Court TV network is being revived after decade away

Henry Schleiff, Chairman and CEO of Court TV, stands beside Fred Graham, the cable network's first employee and chief anchor, in a Court TV studio in New York, June 20, 2001. Over its 10 years, Court TV has moved from strict jurisprudence to a mixture of true crime and cop-show dramas. (AP Photo/Gino Domenico)

NEW YORK — Court TV is being revived, after dying in 2007 when its supply of high-profile trials ended.

Katz Networks said Monday it will start the network again in May, and already has commitments to show it in about half of the American homes with television service.

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The 24-hour network will be devoted to coverage of trials. Katz, which is a division of the E.W. Scripps Co., has acquired programming and intellectual property from the old network. Court TV was popular in the 1990s when the O.J. Simpson and Menendez brothers trial absorbed attention, but was folded and turned into the crime-oriented network truTV.

Jonathan Katz, who’s president and CEO of Katz Television, noted the popularity of crime-oriented programming and said there’s a void in the marketplace for trial coverage.