Despite sale, Court TV still has a presence in Atlanta
When Dan Abrams’ New York-based Law & Crime Network bought out Atlanta-based Court TV this spring, more than 30 people lost their jobs.
But about 15 people were kept in Atlanta, including Vinnie Politan, the network’s evening anchor since Court TV was revived in 2019 after an 11-year absence.
Politan’s show “Vinnie Politan Investigates,” formerly a live 9 p.m. show that focused each night on a single case, has been retooled for the modern age as a YouTube podcast. It began this week and will now air on Court TV weeknights at 8 p.m.
“My show is really geared to the new media world,” Politan said during lunch with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at Never Enough Thyme in Alpharetta, near where Politan lives. “Law & Crime has this incredible infrastructure designed from ground zero for that audience.”
Abrams, who worked as a Court TV reporter in the mid-1990s and launched Law & Crime in 2016, said acquiring Court TV was a complementary marriage of content.
“Law & Crime has developed an enormous brand on YouTube and online,” he said, with 7.5 million subscribers on YouTube compared with 2.2 million for Court TV. “But Court TV still has a bigger brand when it comes to cable, OTA (over-the-air broadcast TV) and name recognition.”
Abrams wants Court TV to be known as the live trial channel, while Law & Crime focuses on other aspects of true crime.
“This feels full circle to me,” Abrams said. “We’ve had a startup mentality at Law & Crime, and I was there in the early days of Court TV.”
He said he didn’t just pick up Court TV for the name but to bring it to a new generation. “We bought it because we like what Court TV is doing,” Abrams said. “We are making changes. Not everyone is going to be thrilled with every change, but the bottom line is we are the best partner for Court TV. We respect the brand and we appreciate the hosts.”
Politan used to air a live true crime daily news show at 8 p.m. for Court TV as well “Vinnie Politan Investigates” at 9 p.m. His 8 p.m. show is not coming back.
“We have definitely reduced the number of live hours,” Abrams said. “We view that as a reinvestment into future projects with Court TV on YouTube and beyond.”
Politan’s new studio in Alpharetta is smaller and more self-contained than the traditional TV studio he used in Buckhead under Court TV’s prior owner, E.W. Scripps. Politan sits in front of a mic with an acronym of his show’s name behind him. It’s also pretaped, allowing his longtime producer, Virgina Warner, to edit and clean things up after the fact while giving Politan more flexibility to access guests.
On Monday, Politan spent an hour digesting the news of the South Carolina Supreme Court overturning the murder conviction of Alex Murdaugh.
“Advantage: defense,” Politan said. “It will be a much shorter trial. It will be much tighter. The defense will have a chance to fix all the mistakes that they made.”
He aired a portion of the defense attorneys’ news conference and provided running commentary.
While a Murdaugh attorney didn’t close the door on Murdaugh taking the stand again, Politan paused the video and provided an immediate hot take: “They are going to keep the door closed. They don’t want this case to be about his character and all the crimes he committed before. … They aren’t going to do that again.”
Politan’s history with Court TV goes back a quarter century.
After five years in local news, he began working at Court TV in 2001, 10 years after Court TV launched as a joint venture on basic cable. In 2006, Time Warner, under its Turner Broadcasting wing, took over the entire network, then dropped the Court TV name in 2008, shifting its focus to broader entertainment with a new name, truTV.
Politan moved from New York to Atlanta at the time, then segued to CNN Headline News for five years, hosting multiple true-crime shows. He also spent four years at Atlanta affiliate 11Alive as an evening anchor from 2014 to 2018.
In 2019, Atlanta-based Katz Broadcasting, part of E.W. Scripps, purchased the intellectual property of Court TV from Turner, including the trademark, website and 100,000-hour Court TV library. Politan was rehired as lead evening anchor.
Abrams said he wants to build Politan’s presence on YouTube: “Vinnie is the biggest name in true crime, yet for some reason, Court TV hasn’t capitalized on that in new media. We intend to do that with Vinnie and beyond. Vinnie is a personality who pops off the screen, no matter what type of screen.”
Politan likes the more intimate world of podcasting. “You get to interact with viewers in the comments,” he said. “You react to what they’re reacting to.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
