Tegna Inc.
Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into tw ...
investigation
Investigation or Investigations may refer to:
Law enforcement
* Investigation, the work of a detective
* Investigation, the work of a private investigator
* Criminal investigation, the study of facts, used to identify, locate and prove the guilt ...
and
forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
documentary programming aimed at adults – with a skew toward females – between the ages of 25 and 54.
The network, which broadcasts in
480i
480i is the video mode used for standard-definition digital television in the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Laos, Western Sahara, and most of the Americas (with the exception of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The ''480 ...
markets
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
via digital subchannel affiliations with
broadcast
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
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.
History
The concept for the network was developed in 2013, when network founder Lonnie Cooper (a former executive at
Bounce TV
Bounce TV is an American digital multicast television network owned by Katz Broadcasting, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans", the channel fe ...
and chief executive officer of sports marketing firm CSE) had approached Steve Schiffman (who formerly served as president of
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
) 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. Incidentally by that year, about half of the 50 highest-rated television programs as ranked by Nielsen were crime-related series.
The formation of Justice Network was announced on November 10, 2014, with the
Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.television station group tapped as its charter affiliates, which then reached one third of the population. 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
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
) as head of programming.
The network launched at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 20, 2015. On March 6, 2016, the network premiered its own original programs co-produced with TwoFour Productions and Zodiak Productions.
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
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
(which launched on several Tegna-owned or -operated stations in January 2018). In May 2019, it was announced that Tegna would acquire Cooper Media, thus becoming the parent company of Justice Network and Quest.
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.
Programming
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
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
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
True Crime Network relies on an extensive library of crime and justice-related programming owned by the Turner Broadcasting System (
Court TV
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
and TruTV), including some series that originally aired on A&E, History,
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
and Investigation Discovery. Much of the network's content is sourced through a syndication agreement with Turner Entertainment that 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.
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. 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.
Public service
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 Crime Stoppers USA is the umbrella organization for Crime Stoppers programs in the United States. It is a non-profit, non-governmental, IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization that advises its member programs and sets operational standards ...
, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and a number of law enforcement agencies. , this public service component, known as BeSAFE, has resulted in the capture of 101 fugitives and finding of 103 missing children. 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.
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. 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. 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
''My Brother and Me'' is an American sitcom, created by Ilunga Adell and Calvin Brown Jr., that originally aired on Nickelodeon. ''My Brother and Me'' is about the Parkers, a family living in the west side of Charlotte, North Carolina, who exp ...
'') appears in the network's "BeSAFE" PSA interstitials.
Affiliates
, 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.
When its launch was announced, the network reached a charter affiliation agreement with the
Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.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
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
s 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. By August 2016, Justice Network had reached affiliation agreements with various other station groups including Hearst Television, Tribune Broadcasting, Media General,
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
and
Univision Communications
TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is held by the ...
, which increased the network's national reach to encompass 57% of all U.S. television households. In September 2017, Univision began carrying the network on eleven additional Univision and
UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which is ...
owned-and-operated stations, expanding Justice Network's reach to 73% of the U.S.