Warner Bros. Television Group will debut a new daily syndicated crime show on Fox this September, True Crime News, hosted by journalist Ana Garcia.
True Crime News features top cases nationwide and offers a true-crime tip line for fans to call in with pertinent information. The show will work closely with local newsrooms to integrate local crime cases and feature local newsrooms.
Channing Dungey, chairman and chief executive officer at Warner Bros. Television Group, David Decker, president of content sales at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Frank Cicha, executive vice president of programming for Fox Television Stations, confirmed the news in a joint statement on January 22.
“Audiences continue to be fascinated by true crime stories, mysteries, and investigations, and the talented team at Telepictures has developed a distinctive series that is sure to captivate,” said Dungey. “We’re thrilled to have Emmy winner and expert crime reporter Ana Garcia as host, and we can’t wait for viewers to see True Crime News this fall.”
According to Dr. Childs at the Cleveland Clinic, true crime series have been noted to change the audience’s outlooks on life and may cause them to become less trusting of those around them, isolated, and anxious. However, true crime shows, podcasts, and documentaries have been shown to help solve cold cases and unsolved investigations.
Unsolved Mysteries, one of the original true crime series, creator Terry Meurer said during the show’s 23-year run, it helped solve more than 260 cold cases. Another hit true crime series, America’s Most Wanted, reports aiding in the capture of 1,400 wanted fugitives and recovered more than 60 missing children, according to NewsNation.
Garcia hosted the True Crime Daily: The Podcast and is a contributor for ABC’s news magazine 20/20. True Crime News will feature 52 weeks of original programming that covers breaking crime news, ripped-from-the-headlines cases, and updates on Warner Bros. Discovery’s extensive collection of crime footage.
The show builds off another Warner Bros. Discovery true crime show, Crime Watch Daily. The series ran from September 2015 through June 2018 before being replaced by Investigation Discovery’s True Crime Files, which did not last long on network lineups.
True Crime News joins Fox stations as Warner Bros. Discovery renews its daytime show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, for a third season. The renewal sparked a pause for Ken Jeon’s talk show due to the cost of licensing fees, with Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury saying, “Market conditions did not afford us an opportunity at this time,” according to NextTV.