Tegna, Scripps to Test 'Security Brief with Paul Viollis'

Station groups Tegna and Scripps are joining the Sinclair Broadcast Group in running a four-week test of The Security Brief with Paul Viollis, a crime-focused talk show.

That brings the show’s market tally to 19 so far, including Denver, Atlanta, Seattle, Detroit, Kansas City, Missouri, and Tucson, Arizona to its line up. The test launches Dec. 21.

“Testing The Security Brief in several Scripps markets has the potential for a big payoff for our audiences,” said Brian Lawlor, senior VP of Scripps broadcast division, in a statement. “In the markets where we have duopolies, we have the freedom and flexibility to place new programming at a time when most other shows are in repeats. We are committed to creating a better-informed world and this show delivers critical information about real-world issues that could impact our safety and security."

Executive producer Terry Murphy and producing partner (and son) Patrick W. Murphy already have 75 episodes in the can with plans to produce 75 more so if any of the station groups want to keep running the show after the test, they can.

“Women have migrated to true-crime in other genres, but we’re the first and only talk show of its kind dedicated, exclusively, to telling true-crime stories,” said Murphy in a statement. “After the Paris attacks, the demand for real-world solutions to keep America’s families safe is at an all-time high.”

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.