As Law&Crime Prepares to Lead National Coverage of Harvey Weinstein Trial, We Talk to Founder (And Our Boss) Dan Abrams

In just two years, Law&Crime Network has become the leading legal network in the country and the only one covering multiple live trials gavel to gavel. Now available on most major OTT platforms including Sling, Comcast Xfinitiy, Philo, Samsung TV Plus, (among many others) as well as basic cable providers including internationally on Cable Bahamas, the network is gearing up for numerous big cable launches in 2020. In the meantime, the sexual assault trial of former movie producer Harvey Weinstein is slated to begin on Monday, January 6 and Law&Crime is preparing for the most comprehensive coverage of what is expected to be a several months-long trial.

We spoke to founder Dan Abrams to discuss the upcoming trial, coverage and the future of the network.

Q: Why will the Weinstein trial be so big for the network?

The revelations about Weinstein’s alleged assault and harassment of dozens of women set off a national movement and yet he continues to maintain his innocence. That is the makings of an important and compelling trial.

In the past, every cable news network would likely be covering a high profile trial like this in depth with multiple daily reports but in the age of President Trump, the cable nets have other things on their minds so we have become the place to get the news about trials and this will be one of our biggest to date. We will have top reporters and producers there who will also be appearing on our air and other national news broadcasts as experts.

Q: Will all of your coverage focus on that trial during those months?

No. The start of 2020 is shaping up to be a very busy time for us. In addition to Weinstein and some other big trials, we will be covering the murder trial of real estate tycoon Robert Durst who is accused of murdering his friend Susan Berman.

But we already have been airing special hours on the Weinstein case and will continue to devote time to it each day. We will also have regular reports from the courthouse throughout our other coverage and will break in for any major developments.

Q: What existing networks do you compare yourself to?

Well we certainly have certain synergies with other crime networks like Discovery ID, Oxygen and to some degree A&E (which owns a stake in the network) although they do a lot of different things. But what’s is amazing is that we don’t have a real competitor doing what we do with live trial coverage and so that has really worked to our advantage. Other networks and productions often come to us for footage or expertise.

Q: How will the network change or evolve in 2020?

First and foremost, we will be making a number of announcements about major cable providers who will soon be offering Law&Crime Network to their subscribers in 2020. That will significantly grow the business. We will also continue to build out our production arm Law&Crime Productions which is already working with many major networks to create premium true crime content.

Q: Is there one production that has been the biggest for you so far?

Well Court Cam on A&E seems to have been the number one rated new cable series for 2019 in the key demographic so that was pretty exciting. But it was also so rewarding to see the very first episode in one of our series for Facebook Watch called Vanished (about missing children) get liked and shared almost 2 million times in its first week. The families of the victims were so appreciative which is a different, more significant kind of reward.

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