New Court TV Sets May 8 as Date for Launch

The new Court TV being created by E.W. Scripps’ Katz Networks unit, will have its launch on Wednesday, May 8 at 9 a.m. ET, the company said.

Court TV’s programming schedule will kick off at 9 a.m. with gavel-to-gavel coverage of compelling trials from around the U.S. The first trial the network will cover will be announced shortly, Katz Networks said.

The morning shift on the Court TV news desk will be occupied by Yodit Tewolde. At noon, Julie Grant anchors and at 3 p.m. Seema Iyer takes over.

When courtroom action ends for the day, the network’s primetime programming cuts in with Closing Arguments with Vinnie Politan airing from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Politan, who appeared on the original Court TV, is the new Court TV’s lead anchor.

“What SportsCenter is to sports, Closing Arguments will be to the legal world,” commented Politan. “Viewers will get nightly highlights of the trial we’re covering plus we’ll also tick through news from the other major true crime stories of the day. After our great, all-day trial coverage, it’ll be must-see viewing for those who want to keep up with everything happening in our nation’s legal system and courtrooms.”

The new Court TV will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be carried on cable, satellite, over-the-air and over-the-top. Court TV already has agreements with local TV station group owners reaching more than 50% of U.S. television households at launch through over-the-air broadcast, with concurrent cable carriage reaching 25% of U.S. cable homes.

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.