Cloo
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
Cloo (formerly Sleuth) is a digital cable television channel with programming dedicated to the crime and mystery genres. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal. It launched on January 1, 2006, replacing Trio. Sleuth debuted on DirecTV on June 1, 2006, and on Dish Network nine days later.
Cloo focuses on mystery entertainment, with the majority of the channel's programming borrowed from sister channels NBC and USA Network. However, often it will air off-brand movies such as The 40-Year Old Virgin to boost sagging ratings.
On August 15, 2011, Sleuth was rebranded as Cloo, in order to be able to trademark and own the name. NBCUniversal cannot do so with the name Clue because Hasbro owns the rights to it with their board game Clue. NBCUniversal also explained that another reason for the name change was the word "Sleuth" is too common for search engines.[1][2]
Programming
Original programs
On September 17, 2011 Cloo premiered its original programs in the tradition of 2007's America's Top Sleuths:
- Killer Instinct, a 13-part true-crime series. The one-hour show explores some of the country's most notorious crimes, as seen through the eyes of FBI criminal profiler Mark Safarik. Safarik, who has helped solve countless high-profile cases, shows how he analyzes crime scenes, figures out evidence and eventually unmasks killers. The show includes a confrontation between Safarik and one convict, as well as re-creations and interviews with law enforcement agents.[2]
- Dateline on Cloo, is similar to Dateline NBC and was preceded years earlier by Dateline on Sleuth and is also hosted by Safarik. It chronicles true-crime cases in a news-magazine format.[3]
Syndicated
In January 2009, all shows from the lineup (see past programming) were removed and replaced with mainly NBCUniversal-produced, USA Network original shows, Monk and In Plain Sight to its lineup, running marathons of each program's episodes. CBS military-crime-drama series NCIS were also added to the channel's lineup, both of which are staples on USA Network, as well as another USA Network staple in Walker, Texas Ranger and two Canadian series, Da Vinci's Inquest and Cold Squad, that primarily aired in syndication nationwide. The Law & Order franchise also joined the channel. It recently started airing another Canadian series, The Eleventh Hour. However, it was renamed Bury the Lead, to differentiate it from the since-canceled CBS series of the same name.
The channel presently relies on reruns of the Law & Order franchise,NCIS, Walker, Texas Ranger, MacGyver, and various other series aired mainly on the USA Network in which it and the former are owned by NBCUniversal while the latter four are owned by CBS Television Studios. Though, Sony Pictures Television owns the U.S. television distribution rights to Walker.
Past programming
The channel originally featured crime and mystery programming from NBCUniversal's extensive library of feature films, classic television shows, reality series and documentaries. Programming initially included popular and cult television series like Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, The A-Team, Dragnet (1967–70 and 2003 versions), Knight Rider, The Equalizer, Homicide: Life on the Street,JAG and more recent cancelled series like EZ Streets, Karen Sisco, and Deadline. More recently, the channel has added programming from other studios, such as Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Sony.
Crime, mystery and suspense films like Scarface, The Jackal, Casino, Sneakers and Mercury Rising will be in the standard- and high-definition lineups, with at least 20 hours of content from the channels offered on demand at any given time to consumers.
In January 2007, the channel began airing Profiler, Magnum, P.I., The Rockford Files, The Burning Zone, Turks, Conviction, and Medical Investigation.
On February 25, 2007, the channel aired a fourteen-hour movie marathon entitled "Chiller On Sleuth" to promote the launch of Chiller, NBCUniversal's cable channel dedicated to horror and suspense programming that launched on March 1, 2007. The movies that aired during this marathon are Wait Until Dark, Psycho, I Saw What You Did (the 1988 version), and The Island.
References
- ^ Exclusive: Sleuth Gets A New Name: Meet Cloo, TV Guide, April 7, 2011
- ^ a b Exclusive: Newly Rebranded Cloo TV Picks Up First Original Series TV Guide July 15, 2011
- ^ CLOO Premieres First Original True-Crime Series “Killer Instinct” Followed By “Dateline On CLOO” Saturday, September 17 TV By The Numbers August 29, 2011