Court TV Courtroom Television Network NBC, Liberty Media Time Warner Popular Since Simpson Trial

NBC, Liberty Media and Time Warner jointly launched a television network named Courtroom Television Network in 1991. This was popularly known as Court TV and broadcasted trials and investigations live with analytic comments by the hosts. This channel also features real life reality television that includes non-law enforcements. These programs have been termed as actuality television.


Court TV gained popularity from the time of the trial of O. J. Simpson. In 1998, Court TV started airing intriguing programs like Forensic Files and Homicide: Life On The Street. By 2004, the network had divided itself into two as the result of the increasing popularity of the prime time shows. Court TV News was featured in the day, and included shows on trials, while Court TV: Seriously Entertaining included the weekend and prime time shows.

Court TV was taken over by Time Warner in 2006 and it was aired by Turner Broadcasting. In October 2007, Court TV revealed that its new motto is Not Reality. Actuality. Although the announcement was made in March 2007, by November Court TV started showing the future transformation to truTV. On the eve of New Year, the channel had aired an exclusive promo of truTV. With the clock striking twelve, Court TV changed to truTV following a countdown of 10. The transformation of Court TV to truTV was made with the help of an animated bug.

The President of Turner Entertainment, Steve Koonin, justified the new name by stating that it would broaden the perspective of the channel enabling it to include many new shows. Steve mentioned that the new target of truTV were the men between 18 and 49, who were categorized as real engagers. The name real engagers emerged from this groups demand for real problems faced by real people. Court TV of Canada, however, lacks the branding of truTV.

The programs were also renamed after Court TV became truTV. The trials aired during the day were collectively known as In Session. The talk show by Star Jones went off-air from February 2008. TruTV also introduced some reality shows based on non law enforcement and few authentic investigative shows.

With the advent of 2008, the network had also launched truTV HD that is only accessible on Comcast. The network has an official website called truTV.com. Besides this the network has a website named The Smoking Gun that features legal issues of celebrities. The website Crime Library includes the ill-famed crimes and their solutions. CNN.com features live reporting recent trials. Sirius Satellite Radio aired a show called Court TV Plus. Court TV