2020 SPRING SLATE OF NEW ORIGINAL TRUE CRIME CONTENT INCLUDES “NEW SCOTLAND YARD FILES” PRODUCED BY ITN PRODUCTIONS ALONGSIDE NEW SEASONS OF TOP-RATING SERIES “THE REAL PRIME SUSPECT” AND “EVIDENCE OF EVIL”
LONDON – 17 February 2020 – CBS Reality closed another successful year by maintaining its position as the #1 factual entertainment channel in the UK amongst women 16+. The channel delivered 1.2% of the UK’s adult commercial TV audience in 2019, and attracted six million adults every month.
CBS Reality continues to showcase acclaimed original true crime programming to deliver its ratings; seven out of the top 10 individual broadcasts in 2019 were CBS Reality original productions, each generating over 200,000 adult viewers.[2] The most popular titles include “Donal MacIntyre’s Murder Files”, “The Real Prime Suspect”, “Evidence of Evil”, and “Voice of a Killer”.
CBS Reality is part of the CBS UK channel portfolio, which delivered its highest ever share of adult commercial impacts in 2019 with a 2.73% SOCI (share of commercial impacts), up 1.5% on 2018.[3] The other channels included in the portfolio are CBS Justice, CBS Drama and Horror Channel.
Sam Rowden, Director of Programming, CBS Channels, commented, “These achievements underscore the commitment we have to delivering compelling original true crime programming on CBS Reality, featuring genuine experts who lived and breathed the cases we investigate. Our 2020 slate of original productions consists of brand new and returning series, which will build on the strong viewership of the channel.”
The channel’s 2020 Spring slate includes a new 10-part true crime series “New Scotland Yard Files”, which covers the most mysterious and intriguing murders in London. In the series, New Scotland Yard detectives open their files to tell the inside stories of how they caught some of the capital’s most notorious killers. Each episode of the series uses ITN Productions’ extensive archive, evocative reconstructions and in-depth interviews to take viewers through the twists and turns of a murder investigation in extraordinary detail, to reveal how police finally identify and catch the killer.
The series is presented by former New Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley, who brings unique insight into the workings of murder investigations, with contributions from the journalists who covered the stories as they unfolded, criminologists who analyse the methods and motives of the murderers and forensic specialists who provide vital evidence to ensure the guilty are convicted.
Cases covered include the murder of David “Sinders” Morley on London’s South Bank, the Stockwell Strangler, who targeted elderly men and women and struck fear into the streets of south London, and the murder of former pop star Michael Menson who died just because he took the wrong bus.
The series will premiere on 12th March, and an image can be downloaded here.
Rowden, who is also Executive Producer of “New Scotland Yard Files,” continued, “We are excited to work with ITN Productions to bring this new series to our audience. With unprecedented access to New Scotland Yard former detectives and their case files, viewers will be able to recollect – or experience for the first time – the impact of each crime in the news through extensive archive footage and hear from the original news reporters as they comment on these events today.”
ITN Productions’ Executive Producer Sarah-Jane Cohen said: “The detectives we worked with gave us details of the investigations and evidence previously only seen in court, so viewers will get a unique insight into the way New Scotland Yard solved these high profile murders. Audiences will get a real sense of their tenacity in following each lead and gathering every detail until they finally identify the killer. As one detective says, ‘It’s the ABC of the detective world, accept nothing, believe nobody and challenge everything.’”
CBS Reality will also air two returning series in March. In season two of “The Real Prime Suspect”, premiering on 17th March, former Met Police Officer and the inspiration for the character of DCI Jane Tennison, Jackie Malton will examine 10 further murder cases. Season three of “Evidence of Evil”, a series about the role of forensics breakthroughs, will premiere on 18th March.
For more information on CBS Reality UK please visit:
About CBS Reality
CBS Reality features original true crime content including “The Real Prime Suspect”, “Donal MacIntyre’s Murder Files” and “Voice of a Killer”. CBS Reality reaches viewers in more than 25 million homes throughout the UK via the Sky, Virgin Media, Freesat and Freeview platforms. CBS Reality is part of the CBS UK channel portfolio, operated by AMC Networks International – UK.
About AMC Networks International – UK
AMC Networks International – UK is a business unit of AMC Networks International, a leading producer and distributor of television channels reaching subscribers in more than 130 countries and territories and spanning a range of genres, including movies and series, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, children’s and factual. AMC Networks International is the global division of AMC Networks. For more information, please visit: www.amcnetworksinternational.com
About ITN Productions:
Formed in 2010, ITN Productions is ITN’s Oscar-nominated, multi-award-winning in-house production company producing non-fiction content for UK broadcasters and networks around the world.
It is the world leader in fast-turnaround documentaries, topical debate programmes, hard-hitting current affairs and high-rating popular factual series for major international broadcasters such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, Discovery, Netflix and CBS.
Recent ITN Productions commissions includes: BAFTA
Award-winning For Sama, a co-production with Channel 4 News for Channel
4 and PBS Frontline; Harry and Meghan: An African Journey for ITV and
ABC; Channel 5 two-parter, Michael Palin in North Korea; observational
series for BBC One Inside the Supermarket and Live: Britain’s
Next PM – The Channel 4 Debate for Channel 4.