Nancy Grace will anchor a new true-crime block on Dr. Phil McGraw’s new network, Merit Street Media, the company said Thursday.
Crime Stories With Nancy Grace, airing at 6 p.m. ET, will cap off four hours of daily true-crime programming. The lineup will also include acquired programming, Cops and Jail, followed by repacks of Dr. Phil episodes that featured true-crime stories and The Behavior Panel, a series that comes to the network off of YouTube.
“Nancy is an unmatched expert and legend in this field,” McGraw said in a statement. “She is a longtime friend which makes her joining Merit Street even more special.”
A former Atlanta prosecutor, Grace was the host of nightly current-affairs show Nancy Grace on HLN from 2005 to 2016. Prior to that, she hosted Court TV’s Closing Arguments from 1996 to 2007. She also hosted the syndicated court show, Swift Justice With Nancy Grace for one season.
“I am so proud to be part of Dr. Phil’s new endeavor, Merit Street Media,” said Grace, also in a statement. “I can now take the mission to fight crime and let the voices of crime victims be heard to an incredible new platform. As a crime fighter and victim of violent crime myself, this message is my life’s work.”
The block will run Monday through Friday beginning with alternating episodes of Cops and Jail at 3 p.m. ET, except on Fridays, when The Behavior Panel will air at 4 p.m. True Crime: Dr. Phil will run at 5 p.m., leading into Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Off of YouTube, where it has accumulated more than four million views, The Behavior Panel features body language and behavioral analysts Mark Bowden, Greg Hartley, Chase Hughes, and Scott Rouse, collectively known as The Behavior Panel. For years, these four have provided the military, law enforcement, and Fortune 500 companies with expert interpretation of the gestures, fidgets, posture, and speech patterns that reveal human behavior. The panel’s weekly Merit Street show will analyze the news conferences, interviews and public appearances by headline-makers that capture worldwide attention.
“With no signs of stopping, the true-crime sensation continues to grow,” said Joel Cheatwood, chief operating officer of Merit Street Media. “By creating this destination line-up with an original icon of the genre, Nancy Grace, along with the uniqueness of The Behavior Panel, we’re confident that viewers will find the entire crime block to be informative and entertaining.”
In recent weeks, Merit Street also has announced other programming. Dr. Phil Primetime will air each weeknight at 8 p.m. ET, while news program Morning on Merit Street, co-hosted by Dominique Sachse and Fanchon Stinger, will be broadcast from 8 to 10 a.m. ET. Leading into Dr. Phil Primetime will be The News on Merit Street, featuring senior anchor Kris Gutierrez and co-hosts Lyndsey Keith and Loni Coombs, at 7 p.m. ET each weeknight.
Merit Street Media is being distributed over Trinity Broadcast Network as well as cable and satellite. It debuts February 26.
