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New livestreaming service wants to be Court TV for the web
America’s fascination with true crime has been reinvigorated thanks to the success of shows like “Making a Murderer” and “The People v. O.J. Simpson.” Now, an upcoming livestreaming platform hopes to capitalize on that interest by airing high-profile courtroom trials as they happen.
Called Law Newz Network, the new platform is the brainchild of Dan Abrams, who has previously served as the ABC News chief legal analyst on “Good Morning America.” Abrams also worked on Court TV in the 1990s during the height of the O.J. Simpson trial, so he saw firsthand how big an audience high-profile cases can draw.
Interest in Court TV eventually waned until Time Warner rebranded the channel as TruTV and shifted its focus away from courtroom drama and onto reality television. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Abrams admitted that a live trial channel is probably not meant for TV anymore, but he believes the internet is a different story.
“Court TV, by end of its run, couldn’t justify 24/7 coverage of live trials,” Abrams said. “But I think the advantage we have is one, we already cover legal news, and two, the internet is a different animal. A niche market is better suited for the web. We also don’t have to do the numbers that a cable network has to do.”
There are already a few streaming services that have proven that niche markets can be big business, such as the gaming-focused Twitch.tv, which regularly draws viewership in the tens of millions. Long-winded trials might not be able to pull the same kind of numbers, but Abrams believes the audience is already there.
“We have been seeing a real interest in trial streams,” Abrams said. “I’m amazed we will be first to do this to some degree.”
Law Newz Network will be an extension of Abrams’ LawNewz blog, which reports on trials that have caught national attention. The platform will broadcast live courtroom footage from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with commentary and prerecorded footage afterward.
The first two trials to be streamed on the service will be the upcoming rape and assault trial of Mixed Martial Arts fighter Jonathan “War Machine” Koppenhaver, which begins Feb. 27, and the double murder trial of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez. According to The Verge, Abrams said that his livestreaming network will have to receive approval to stream further trials on a case-by-case basis.
Image: weiss_paarz_photos Court Gavel – Judge’s Gavel – Courtroom via photopin (license)
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