American digital multicast television network
Television channel
True Crime Network
(formerly
Justice Network
) is an American
digital multicast television network
that is operated by True Crime Network, LLC, a
limited liability company
, which is owned by
Tegna Inc.
The network specializes in
true crime
,
investigation
and
forensic science
documentary
programming aimed at adults ? with a skew toward women ? between the ages of 25 and 54.
The network, which broadcasts in
480i
standard definition
, is available in several large and mid-sized
markets
via digital subchannel affiliations with
broadcast
television stations
, along with carriage of True Crime Network-affiliated subchannels on
cable television
providers in most of its market coverage via existing carriage agreements for local broadcast stations.
On July 13, 2020, it was announced that Justice Network would relaunch as True Crime Network on July 27.
[5]
History
[
edit
]
The concept for the network was developed in 2013, when network founder Lonnie Cooper (a former executive at
Bounce TV
and
chief executive officer
of sports marketing firm CSE) had approached Steve Schiffman (who formerly served as president of
National Geographic Channel
) on a proposal for a new digital multicast network. Schiffman consulted with John Ford, former president of Discovery Channel and co-founder of Investigation Discovery, and they suggested to Cooper that the network should focus on crime- and investigation-related programming, an idea they suggested based on the popularity of the genre and the success of
Investigation Discovery
.
[4]
Incidentally by that year, about half of the 50 highest-rated television programs as ranked by
Nielsen
were crime-related series.
[1]
The formation of Justice Network was announced on November 10, 2014, with the
Gannett Company
's
television station group
tapped as its charter affiliates,
[3]
which then reached one third of the population.
[6]
Besides featuring justice-oriented programming intended to entertain audiences, the network was also intent on taking an active role in combating crime by working with various law enforcement agencies to disseminate information about missing children and about fugitives accused of various felonies. Cooper assembled several top media executives to head the network at its launch with Schiffman as
chief executive officer
, Barry Wallach (former president of
NBCUniversal Television Distribution
) as head of distribution and John Ford (former president of
Discovery Channel
) as head of programming.
[2]
The network launched at 6:00 p.m.
Eastern Time
on January 20, 2015.
[7]
[8]
On March 6, 2016, the network premiered its own original programs co-produced with TwoFour Productions and Zodiak Productions.
[9]
In November 2017, Justice Network and the Justice Network, LLC parent entity were placed into a new corporate parent, Cooper Media, which was also founded to serve as the owner of its documentary- and history-themed sister network
Quest
(which launched on several Tegna-owned or -operated stations in January 2018).
[10]
In May 2019, it was announced that Tegna would acquire Cooper Media, thus becoming the parent company of Justice Network and Quest.
[11]
On July 13, 2020, it was announced by parent company Tegna that Justice Network would rebrand on July 27 as True Crime Network, capitalizing on the growing popularity of the true crime genre on television. The company will also release a free over-the-top streaming service of the same name that will feature programming live and on-demand.
[12]
[5]
Programming
[
edit
]
A limited number of stations carry traditional
local newscasts
or
breaking news
coverage on their True Crime subchannel, pre-empting the network's programming. This includes
Milwaukee
's
WISN-TV
and
KOAT-TV
in
Albuquerque
(both owned by
Hearst Television
, which both air a weeknight 9 p.m. newscast (both stations are in the
Central
and
Mountain
time zones, respectively), as WISN-TV has no other compatible subchannels or news share agreements, and KOAT's second subchannel carries the Spanish language network
Estrella TV
.
Crime and investigation programming
[
edit
]
True Crime Network relies on crime and justice-related programming sourced from various production companies. As Justice Network, it aired a selection of programs previously broadcast on
Court TV
/
TruTV
until 2019, when Court TV was relaunched by the
E. W. Scripps Company
.
[1]
[9]
[13]
Justice Network's
syndication
agreement with
Turner Entertainment
was announced with the network on November 10, 2014. The network's decision to focus on crime-focused programming is based on various factors in addition to viewer interest in the genre, as it is intended to help tie into its public service mission, and because the genre is of relatively low cost to acquire and produce compared to other fact-based genres.
[4]
[13]
No originally produced programming appeared on Justice Network at its launch, although plans were put forth to start developing original content within the network's first year.
[4]
Indeed, Justice Network would develop two original series that were co-produced by the network ?
Killing Spree
(produced in conjunction with TwoFour Productions) and
Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer
(produced with Zodiak Productions) ? that premiered on March 6, 2016.
[9]
Public service
[
edit
]
In addition, the network airs 90 seconds of
public service announcements
per hour within its commercial breaks, which are produced through partnerships with
Crime Stoppers USA
, the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
and a number of
law enforcement
agencies. As of 28 August 2017
[update]
, this public service component, known as BeSAFE, has resulted in the capture of 101 fugitives and finding of 103 missing children.
[14]
These PSAs consist of four different 30-second segments:
- "BeSAFE: Most Wanted"
? a segment featuring a specific profile of a wanted fugitive accused of a violent or non-violent
felony
;
- "BeSAFE: Missing Children"
? a report on a missing child (featuring information on when they were last seen before they were
abducted
or
ran away
and the child's statistics);
- "BeSAFE: Safety Tips"
? a segment providing safety tips informing the public on how to prevent themselves from becoming victims of a crime or abduction.
[2]
The PSAs are mainly tailored to the specific region of the local True Crime Network affiliate, with additional information on the fugitives and missing children profiled available on the network's website.
[8]
John Walsh, founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, serves as the network's on-air spokesperson and announcer of the PSA interstitials.
[7]
John's son, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children child advocate
Callahan Walsh
, appears in the network's NCMEC safety and missing child profile PSAs, while Sgt. Ralph Woolfolk of the
Atlanta Police Department
(who, in his prior career as a child actor, was known for his role as Derek "Dee Dee" Parker in the 1990s
Nickelodeon
sitcom
My Brother and Me
) appears in the network's "BeSAFE" PSA interstitials.
[13]
Affiliates
[
edit
]
As of August 8, 2016
[update]
, True Crime Network has current or pending affiliation agreements with television stations in 65 media markets (including 24 of the top 30), covering 57% of all households of at least one television set in the United States. The network is selective in the stations with which it affiliates, preferring those that maintain a local news department and community initiatives.
[15]
When its launch was announced, the network reached a charter affiliation agreement with the
Gannett Company
's broadcasting unit (now split into a separate company named
Tegna
as of June 29, 2015), which initially debuted the network on 22 of its television stations.
As a result of
Live Well Network
's initial plans to cease operations around the time of Justice Network's launch (later choosing to end national distribution of the former, and relegate it exclusively to
ABC
owned-and-operated stations
owned by
ABC Owned Television Stations
in April 2015), some former LWN outlets owned by Gannett chose to become Justice Network affiliates at its launch.
[16]
By August 2016, Justice Network had reached affiliation agreements with various other station groups including
Hearst Television
,
Tribune Broadcasting
,
Media General
,
Gray Television
and
Univision Communications
, which increased the network's national reach to encompass 57% of all U.S. television households.
[15]
In September 2017, Univision began carrying the network on eleven additional
Univision
and
UniMas
owned-and-operated stations, expanding Justice Network's reach to 73% of the U.S.
[17]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
de Moraes, Lisa (November 10, 2014).
"Justice Network Launches In January With Focus On True Crime"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Penske Media Corporation
. Retrieved
January 27,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Wallach, Other TV Vets Launching Diginet"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. November 10, 2014. Archived from
the original
on 2015-10-03
. Retrieved
April 14,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Littleton, Cynthia (November 12, 2014).
"TV Biz Vets Team to Launch Digital Justice Network with Gannett"
.
Variety
.
Penske Media Corporation
. Retrieved
January 27,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Ritchie, Kevin (January 20, 2015).
"Schiffman, Ford outline vision for Justice"
.
RealScreen
. Brunico Communications
. Retrieved
April 14,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Barnes, Jess (2020-07-13).
"Justice Network will Relaunch as True Crime Network This Month"
.
Cord Cutters News
. Retrieved
2020-07-14
.
- ^
Lafayette, Jon (November 10, 2014).
"Network Aims To Capture Viewers And Bring Bad Guys to Justice"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
.
NewBay Media
. Retrieved
January 27,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Downey, Kevin (January 20, 2015).
"Justice Network Debuts With John Walsh"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. Archived from
the original
on 2015-10-03
. Retrieved
January 27,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
McKay, Hollie (November 12, 2014).
"Justice Network: New channel hopes to make the country a safer place"
.
Fox News
(Fox 411)
.
Fox Interactive Media
. Retrieved
January 27,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Buckman, Adam (February 19, 2016).
"Justice Network To Debut 2 Original Series"
.
TVNewsCheck
. Retrieved
March 3,
2017
.
- ^
Miller, Mark K. (November 7, 2017).
"Tegna, Cooper Media to Launch Quest Diginet"
.
TVNewsCheck.com
. Retrieved
November 9,
2017
.
- ^
Hayes, Dade (May 6, 2019).
"Tegna Acquires Multicast Networks Quest And Justice Network In $91M Deal"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
July 6,
2020
.
- ^
"TEGNA's Justice Network to Relaunch as True Crime Network, Creating the First 24/7 True Crime Broadcast Network"
.
Business Wire
. 2020-07-13
. Retrieved
2020-07-14
.
- ^
a
b
c
Harry A., Jessell (July 19, 2017).
"Bringing Justice To The Entire Country"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. Archived from
the original
on 2020-10-27
. Retrieved
January 10,
2018
.
- ^
Miller, Mark K. (August 28, 2017).
"Justice Network Reaches Big Milestones"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. Archived from
the original
on 2020-09-27
. Retrieved
November 7,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Buckman, Adam (August 8, 2016).
"Justice Network Grows To 57% Coverage"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. Archived from
the original
on 2018-10-22
. Retrieved
March 3,
2017
.
- ^
Lafayette, Jon (January 18, 2015).
"Exclusive: Comedy Multicast Net Launching on ABC, Scripps"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. NewBay Media
. Retrieved
January 28,
2015
.
- ^
Miller, Mark K. (September 6, 2017).
"Univision Adds Justice Network In 11 Markets"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. Archived from
the original
on 2020-09-27
. Retrieved
November 7,
2017
.
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[
edit
]
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