Court TV

Kate O’Brian, president of Scripps News, explains how the bulk of its weekday broadcast hours will go to live as of May 1 and how the network manages its complex web of collaborations between its own reporters fanned out across the U.S., Scripps’ local stations, its hubs in Denver and Washington, D.C., and Scripps-owned Court TV. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

Another high-profile trial yielded big viewership numbers for Court TV. During the six-week Alex Murdaugh murder trial, the E.W. Scripps-owned network said its viewership nearly tripled, compared to the network’s pre-trial average. When the guilty verdict was rendered, viewership soared 600%. The viewership was the highest since the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial last year.

Steve Turnham promoted to Washington Bureau chief, while Ethan Nelson is named head of Court TV prior to Jan. 1 launch.

The veteran digital and news exec will be responsible for the overall digital and social media strategies for the E.W. Scripps news group.

Johnny Depp wasn’t the only winner in the sensational defamation trial between the actor and his ex-wife Amber Heard. The case drew viewers to emerging legal networks Law&Crime and Court TV with the verdict providing an exclamation point. Dan Abrams’ Law&Crime network set its YouTube viewership record with more than 3.5 million live concurrent viewers during its coverage of the verdict Wednesday.

Ethan Nelson has been appointed head of program development, and Christina Hartman has been appointed head of news standards, effective immediately.

A rejuvenated cable TV brand name is a gavel-to-gavel source for the highly anticipated case.

In this newly created role, the ABC News veteran will be responsible for the news and programming strategy for Scripps Networks’ news brands Newsy and Court TV.

The network that O.J. Simpson made famous is returning for the trial in the death of George Floyd, but the feel and the stakes are very different. Above, Court TV’s Julia Jenae prepares to interview Maurice Hall, who was with George Floyd on the day he was killed.

Scripps will continue to operate the Ion Television network on its 48 Ion stations’ primary channels but will cease operations of the Ion multicast networks Ion Plus, Qubo and Shop Ion, effective Feb. 28.

The Katz channel, now available on Sky Television, provides British viewers access to, and expert analysis of, true-life courtroom dramas taking place in the U.S. today.

Court TV relaunched in May after more than a decade off the air, and now the network is branching into original programming with a 37-hour docuseries about the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Among the new outlets announced for the network’s revival that launches on May 8 are stations in 48 new markets owned by Meredith, Tegna, Nexstar, Quincy, Lockwood and American Spirit. Over-the-air coverage will be more than 80% of the U.S. at launch. It’s also added cable and OTT coverage.

The revived brand will feature live coverage of America’s most fascinating trials all day. Closing Arguments with Vinnie Politan will anchor the primetime schedule.

The new multiplatform network, to debut in May 2019, has secured over-the-air distribution agreements with major local TV station group owners including Tribune, Scripps and Univision, giving Court TV coverage of more than 50% of U.S. television households at launch. Vinnie Politan will be the network’s lead anchor.