News Magazine ‘InvestigateTV+’ Debuts In Fall

Gray Television today announced plans to launch a weekday news magazine program called InvestigateTV+. Beginning on Sept. 11, the news magazine will showcase “groundbreaking investigations featuring Gray’s award-winning InvestigateTV unit, plus consumer, health, and original content curated from Gray’s 113 local markets,” the company said.

Gray added: “In light of the tremendous audience reaction to Gray’s InvestigateTV weekend show, including average viewership of 1.2 million households per week,” Gray decided to launch InvestigateTV+ weekdays. Gray-owned stations will air both the weekday program (InvestigateTV+) and the weekend program (InvestigateTV) across all of its markets. In addition, Gray will make these programs available to stations in markets outside of its owned-station footprint.

Sandy Breland Gray senior managing vice president, said: “Gray is the leading source of stories that make a difference in every market we serve, while InvestigateTV is known for innovative journalism that gets results. The InvestigateTV+ program will allow us to connect even more viewers to impactful storytelling from coast to coast.”

InvestigateTV+ will be hosted by Lee Zurik and Tisha Powell. Zurik is vice president of investigations for InvestigateTV and works as an anchor and chief investigative reporter at WVUE New Orleans. He has been honored with journalism’s top honors including two George Foster Peabody Awards and 12 national Edward R. Murrow Awards. Tisha Powell is an anchor at WAFB Baton Rouge, La., and a veteran journalist with experience reporting across the country and interviewing newsmakers including Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Dr. Jill Biden.

InvestigateTV+ will combine the strength of Gray’s network of local newsrooms with a dedicated reporting team to provide a daily resource of information. Managing Editor Greg Phillips will lead daily production and a dedicated editorial team. He was most recently executive producer of investigations for InvestigateTV and has been a part of teams that have won Peabody, duPont, and National Murrow Awards. Award-winning Executive Producer Jennifer Nickels joins Phillips on the management team.

Zurik said: “Storytelling is our North Star. We have assembled a team of experienced, community-focused journalists who will work closely with Gray’s local stations to deliver in-depth stories from around America that inform and inspire every day.”