truTV

World Screen Weekly, February 7, 2008

COUNTRY: U.S.

LAUNCH DATE: Launched in 1991 as Court TV; rebranded as truTV on January 1, 2008.

OWNERSHIP: Turner Broadcasting, Inc.

SUBSCRIBERS: More than 91 million

DESCRIPTION: Recently rebranded from Court TV, the channel has expanded its lineup to target an audience which it dubs as “real engagers,” with a mix of programming that gives first-person access to exciting, real-life stories.

EXECUTIVE VP & GENERAL MANAGER: Marc Juris

SENIOR VP, PROGRAMMING: Darren Campo

SENIOR VP, CURRENT PROGRAMMING & SPECIALS: Robyn Hutt

SENIOR VP, MARKETING: Mary Corigliano

VP, DEVELOPMENT & ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMMING: Lauren Gellert

VP, PR: Vicky Kahn

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: One of truTV’s central goals with its re-branding was to expand its offerings by adding more “unique, entertainment programs that take [viewers] into a world that they don’t have access to, and shows them that world through a first-person point of view,” says Marc Juris, the executive VP and general manager for truTV.

Rather than breaking down this audience by age demographic, Juris says that the network has looked at the psychographic profile of its viewers, and has found an audience who he calls “real engagers.” He describes these viewers as “people who are into non-fiction, who are into real reality, who want access to places they can’t normally go; they want to see high-stakes, highly dramatic situations, they want to see things that are intensely real.”

The programming day begins with trial coverage called IN SESSION, with continuing broadband coverage online. Picking up at 3 p.m. and continuing through late night, truTV features a lineup of signature series—such as Speeders, Forensic Files and Haunting Evidence—as well as new projects, including The Real Hustle and Most Daring. truTV will continue to roll out new offerings throughout the year.

The lion’s share of the channel’s offerings is original series, with only 15 percent of its lineup coming from acquisitions. Juris says that though the network will take on a program if it fills out what is already offered as an original in its library, “our strategy is not about acquisitions; it’s about creating our brand through our own unique programming.”

It is also this original, unique programming that is helping to position the channel apart from its competitors. However, Juris doesn’t just categorize the network’s competition in terms of channels with similar programming, he sees truTV as competing with all areas of entertainment. “If I’m just looking at what networks are my competition, I will lose the battle so fast,” he says. “We have competition coming at us from 360 degrees. There’s the non-fiction networks—Discovery, A&E, The History Channel—but more importantly are video games, the Internet, YouTube, MySpace, etcetera, which are taking everybody’s time up. Rather than worry about, say, Discovery, for example, we should be worrying about how to create involved, meaningful, truly engaging, immersive entertainment experiences.”

Creating a fully dimensional, immersive experience requires that the channel ramp up its online and new-media offerings. Juris notes that truTV’s website is in its “infancy” right now, and says that the “untapped opportunity” of the brand is while the website “supports our programming with enhanced content, I think the greater opportunity there is to be the definitive online resource for all kinds of true stories and experiences.” Beyond increased Internet offerings, the channel is also looking to new media as a source of greater exposure, and is “very aggressive in trying to create programming that leverages all the available platforms for the consumer today,” says Juris.

WHAT’S NEW: Among the new series is The Real Hustle, which looks at hustlers swindling unsuspecting New Yorkers to teach viewers how not to get conned. The channel is set to roll out Black Gold, which explores the world of America’s oil prospectors, known as wildcatters.

These will be broadcast alongside perennials such as Forensic Files, Dominick Dunne’s Power, Privilege & Justice and Murder by the Book, which had been successful on Court TV.

“We’re not a network about a hit; that is an old programming strategy,” says Juris. “To us, it’s about creating a destination where people can get a consistent experience.”

WEBSITE: www.trutv.com

—By Kristin Brzoznowski