Court TV

Courtroom Television Network

Frequency: Cable
Country: United States
Launched: July 01, 1991 (Monday)
Closed: January 01, 2008 (Tuesday)

The Courtroom Television Network, more commonly known as Court TV, is an American cable television network owned by Time Warner that launched on July 1, 1991. On May 15, 2006, it was announced that Time Warner bought Liberty Media's 50% ownership in the channel, making Time Warner (within its TBS Networks division) the sole owner of Court TV.

On March 13, 2007, Time Warner announced that Court TV will be changing its name, look and logo as part of a network overhaul planned for later this year. The network will be called truTv as of January 1, 2008, and will revamp its daytime trial coverage and add in prime several new reality series (or, as the network prefers to call them, "real-life series"). Daytime programming will be redone and will lead into a 3-5 p.m. ET/PT block with talk shows hosted by Star Jones and a soon to be named anchor. Nancy Grace's Closing Arguments, which was originally scheduled to shrink to 1 hour and air at 3 p.m. (before Jones' program), will no longer air as Grace left the network in June 2007. Trial coverage will move to the network's broadband website during the afternoon.

Steve Koonin, President of Turner Entertainment Networks, said the goal is to find a new name that suggests a broader lineup of shows. He said that the new target audience of the network is viewers known internally as "real engagers". They are typically male and young, 18 to 49 years old. Koonin believes that this audience wants programs that focus on real people and real situations.