 | |
| Type | Digital broadcasttelevision network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Nationwide coverage: 92% |
| Affiliates | List of Ion Mystery affiliates |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV)16:9widescreen or4:3letterbox |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Scripps Networks, LLC (E. W. Scripps Company)[1] |
| Parent | Ion Media |
| Key people | |
| Sister channels | Bounce TV Court TV Grit Ion Television Ion Plus Laff Scripps News |
| History | |
| Founded | April 3, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-04-03) |
| Launched | August 18, 2014 (2014-8-18) |
| Founder | Jonathan Katz |
| Former names | Escape (2014–2019) Court TV Mystery (2019–2022) |
| Links | |
| Website | ionmystery |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Digital terrestrial television | SeeList of Ion Mystery affiliates |
Ion Mystery (formerlyEscape andCourt TV Mystery, stylized asESCAPE andMYSTERY; formerly branded on-air asMystery) is an Americanfree-to-airtelevision network owned by theScripps Networks subsidiary of theE. W. Scripps Company. It focuses primarily on mystery,true crime, and police/legal procedural programs.[3]
It is available in severalmedia markets via thedigital subchannels ofterrestrialtelevision stations and on thedigital tiers of selectcable providers through a local affiliate of the network.
Katz Broadcasting announced the formation of Escape and sister networkGrit on April 3, 2014, with a formal launch scheduled for that summer. When the network was first announced, Katz Broadcasting entered into an affiliation agreement withUnivision Communications, which planned to launch Grit in 22 markets served by a station owned by the group or operated throughlocal marketing agreements withEntravision Communications – giving Grit affiliates in 17 of the 20 largest U.S. television markets (including markets such asNew York City,Los Angeles,Chicago, andDallas-Fort Worth). The network immediately sought carriage on the digital subchannels of television stations owned by other broadcasting companies.[4]
On August 11, 2014, Katz announced that the two networks would launch simultaneously on August 18. Escape launched at 12:00 p.m.Eastern Time on that date,[5] with the 1981 filmBody Heat as the network's inaugural broadcast.[6]
On August 1, 2017, in an expansion of the company's existing interest, theE. W. Scripps Company announced it would purchase a 95% majority stake in Katz Broadcasting's assets (Escape, Grit, andLaff as well as the managerial rights forBounce TV parent Bounce Media, LLC) for $292 million. Although Scripps assumed ownership of the group upon the purchase's completion on October 2, Katz will remain headquartered inMarietta, Georgia as an autonomous division of its new corporate parent.[1][7]
On September 30, 2019, Escape was rebranded asCourt TV Mystery, serving as an extension to theCourt TV brand.[8]
Following Scripps' acquisition ofIon Media in 2021, many of its digital subchannels, including Court TV and Court TV Mystery, were moved over toIon-owned affiliates and on Scripps stations, were separated from stations also carrying Court TV, causing viewer confusion regarding the channel positions and carriage status of the two networks.[9] The network was subsequently rebranded to Ion Mystery on February 24, 2022, with the "Ion" brand now more established regardingprocedural dramas in general, including Ion Mystery's overall programming, whereas Court TV is more associated with its news division.[10]
Ion Mystery mainly features a mix of proceduralcrime dramas and mystery series, as well as off-network reality-based crime re-enactment series and some films.
Originally, the network had a specific focus on true crime programming directed explicitly towards women. Katz Broadcasting president and CEO Jonathan Katz based the demographic-targeted concept of the Escape and male-targetingGrit onBounce TV, a network Katz co-founded withMartin Luther King III andAndrew Young in 2011 that is targeted at Black audiences; Katz stated Escape and Grit would be "the...first-ever (adult) male-centric and female-centric broadcast networks," featuring different programming from other classic television multicast networks that Katz claimed were "generic brands with generic names, created by studios to serve the studios" (referring toNBCUniversal'sCozi TV andSony'sgetTV, and indirectly toWeigel Broadcasting'sMeTV, which was independently created but licenses programming from several studios).[3]
Ion Mystery carries a broad roster of crime drama and mystery film releases from the 1980s to the 2000s (including theatricalfeature films,made-for-TV movies, and documentaries) on Saturdays and Sundays. The network's movie lineup relies primarily on an extensive library of titles through multi-year program licensing agreements with several majorfilm studios, includingReel One Entertainment, Multicom Entertainment Group,Sonar Entertainment,Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group (distributed throughWarner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution),[11]Universal Pictures (throughNBCUniversal Syndication Studios),[12]Paramount Pictures (throughTrifecta Entertainment & Media),[13] andSony Pictures Entertainment (throughSony Pictures Television).[14]
The majority of Ion Mystery's schedule consists of off-network reality-based crime re-enactment series. Shortly before the network's launch, on August 1, 2014, the network acquired thesyndication rights to three true crime series –Forensic Files,Snapped, and theDennis Farina run ofUnsolved Mysteries – through respective deals with Trifecta Entertainment & Media, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, and Cosgrove/Meurer Productions for its initial schedule.[15][16]
In May 2016, the network acquired the syndication rights toAmerican Greed andCorrupt Crimes, under agreements with NBCUniversal Television Distribution andBellum Entertainment. In conjunction, Katz announced the network's entry into original programming by entering into a production agreement with Bellum to develop five true crime shows for first-run broadcast on the network; these programs includedLady Killers (about women killing someone close to them),Murderous Affairs (centering on "lethal love affairs"),It Takes a Killer (which profiles infamous murders),Deep Undercover (a series hosted byJoe Pistone, that profiles real-life undercover missions), andThey Kill for It (which deals with passion-motivated and fully planned killings).[17] Among the five announced shows, however, onlyDeep Undercover actually aired, due to various issues which did not involve Escape or Katz, but Bellum unable to produce the shows as talent was unpaid for previous Bellum productions, and their refusal to continue working with any further Bellum-involved productions; that company went bankrupt, then out of business, in 2019.
On December 6, 2017, Katz signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to acquire the syndication rights toCold Case. The 2003–10CBS crime drama – the first scripted program acquisition for Escape – joined the network onJanuary 1, 2018 with a twelve-episode marathon, before being added to its regular schedule the following night (January 2).[18][19][20] Several other series, includingJohn Doe,Killer Instinct, and the originalLaw & Order have since been picked up by the network, along with the Canadian seriesDaVinci's Inquest, a mainstay of syndication since the mid-2000s.
As of January 1, 2018[update], Ion Mystery has current or pending affiliation agreements with 165 television stations in 65 media markets (including 24 of the top 30), covering 86% of all households in the United States (or 268,780,687 Americans with at least one television set).[21] Originally, Katz sold Escape and sister network Grit to prospective affiliate stations under an advertising split structure; by October 2015, the company had shifted to having affiliates pay carriage fees to provide Escape and Grit programming, in exchange for a share of the network's ad inventory; the company also initially utilizeddirect response advertising as a metric for viewership for Escape.[22] In September 2015, Katz enrolled Escape and sister network Grit to begin having their viewership measured under theNielsennational ratings, in addition to switching to theNielsen rating C-3 ratings metric for advertising.[22][23]
When the network was first announced, Katz Broadcasting entered into an affiliation agreement with Univision Communications, which planned to launch Escape in 22 markets served by a station owned by the group or operated throughlocal marketing agreements withEntravision Communications – giving Escape affiliates in 17 of the 20 largest U.S. television markets (including markets such asNew York City,Los Angeles,Chicago, andDallas-Fort Worth). The network immediately sought carriage on the digital subchannels of television stations owned by other broadcasting companies;[4] on June 17, 2014, Katz signed group deals to carry Escape on stations owned and/or operated byRaycom Media in six markets.[24]On July 17, 2014, Katz announced affiliation deals with theCox Media Group to carry Escape onWAXN-TV inCharlotte, North Carolina andKOKI-TV inTulsa, Oklahoma. It also reached a deal with PMCM TV, LLC to carry Escape and Grit onKJWP in thePhiladelphia market, and withCitadel Communications to carry the network on its stations inProvidence (WLNE-TV) andLincoln (KLKN). Katz also expanded its affiliation agreement with Univision Communications to add Univision-owned stations inWashington, D.C.,San Francisco, andPhoenix to the group's originally announced Escape charter affiliates.[25][26] At the network's introduction in August 2014, Escape had affiliation agreements with television stations in 33media markets (including stations in 23 of the 50 largestNielsen markets), with an approximate estimated reach of 50% of all television-equipped households in the United States.
On May 18, 2015, theE. W. Scripps Company signed a multi-year agreement with Katz Broadcasting to expand distribution of Escape and sister networks Grit and Laff, which extended Escape's availability to 70 million homes (covering 60% of the U.S.), adding the network to Scripps-owned stations in markets such asDetroit (WMYD);Indianapolis (WRTV);Kansas City (KMCI-TV),Cincinnati (WCPO-TV), andMilwaukee (WTMJ-TV).[27] On November 16, 2015, Katz announced new affiliation deals withMedia General andTribune Media adding the network to eight more markets, includingSeattle (KCPQ),Grand Rapids (WXSP-CD),Albuquerque (KASY-TV),St. Louis (KTVI), andNew Orleans (WGNO).[28] Additional agreements were reached on June 15, 2016, that brought Escape to stations owned and/or operated byNexstar Broadcasting Group (as well as subsidiariesMission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting) and forCordillera Communications'sKVOA/Tucson.[29] By January 2017, Escape had affiliates covering over 76% of all U.S. households with at least one television set.
