Sleuth

World Screen Weekly, April 17, 2008

COUNTRY: U.S.

OWNERSHIP: NBC Universal

LAUNCH DATE: January 2006

DISTRIBUTION: 25,635,000 homes through Time Warner Cable, DIRECTV and DISH Network

DESCRIPTION: Sleuth is a cable channel dedicated 24/7 to the crime/mystery/suspense genre. It features exclusive crime and mystery programming from NBC Universal’s extensive library of classic television shows, from Miami Vice and Magnum, P.I. to Homicide: Life on the Street, and feature films such as The Usual Suspects, Chinatown and Casino.

PRESIDENT & COO, UNIVERSAL TELEVISION GROUP: Jeff Gaspin

PRESIDENT, NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION

NETWORKS DISTRIBUTION: Bridget Baker

PRESIDENT, CABLE ENTERTAINMENT & CABLE STUDIOS: Bonnie Hammer

SENIOR VP, EMERGING NETWORKS, NBC UNIVERSAL CABLE: Dan Harrison

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: NBC Universal has a robust library of crime programming that dates all the way back to Dragnet in the ’50s, Columbo in the ’70s, and series like Miami Vice, The A-Team, Knight Rider and Murder, She Wrote in the ’80s. Fast-forward to the present day and NBC Universal’s offerings in the crime genre continue to be enriched with the entire Law & Order franchise. “You really have the history of crime on television reflected in the library,” says Dan Harrison, the senior VP of emerging networks at NBC Universal Cable. With the “richness” and “depth” of the NBC Universal library, coupled with the lack of a dedicated scripted crime genre channel in the marketplace, Harrison notes that it seemed like a “logical idea” to launch Sleuth in 2006.

Harrison says that the crime series and movies airing on Sleuth are never referred to as classics, with the channel targeting viewers who grew up watching these shows and enjoyed them, as well as those who were not able to catch them when they were first on the network or in the theaters because they were too young. “We treat this not as a museum of crime on television, but as a channel with a very contemporary look and feel that brings these shows and movies together in a fun way.”

One way in which the channel attempts to package these iconic television series to appeal to viewers is through the use of stunts, with Harrison noting that Sleuth does a minimum of four or five in a month. The channel recently did a “Sleuths on the Red Carpet” stunt in honor of the Oscars. According to Harrison, the channel is always looking to package programming “in a way that brings more viewers into it, gives them exposure to something they may not have sampled and give them an easy way to watch our schedule throughout the week.”

Each year, Sleuth also tries to refresh the library. For example, in 2006, the channel aired The A-Team and Knight Rider, and last year, The Rockford Files was broadcast on the channel. This year the lineup includes New York Undercover, from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf,and Keen Eddie, a series about a New York detective who has been transferred to London.

Additionally, blockbuster crime movies are programmed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, with a movie running every night in prime time. Sleuth also strips its core series, such as Magnum, P.I., Miami Vice, Homicide: Life on the Street and New York Undercover, across the day and evening.

Aside from NBC Universal’s library, Sleuth also fills its schedule with content from major studios like Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, Lionsgate and MGM, among others. For its own original programming, Sleuth has rolled out one original special to date, America’s Top Sleuths, which featured the top 25 detectives from mystery and crime TV movies. While Sleuth is primarily an acquisitions-based channel, Harrison says that he hopes to work more in conjunction with Peacock Productions (formerly NBC News), NBC Universal’s non-fiction outfit, to develop original programming, as well as try to “freshen up” Sleuth’s acquisitions. However, he notes that “it’ll take more distribution” for the channel to “make the big jump” into a large amount of original programming. Rather, Sleuth’s “focus in the near term is growing distribution and additional ad support and programming—[those are] really the three legs of the chair that grow the channel.”

WHAT’S NEW: Sleuth recently overhauled its website, Sleuthchannel.com, which will be accompanied by a VOD offering as well. Harrison says that there are also plans to launch an HD feed of the channel later this year. Some upcoming programming stunts on the channel include “Sleuth British Invasion,” which consists of the movies Snatch and Sexy Beast and a marathon of Keen Eddie; “End of the Road,” featuring the series finales of Magnum, P.I., Miami Vice and Homicide: Life on the Street; a “Hannibal Lecter Weekend,” highlighting the movies Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs; and a “Sleuth Funny Business Weekend,” showcasing comedic crime movies and comedians like Robin Williams and Howie Mandel in Homicide: Life on the Street.

There are also new stunts centered around actors, including “Hot Summer with Ice-T Weekend,” highlighting Players and New York Undercover episodes with Ice-T; a “Jack Ryan Weekend,” featuring Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger; and a “Bruce Willis Weekend” with the broadcast of movies like The Siege, Miami Vice, Jackal and Hudson Hawk.

WEBSITE: sleuthchannel.com

—By Irene Lew