Court TV is about to get a trial run on a relaunch of the network that had millions of Americans glued to their TVs as they followed the trails of OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony.
Originally launched in 1991, the Katz Networks, a division of E.W. Scripps, said Monday Court TV is coming back.
“One of the most iconic brands in television history relaunches Court TV – a new network devoted to live, gavel-to-gavel coverage, in-depth legal reporting and expert analysis of the nation’s most important and compelling trials,” Katz Networks said in a press release.
O.J. Simpson shows the jury a new pair of Aris extra-large gloves, similar to the gloves found at the Bundy and Rockingham crime scene 21 June 1995, during his double murder trial in Los Angeles,CA. Deputy Sheriff Roland Jex(L) and Prosecutor Christopher Darden (R) look on.
The new Court TV will launch in May 2019 and run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The new network will be devoted to around-the-clock coverage and analysis of the nation’s top trials. And with footage of more than 1,000 trials, many high-profile like the Menendez brothers and the Jodi Arias case, Court TV is expected to revisit past trials and feature original programming and specials.
The reboot will bring back familiar faces including original Court TV anchor Vinnie Politan.
The Emmy Award-winning legal journalist and attorney and former prosecutor will serve as the network’s lead anchor. Politan’s is the well-known face of the original Court TV.
Casey Anthony smiles as she returns to the defense table after being acquitted of murder charges at the Orange County Courthouse on July 5, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. Casey Anthony had been accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008 and was found not guilty of manslaughter in the first degree.
Court Tv was owned by Turner Broadcasting. Katz has acquired the network’s intellectual property, including the trademark, website and complete, original 100,000-hour Court TV library from Turner.
This 1992 file photo shows double murder defendants Erik (R) and Lyle Menendez (L) during a court appearance in Los Angeles, Ca. The Menendez brothers have been found guilty of first degree murder 20 March in their second trial for the killing of their parents.
Kata says the new Court TV will reach more than 50 percent of U.S. television households at launch, with concurrent cable carriage of 25 percent of U.S. cable homes.
A number of journalists got their start on Court TV including Terry Moran now the chief foreign correspondent for ABC, Moran cut his TV journalism teeth at Court TV covering the Menendez brothers and the Simpson trials among myriad others from 1991 until 1997.
There is little doubt that the success of streaming and podcast true crime documentaries like Making a Murderer, The Staircase, and Serial as well as the award-winning cable to streaming The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story inspired this re-boot.
“Court TV was a top-20 cable network and at the height of its popularity when the network was taken off the air in 2008,” Jonathan Katz, president and CEO of Katz Networks said. “Today, while consumer interest in the real-life drama of true-crime programming is at an all-time high, there is no dedicated daily court coverage on television. We expect the new Court TV to fill that void on cable, satellite, over-the-air and over-the-top.”