truTV

"Court TV" redirects here. This article is about the American channel formerly with that name. For the Canadian channel formerly called Court TV, see Investigation Discovery (Canada).

truTV
Launched	July 1, 1991 (as Court TV) January 1, 2008 (as TruTV)
Owned by	Turner Broadcasting System (a Time Warner Company)
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Slogan	Not Reality. Actuality.
Country	United States
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Formerly called	Court TV (July 1, 1991–December 31, 2007)
Website	http://www.trutv.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV (U.S.)	Channel 246 Channel 1246 (VOD)
Dish Network	Channel 204 (SD/HD) Channel 9430 (HD)
DirecTV (Latin America)	Channel 220
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check local listings for channels

truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner.^[1] The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008. Its programming has traditionally been live homicide trial coverage and other criminal justice programming; however, the network has branched out into more "caught on video" reality programs, or as truTV calls it, "actuality" television.

History

As Court TV

truTV was formed in 1991 as Court TV. It began as a joint venture owned by Liberty Media (50%); Time Warner (25%); and General Electric, through NBC (now NBC Universal) (25%). It was led by law writer Steven Brill. The network originally featured continuous live trial coverage, with analysis by anchors. The network came into its own during the Menendez brothers first trial and later the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Brill left the network in 1997. In 1998, NBC sold its share of the network to Time Warner. That same year, it began running several original and acquired programs in prime time, such as Homicide: Life on the Street and Forensic Files.

In 2004, recognizing the growth of its primetime programming, Court TV split itself into two divisions. Daytime trial coverage was branded as Court TV News, and primetime and weekend programming was branded as Court TV: Seriously Entertaining.

Time Warner bought full control of Court TV in 2006 and began running it as part of Turner Broadcasting.^[2] The buyout of Court TV marks Time Warner's first instance of buying a TV network—rather than selling one—since the acquisition of TBS Networks in 1996.

Transition to truTV

As part of the rebranding, daytime trial coverage, which previously aired from 9:00AM ET to 5:00PM ET, was cut back to 9:00AM ET to 3:00PM ET and branded as "In Session." From 3:00PM ET to 5:30AM ET on weekdays and throughout the weekend, it runs original investigation-based programming and several new reality shows not related to law enforcement.

truTV HD

truTV HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of truTV, which is available from Dish Network along with cable television providers such as AT&T U-verse, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Cable, Cablevision, Verizon FiOS and RCN. In March 2011, the channel saw a surge of carriage deals for its HD feed, due to its coverage of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, its first ever live sports programming. ^[3] DirecTV, however, most known for its extensive sports content, only added a temporary part-time HD feed of the channel for coverage of the tournament, with the full-time 24 hour version reportedly coming in late 2011.^[4]

Programming

In Session

In Session logo

In Session (the successor to Court TV News) provides live coverage of trials, legal news, and details of highly publicized crimes during their news programming hours from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. every weekday (except during national holidays). Their coverage takes viewers into the courtrooms and shares analysis from anchors and guests to help viewers understand legal proceedings.

In Session also runs a blog, Sidebar, where the In Session team posts updated legal news and analysis.

In Session moved to a new studio in Atlanta at the CNN Center on November 16, 2009. It will be part of, and produced by, truTV's sister network, HLN.

Anchors, correspondents and contributors

Christi Paul Vinnie Politan Beth Karas Ryan Smith Mike Brooks Jack Ford Fred Graham

Eddie Hayes Rikki Klieman Ron Kuby Star Jones Adaora Udoji Cheryl Arutt

Former on-air staff

Dan Abrams Ashleigh Banfield Lisa Bloom Catherine Crier Jack Ford Nancy Grace

Savannah Guthrie Gregg Jarrett Terry Moran Kimberly Guilfoyle Cynthia McFadden Mark Ebner

Reality/true crime shows

• All Worked Up
• Bait Car
• Bear Swamp Recovery
• Big Brian The Fortune Seller
• Black Gold
• Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura
• Cops (syndicated)
• Disorder in the Court
• Forensic Files
• Full Throttle Saloon
• Hardcore Pawn
• Hot Pursuit
• Inside American Jail
• It Only Hurts When I Laugh!
• Las Vegas Jailhouse
• Lizard Lick Towing
• Ma's Roadhouse
• Most Daring
• Most Shocking
• Ocean Force
• Operation Repo
• Over the Limit
• Party Heat
• Police POV
• Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel
• Southern Fried Stings
• South Beach Tow
• Speeders
• Storage Hunters
• Top 20 Most Shocking
• truTV Presents: World's Dumbest
• The Principal's Office
• World's Wildest Police Videos (syndicated)

Competition

• Killer Karaoke (to air in early 2012)
• Wipeout (syndicated)

Sports coverage

On February 8, 2010 truTV premiered NFL Full Contact a show that gave a behind the scenes look at the television production for major football events such as the Super Bowl, NFL draft and Pro Bowl and season opener. The show was not renewed for a second season.

On March 15, 2011 and March 16, 2011 truTV entered the live sports avenue by showcasing the inaugural First Four round of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The agreement is part of the new contract between Turner Sports and CBS Sports resulting in shared coverage of the NCAA Tournament through 2024. truTV featured games up until the Elite 8 round. In addition to games, truTV had the studio show Inside March Madness after every day of action.

truTV's college basketball coverage was not limited to the NCAA Tournament. On April 1, 2011 the network aired the Reese's All-Star Game, featuring top players from schools across the country.

truTV currently has a show from NFL Films in development tentatively titled Semi-Pro that will focus on a group of semi-professional football players.

In 2011, truTV tried to secure the rights for National Hockey League coverage, but lost to NBC and Versus.

Websites

In addition to truTV.com, the network also operates The Smoking Gun, a website that focuses on legal items often pertaining to famous people, such as mug shots and other public documents.^[5] It also owns the website Crime Library, which provides detailed information about infamous crimes and how they were solved ^[6] They as well host two blogs including Dumb as a Blog, a blog dedicated to "dumb" human misfortune ^[7] and Chuck Shepherd's: News of the Weird.^[8] Online coverage of current trials (including In Session) is now hosted at sister website CNN.com's "Crime" section. truTV also maintains truTV video, a streaming video player, where users can watch "footage of car chases, dumb criminals, gun fights, drunk drivers, drug busts, naughty girls, police, things that blow up, taser attacks, naked thieves and more!"

Radio

On February 3, 2003, Court TV Plus debuted on Sirius Satellite Radio, featuring audio from Court TV programs. Originally on Channel 134, it was moved in September 2005 and aired on Channel 110 until the channel ceased operations on January 1, 2008.

International

Canada

Main article: Investigation Discovery (Canada)

Court TV Canada, a Canadian version of the channel under its previous format, owned by CHUM Limited (and later acquired by CTVglobemedia), launched on September 7, 2001. Unlike its U.S. counterpart, it did not rebrand under the truTV name and continued to operate as Court TV until August 30, 2010, when it relaunched as a Canadian version of Investigation Discovery.

The U.S. version of CourtTV had earlier been approved by the CRTC as an eligible foreign signal in 1997,^[9] and indeed had been carried by several Canadian service providers prior to the launch of the domestic service. However, Court TV/truTV was never withdrawn as an eligible foreign signal,^[10] meaning that, particularly with the end of the licensing agreement with CTV, there are few hurdles preventing truTV from re-emerging at some future point on Canadian service providers.

Latin America

Main article: truTV (Latin America)

The channel was launched on April 1, 2009 in Latin America replacing Retro, also owned by Turner Broadcasting System. The announcement was made on March 25, 2009 by Turner Broadcasting System Latin America.^[11] The channel has the same programming, idents and bumpers from the U.S. version.

Asia

Main article: truTV (Asia)

The channel was launched on April 1, 2010 in Singapore on StarHub TV channel 446 owned by Turner Broadcasting System. The channel has the same programming, idents and bumpers from the U.S. version.

Ratings

See:^[12]

Notes

1. ^ Turner Newsroom
2. ^ Time Warner buys remaining part of Court TV, USA Today, May 15, 2006
3. ^ TruTV Nets HD Channel Launches Multichannel News March 15, 2011
4. ^ DirecTV Launching truTV HD In Time For Start Of NCAA Tournament Sports Business Journal March 10, 2011
5. ^ The Smoking Gun.com
6. ^ truTV.com Crime Library
7. ^ truTV.com Dumb as a Blog
8. ^ truTV.com Chuck Shepherd's: News of the Weird
9. ^ Public Notice CRTC 1997-96: Revised Lists of Eligible Satellite Services, July 22, 1997. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
10. ^ CRTC revised lists of eligible satellite services, June 1, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
11. ^ Turner Broadcasting System Latin America, Inc.lanza un nuevo canal: truTV
12. ^ TRUTV SCORES NETWORK RECORDS IN DELIVERY OF KEY DEMOS DURING FIRST YEAR OF NEW BRANDING The Futon Critic 12.10.08

External links

• Official website
• CNN.com crime coverage (includes In Session)
• Sidebar, In Session's blog
• "Gavel to Gavel (to Gavel to Gavel) Coverage," by Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times, July 8, 2007
• "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura: truTV's Alienation & Sedition Act" by Alan Kurtz (Blogcritics)