The show, premiering Wednesday (10 ET/PT), showcases provocative murder cases through the imagined voices and words of the victims. It serves up re-enactments of events surrounding real cases, while weaving in commentary from law enforcement and family and friends of the victims.
"We're excited about this project," says ABC News executive James Goldston. "It's designed to be a distinctive entry into what can sometimes be a crowded market. It's a fascinating hybrid of genres."
Wednesday's opener looks at the 2008 rural East Texas murder of Penny Caffey and her two young sons. The story is told through the imagined "voice " of Caffey, who recounts the events leading up to the night of the murder. Caffey's husband, Terry, who survived the attack, tells his own story. The show concludes with the killers' conviction.
Goldston says ABC's interest in the series was based more on its "idea and the approach" rather than the fact that it fits into a popular genre, but the fact is that true-crime TV is a lucrative business.
The cable network Investigation Discovery (ID) runs true-crime series around the clock. Its summer programing includes series that premiered earlier this month, including Blood, Lies Alibis (Monday, 9 ET/PT), which follows investigators as they work to crack complex murder cases, and Evil, I (Friday, 10 ET/PT), which explores homicides through the killer's voice.
"True crime is an incredibly fertile area for us to have mined," says ID's president, Henry Schleiff. "Not only are we the single home for the genre 24/7, but, even more importantly, it's all real. People may be a little jaded with fictional crime shows, but the idea that we can remind people of a set of facts that are so extraordinary, so compelling, so chilling is a very unique selling proposition that no other network has."
Returning ID shows this month include Season 6 of On the Case With Paula Zahn (Sunday, 10 ET/PT), which focuses on headline-dominating cases as well as original stories, and Season 3 of Nightmare Next Door (Sunday, 9 ET/PT), which shines a spotlight on killer neighbors. Additional shows due later this summer include Season 3 of the popular Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?, Dates From Hell and Evil Twins.
Women ages 25 to 54 are the network's core audience, says Schleiff. "In 3½ years, this network has come out of nowhere to be within the top 10 of all networks for women (ages ) 25 to 54." Overall, the channel averaged about 700,000 viewers in prime time for the first three months of 2012, an increase of 20% from the year before, and its day-long audience grew 40%.
The grand dame of all true-crime shows is CBS' 48 Hours Mystery, which averaged nearly 6 million viewers in the 2011-12 season. After the network's 60 Minutes, it's the most-watched news magazine in prime time.
"The law and justice beat is incredibly rewarding and rich, and we have a unique take," says senior executive producer Susan Zirinsky, referring to the show's purely journalistic approach. "The journalism of law and justice is one that gives you a rich tableau of humanity, and if you went into a Hollywood pitch meeting you couldn't do better than these stories."
Viewers, too, are investing more in true-crime television through social media, including Twitter. ID Addicts (idaddicts.com) gi ves more than 40,000 fans of the network's series a chance to meet and talk about their favorites and access exclusive content. 48 Hours Mystery's staff produces the Crimesider blog, and the show's correspondents and producers participate in Facebook chats during broadcasts.
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