11, 2016).
"Katz's Escape Branches Into Original Programming With Five True-Crime Series"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Penske Business Media
. Retrieved
March 2,
2017
.
- ^
Jon Lafayette (December 6, 2017).
"Escape Adds Drama Series 'Without A Trace' To Lineup"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. NewBay Media
. Retrieved
January 29,
2018
.
- ^
"Without a Trace to Debut on Escape Jan. 1, 2018 With 12-Hour New Year's Day Marathon"
.
Escape
. Katz Broadcasting. December 6, 2017
. Retrieved
January 29,
2018
.
- ^
Mark K. Miller (December 6, 2017).
"Escape Expands to Scripted Dramas With 'Trace'
"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media
. Retrieved
January 29,
2018
.
- ^
"Stations for Network ? Escape"
.
RabbitEars
. Retrieved
January 29,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Harry A. Jessell (October 13, 2015).
"OTA The Bedrock of Katz's Growing Diginets"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media
. Retrieved
October 15,
2015
.
- ^
Jon Lafayette (September 15, 2015).
"Diginets Grit and Escape Sign Up for National Ratings"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. NewBay Media
. Retrieved
October 30,
2015
.
- ^
"Raycom To Carry New Escape, Grit Diginets"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. June 17, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
"Escape, Grit Diginets Expand Market Reach"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. July 17, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
Amanda Kondolojy (July 17, 2014).
"Cox, Univision & Others to Launch New Networks Escape and Grit in Major Markets"
.
TV by the Numbers
.
Tribune Media
. Archived from
the original
on August 12, 2014
. Retrieved
August 12,
2014
.
- ^
Kevin Downey (May 18, 2015).
"Scripps In Multi-Net Deal For Katz Diginets"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media.
- ^
"Katz Broadcasting Announces Major Distribution Agreements With Media General and Tribune Media"
.
Katz Broadcasting
. November 16, 2015 – via
PRNewswire
.
- ^
Adam Buckman (June 15, 2016).
"Katz, Bounce Boost Diginet Distribution"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media.
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[
edit
]
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