With the Jodi Arias trial almost wrapped up, HLN will try to capitalize on its ratings success with programming devoted to the upcoming trial of George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin. HLN plans to present continuous coverage of the trial proceedings, which begin June 10. “After Dark,” which is getting a permanent place in the primetime lineup, will also be devoted to the Zimmerman trial beginning in June. The network has also slated a preview special, “Zimmerman Police Tapes,” for Memorial Day.

In other programming changes: HLN will premiere “Secret Lives with Jane Velez-Mitchell,” a weekly program devoted to the scandals of public figures like Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods, in July. Velez-Mitchell will host a preview of the new show on May 30 at 7pmET.

The network will also devote the first week in June to “America Behind Bars,” featuring reports about people who are in jail. Nancy Grace will host a two-night special on June 5 and 6 devoted to the Estrella women’s jail in Phoenix, where Arias has been incarcerated.

More from HLN after the jump. Read more

HLN is coming off of a number of record-breaking months in terms of viewership, bolstered by coverage of the Jodi Arias trial, which culminated with last week’s guilty verdict. In a memo to staff this afternoon obtained by TVNewser, HLN executive VP Scot Safon  congratulated the team on their work, and previewed what HLN has coming down the pipeline.

Among the changes: “HLN After Dark” will become a full-time member of HLN’s nightly lineup, where it will focus “on stories (trials and otherwise) in the ‘court of public opinion,’” according to Safon’s note.  The channel is also gearing up for its next big trial, that of George Zimmerman, which begins June 10th, and the Daytime Emmy Awards on June 16th. There are also Nancy Grace, Dr. Drew Pinsky and Jane Velez-Mitchell specials in the works.

Read Safon’s full note to HLN staff, below.
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After a Phoenix jury handed down a guilty verdict in the Jodi Arias trial this week, Jon Stewart turned his attention to HLN’s “dark mistress,” Nancy Grace.

“It’s a sad story all around,” Stewart said. “No one relishes a moment like this. Nobody delights in the gruesome spectacle. Nobody slurps each lurid detail like it was a perverse joy, like they were an engorged tragedy tick. Nobody would do — wait a minute, is that Nancy Grace?” Watch:

The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of Jodi Arias, and it will be read at 4:30pmET  today.

For HLN, it will be the biggest story since the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial in July 2011. That day delivered the highest ratings in HLN’s history.

Arias has already propelled HLN to strong ratings over the last few months, often topping both sister network CNN and MSNBC, and even occasionally Fox News in some hours. HLN also became a part of the trial, with correspondent Jean Casarez taking the stand to be quizzed about a scene she saw outside the courthouse. Then there is the Twitter account in Jodi Arias’ name, managed by her friend. The account criticized HLN and Nancy Grace for its coverage.

Expect live coverage on the cable news channels, particularly HLN (control room shot from just before the verdict, below) and CNN, which have covered the trial extensively in primetime on both channels. Fox News and MSNBC will also cover the verdict live.

Update: At 4:32, Nancy Grace says that there is “a fly in the ointment,” as things are running two minutes late.

“Justice is a couple of minutes late, six minutes to be exact”– Grace at 4:36.

THE VERDICT: At 4:49pmET, Arias is found guilty of first degree murder.

“There is a verdict, guilty on murder one,” Grace says, tearing up on camera. “What a dichotomy, I can hear in my ear the quietness in the courtroom as the verdict is read and I can hear the cheers of the crowd behind me as the verdict is read.”

The jury in the Jodi Arias trial will begin its second full day of deliberations today. Meanwhile, the sensational Arizona murder case is continuing to draw big viewership for HLN, which has given the most courtroom and analysis coverage of the cable news networks.

Arias, who spent 19 days on the witness stand, has confessed to fatally shooting her boyfriend Travis Alexander in June, 2008, but she says she doesn’t remember much after that, including how Alexander ended up with 27 stab wounds.

All of this has made for compelling TV for trial junkies. As the case made its way to the jury late last week, HLN was the number one cable news network in both Total Day and Primetime among younger viewers Thursday and Friday. (HLN and FNC tied for the day Thursday each drawing an average of 254,000 viewers).

HLN has been dedicating nearly all of its coverage to the murder trial of Jodi Arias, accused of killing her boyfriend in a fit of rage. Arias is in prison, where she does not have access to a computer.

Her friend Donavan Bering is not in jail however, and Arias has apparently been dictating tweets to Bering on the phone to be shared on the service.

Arias takes aim at HLN in a tweet:

HLN is an acronym for Haters Love Negativity.

— Jodi Arias (@Jodiannarias) March 9, 2013

She also directed a tweet at HLN star Nancy Grace, though it has since been deleted.

You can see her full feed here.

Ratings are in for the cable news networks’ wall-to-wall coverage of yesterday’s announcement of a new Pope. Fox News averaged the most viewers in both ratings measurements during the heart of coverage between 2-4pmET, drawing 2,232,000 Total Viewers 443,000 in the demo. CNN was second with 1,497,000 Total Viewers and 420,000 A25-54 viewers. HLN was third with 913,000 and 315,000, and MSNBC was fourth with 597,000 and 142,000, respectively.

In the 2pmET hour, which was when the white smoke first appeared, Fox News was on top among Total Viewers and in the adults 25-54 demo. During the 3pmET hour, when Pope Francis I was introduced and spoke for the first time, Fox News won in Total Viewers while CNN led the way in the key demo.

And in a sign that intense interest in the Jodi Arias trial continues, HLN — which covered the Papal announcement and speech but stayed mostly on the trial — came in third for both hours, beating MSNBC. In primetime, HLN came in third in Total Viewers and second in A25-54 viewers. The premiere of “After Dark,” the network’s new show about the Arias trial, won the 10 p.m. timeslot among younger viewers.

2:00-3:00 p.m.:

FNC: 1,901,000 Total Viewers (391,000 A25-54)

CNN: 1,188,000 Total Viewers (325,000 A25-54)

HLN: 896,000 Total Viewers (297,000 A25-54)

MSNBC: 461,000 Total Viewers (108,000 A25-54)

3:00-4:00 p.m.:

FNC: 2,545,000 Total Viewers (495,000 A25-54)

CNN: 1,805,000 Total Viewers (513,000 A25-54)

HLN: 930,000 Total Viewers (334,000 A25-54)

MSNBC : 730,000 Total Viewers (175,000 A25-54)

The obsession with the Jodi Arias trial continues. This week, HLN will premiere “After Dark: The Jodi Arias Trial,” a nightly show with a live studio audience. The program premieres Wednesday and will run Monday-Thursday for the duration of the trial.

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.

Today is the day that TruTV trimmed its dayside court coverage In Session down to two hours a day from six hours a day. TruTV laid off a number of staffers as a result of the cutback. In its place the network is airing some acquired series, as well as replays of primetime originals like “Lizard Lick Towing.”

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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Here’s one way to guage how the Jodi Arias trial is captivating a sector of cable news viewers. Our anonymous tips box is filling up with comments, questions and theories from trial watchers who A) think we’re HLN, B) that we have a line Arias’ attorney, or C) we’re as captivated as they are. (Okay, maybe we are a little bit). Here’s a sampling from just the last few hours.

• why wouldn’t travis go for the gun instead of body slamming her? i don’t think he had one.

• Why doesn’t the Judge stop Jodi’s Lawyer from smiling and laughing while his client is on the stand?

• She is an abused woman. Where is her dad… what kind of relationship did she have with her father?

• O MY GOD,SHE IS SO VERY GUILTY SHE IS A MONSTER

As Alex wrote earlier, the trial is drawing high ratings for HLN which has spent the most time covering it. More proof: last night, HLN’s 7pm show “Jane Velez Mitchell” beat FNC, MSNBC and CNN in younger viewers and was #2 behind Fox News in total viewers.