The program launch comes on the heels of Turner Broadcasting’s TruTV scaling In Session coverage back to two hours a day, a move which has sparked criticism in the middle of the Arias trial. HLN anchor Vinnie Politan will anchor the show and In Session on TruTV correspondents Jean Casarez and Beth Karas will contribute.

Politan will be joined by HLN’s Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Ryan Smith and Drew Pinsky, who will weigh the accusations and evidence of the day. The 12-person audience will act as “jurors” and will render a verdict each night.

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The timing of the move couldn’t have been worse for TruTV. While In Session typically did alright in the Nielsen Ratings, right now the “trial of the year” is happening in the Jodi Arias case, and loyal viewers have been glued to their TVs. In Session has been averaging around a half million viewers as a result.

With little warning, regular viewers suddenly had four fewer hours of coverage, and they took to the TruTV and In Session Facebook pages to vent. The comments mirror those that have been flooding into the TVNewser tip box since the change this morning:
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Several individual hours of programming saw triple-digit increases in the demographic: the 1oamET hour was up +108% compared to the previous four weeks, while the 11amET and 2pmET hour were up +107% and +123%, respectively.

Trial coverage was anchored by Vinnie Politan, Christi Paul and Ryan Smith. Additionally, correspondents Jean Casarez and Beth Karas offered joint coverage from the courthouse in Bellafonte, PA — the pair traded off so one was always on air, the other was always in court. They were aided by two Atlanta-based production teams. Sandusky was found guilty on 45 counts of child sex abuse Friday.

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The Daily Mail caught the mistake, and found video of the comment:

The Anthony trial has been taking up a large chunk of coverage on two Turner networks, TruTV and HLN. In the case of HLN, it has led to significant ratings increases.

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For years, the network formerly known as Headline News, kept the weekend primetime consistent with weekday programs: Jane Velez-Mitchell at 7pmET, Nancy Grace at 8, and Joy Behar at 9.

But beginning with this past Saturday night, the network debuted HLN Mysteries. The crime block, which aired from 7pmET to 6amET Sunday morning, features crime documentaries including “Body of Evidence: From the case files of Dayle Hinman” and “The Investigators”. These are re-purposed programs from sister channel truTV.

MSNBC has proven over the past few years that crime programming works in weekend prime. In fact, MSNBC regularly wins Saturday and Sunday nights in younger viewers with the Lockup prison documentary series.

In 2006 Time Warner bought the 50% of CourtTV it didn’t own, then renamed the network truTV on Jan. 1, 2008. The network’s “InSession” live court programming was moved from New York to Atlanta in 2009 and co-located with HLN.

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Time Warner acquired the network in 2006, and has since rebranded it as TruTV, replacing much of the legal news coverage with programs like ” Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura,” “Southern Fried Stings” and “Operation Repo.”

From the invite:

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She attributes the prison’s invitation to “old fashioned journalism and talking to sources” explaining that they had put in the request for a tour soon after arriving in the region. “One reason they wanted us to come in is that they focus on rehabilitation,” she told us. “They felt Castro Castro had been sensationalized by the world people and wanted everyone to know that its not what people think it is.”

The prison has become the latest hot topic for newsers on the van der Sloot beat. ABC News’ John Quinones also went inside Castro Castro for “Good Morning America.” (Video after the jump)

“It was extremely high security for us to get in: electronic fingerprints, pictures, passports, a full body scanner.” Casarez told us. She said she was given considerable access by the prison and toured van der Sloot’s cell while guards moved him to another building.

Casarez has been in Peru for two weeks, arriving shortly after van der Sloot arrived in Lima. “It’s really an amazing opportunity to be down here,” she told us. “People have been very forthcoming with information that we’ve been able to impart to the world.”

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After 18 years in New York, at 3pm today the lights went out at Court TV / In Session. So what now? “The crew plans to go out in style – at the bar across the street of course,” writes a tipster. “In Session” trial coverage will be produced by truTV’s sister network HLN in Atlanta beginning Monday.

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The other “In Session” host is Ryan Smith who has appeared as a legal commentator on many networks. He specializes in entertainment law and hosted a show on BET called “My Two Cents.”

The new “In Session” will feature reports from Beth Karas, who has been with the network since 1994.

In Session has also named three contributors: Mike Brooks, who will be the network’s law enforcement analyst, Midwin Charles and Sunny Hostin.

truTV remains based in New York but the daytime production “In Session,” which airs from 9amET-3pmET is shifting from studios in New York to studios in Atlanta. The production team in Atlanta is part of HLN.

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TVNewser hears there will be a wrap party for employees tonight near truTV’s headquarters on Manhattan’s east side.

The number of positions eliminated in New York is around 100, with up to 70 jobs created in Atlanta. Ten field staffers will be kept on for trial coverage including four reporter/lawyers and six producers.

Time Warner bought the 50% of CourtTV it didn’t own in 2006. The network was renamed truTV on Jan. 1, 2008.

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The live daytime programming from truTV’s headquarters on Manhattan’s east side will cease in mid-November. At that point
Turner Broadcasting’s HLN in Atlanta will provide programming for truTV’s daytime hours. Primetime reality programming will continue. truTV was the 10th most watched cable network in Total Day last week, ahead of CNN and MSNBC. In primetime, truTV was ranked #19, also ahead of CNN and MSNBC.

“It’s really sad,” one longtime staffer tells TVNewser.

truTV began as CourtTV in 1991. It made its name with gavel-to-gavel coverage of trials across the country, most notably OJ Simpson’s double murder trial in 1994-95. Time Warner had a 25% stake in CourtTV when it launched. It bought full control in 2006 and re-branded the channel on Jan. 1, 2008.

> Update: Insiders tell us the number of positions eliminated in New York is around 100, with up to 70 jobs created in Atlanta.

> Update (2): We’re told 10 of the current field staffers will be kept on for trial coverage: four reporter/lawyers and six producers.

> More: Statement from Turner Broadcasting: Production of truTV’s IN SESSION trial coverage will shift from New York to HLN in Atlanta, effective Nov. 16, to leverage the unrivaled production capabilities and infrastructure of the CNN organization, which includes HLN. This move will result in some position elimination in New York and position growth in Atlanta, which we are currently addressing. There will be no interruption to IN SESSION’s programming schedule. We are also restructuring truTV’s marketing staff, which will include a reduction of some positions in New York.

• After the jump, the internal memo from truTV EVP Marc Juris and CNN Worldwide EVP Ken Jautz…

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Banfield talks about her uneasy split several years ago with NBC News, after making a name for herself on MSNBC during and after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I begged for seventeen months to be let out of my contract. If they had no use for me, let’s just part ways amicably – no need for payouts, just a clean break. And Neal [Shapiro, NBC News president at the time] wouldn’t allow it. I don’t know what his rationale was – perhaps he thought I would take what I felt was a very strong brand, and others felt was a very strong brand, to another network and make a success of it. Maybe that’s why he chose to keep me in a warehouse. I will never forgive him for his cruelty and the manner in which he decided to dispose of me.”

Shapiro, who left NBC in 2005, responds: “I don’t recall events the same way Ashleigh does, but I am glad she has found personal and professional success and I wish her all the best.”

Banfield moved to CourtTV (now truTV) in 2005 and is the only non-lawyer anchoring on the network. Her on-air partner, former ABC and NBC anchor Jack Ford calls her “an absolute delight to work with” and says not being a lawyer works to her advantage. “She brings to the show the kind of curiosity a juror would bring,” he says.

“I know this is my lot,” Banfield says. “If I want to be successful in this business, I’m going to have to take it on the chin and cope with it. This business is not for the thin-skinned, and I don’t know that I have the thickest of skins.”

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TVNewser has reached out to truTV for comment.

> More: truTV has sent a statement to TVNewser, stating that Bloom “plans to move to Los Angeles to be closer to her family and to pursue a new chapter in her career, including book writing and reporting.” Her last day as Open Court anchor has not yet been determined.

The full statement, after the jump…

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Ashleigh Banfield was supposed to be the new (bespectacled) face of NBC way back in 2000 when – pretty much overnight – she went from afternoon anchor on MSNBC to the hottest pistol in TV news.

But it all fell apart as quickly as it had come together for her. There were reports she was difficult to work with and sulky.

She wandered in the desert (like Luke Skywalker) for a few years, married, had a couple of kids.

This year, the former MSNBC anchor is back on cable – where she started. Banfield kept the glasses and found new confidence. She joined TruTV (the old Court TV) as the only anchor without a law background – reinventing herself as a legal eagle.

Banfield is the only tvnewser on the list. Others include “Oprah’s health nut”, Dr. Mehmet Oz and new American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi.

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Anybody know anything?

• Earlier: CourtTV Adjourns…

> More from an emailer: “I’ve heard it’s more than ‘afoot’…that it’s a web based gavel-to-gavel network claiming to program multiple trials at the same time; consumer info; caught on tape segments, etc. Former CourtTV people are involved (there are lots of them) and it sounds like the launch is late 3rd quarter early 4th quarter this year…OJ?”

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