Sony Crime Channel
Sony Crime Channel was a British free-to-air television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television that specialised in crime dramas, crime documentaries and true-crime programming. It launched on 6 February 2018, replacing the original Sony Channel and the free-to-air True Crime channel on Freeview and Freesat, and closed abruptly on 9 June 2020 after just over two years on air. Aimed chiefly at a female audience of crime-television fans, it combined prestige US dramas, British crime series and true-crime reality content before ratings decline and corporate restructuring brought it to an end. Its slot on Sky was subsequently occupied by Court TV.
Launch and Origins
Sony Crime Channel launched on 6 February 2018 as part of a reshuffle of Sony Pictures Television's free-to-air entertainment portfolio in the United Kingdom. It was created by merging two existing Sony properties: the True Crime channel, which had broadcast true-crime documentaries, and the original Sony Channel, Sony's general entertainment station. The consolidation meant that crime programming from both services was brought together under a single brand, with Sony Crime Channel taking the place of the Sony Channel on the electronic programme guides of major platforms, and taking True Crime's place on Freeview and Freesat.
The launch was announced by Sony in January 2018, with trade publication Deadline Hollywood reporting that the studio would launch a free-to-air crime channel on 6 February by merging True Crime and the entertainment station Sony Channel. From day one, the channel was positioned as a one-stop destination for crime fans, promising a blend of drama, documentary and reality programming from Sony's own library and acquired catalogues.
Ownership and Corporate Background
The channel was wholly owned by Sony Pictures Television, the television production and distribution arm of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Sony Pictures Television had operated a growing portfolio of UK free-to-air channels during the 2010s, including Sony Channel, True Entertainment, True Movies, True Crime and Movies4Men. The Sony Crime Channel launch was one of several branding experiments Sony conducted in the UK market as it sought to differentiate its channels in an increasingly competitive free-to-air landscape dominated by Channel 4, ITV, UKTV and the Discovery and Viacom portfolios.
Sky Media, the advertising sales house that represented the channel, described it at launch as a destination for crime fans to immerse themselves in the genre, aimed at a predominantly female audience. This demographic targeting was a deliberate choice: crime drama and true-crime documentaries were known to draw strong female viewership, and Sony wanted a distinct identity for the service rather than a generic entertainment channel.
Programming: Crime Drama
At launch, Sony Crime Channel offered a schedule built around crime drama. Its flagship acquisition was the free-to-air premiere of Orange Is the New Black, the critically acclaimed Netflix prison drama, which was a notable coup for a free-to-air channel at the time. Alongside it, the channel aired reruns of long-running US procedurals including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, one of the most successful crime franchises in television history, and the British con-artist drama Hustle.
The channel also drew on Sony's own catalogue of crime content, including series distributed by Sony Pictures Television and content inherited from the former True Crime channel. The mix was designed to give viewers both contemporary prestige drama and dependable repeat comfort viewing, a formula that had worked for other crime-oriented channels in the UK.
Programming: True Crime and Documentaries
Alongside scripted drama, Sony Crime Channel carried true-crime documentaries and factual crime programming inherited from the True Crime channel. This included documentary series covering famous criminal cases, forensic science and criminal investigations. The factual strand complemented the drama schedule and gave the channel a consistent genre identity across the day, reinforcing its positioning as the home of crime on free-to-air television.
Freeview and Freesat Availability
Sony Crime Channel was widely available at launch on the UK's free platforms, taking the slots previously held by True Crime and Sony Channel on Freeview and Freesat, alongside carriage on satellite and cable. However, availability began to shrink within its first year. In May 2019, a month before a major downgrade of the channel's output, it was withdrawn from Freesat and moved to the G-MAN multiplex on Freeview, a local multiplex serving Manchester only, on channel 60. This dramatically reduced its potential audience. Around the same time, its broadcast hours were cut to a limited overnight and early-morning window from 4:00 to 6:00, and its +1 timeshift service was replaced by Movies4Men +1. These Freeview changes were connected to the movement of True Entertainment and True Movies to the local multiplex.
The 2019 Downgrade
In June 2019, Sony announced that the channel would be downgraded as a result of low ratings. Its drama output was scaled back and the channel's schedule shifted toward reality crime programming, a style similar to that of its now-defunct sister channels True Crime and TruTV. The move reflected a broader pattern in the UK free-to-air market, where drama rights had become expensive and niche channels increasingly relied on cheaper reality and documentary content. Prior to the downgrade, the channel had already lost its national Freeview and Freesat presence, leaving it with a much smaller footprint.
In September 2019, as part of a wider revamp of Sony's entertainment portfolio in the UK, Sony Crime Channel stood out as the only channel without any sign of change: Sony Channel was relaunched, True Entertainment swapped Sky places with the crime channel, and the channel continued in its reduced form. Sony Crime Channel was replaced by Sony Channel +1 on Freeview, and at the end of the following month, Sony Crime Channel +1 closed on Sky.
Closure
The channel abruptly closed on 9 June 2020. The shutdown was announced and executed quickly, ending the channel's run after just over two years. Following the closure, its former Sky slot was eventually occupied by Court TV, the US courtroom and true-crime network, which launched its UK feed in the same slot.
In August 2020, an editor of the website TV Channel Lists noticed that the Sony Crime Channel feed had begun broadcasting colour bars again, sparking brief speculation that the channel might return. However, by September 2020 the Sky slot had been taken by Court TV, confirming that Sony had no plans to revive the brand.
Target Audience
Sky Media's channel profile at launch described Sony Crime Channel as having a predominantly female audience and presented it as a vibrant destination for crime fans. The emphasis on female viewers was notable in a genre often assumed to skew male, and it reflected industry research showing that women were among the most enthusiastic consumers of true-crime documentaries and crime drama. The channel's idents, promos and scheduling were all designed around this audience, with the launch marketing promising heart-pounding thrills, engrossing characters and stunning reveals.
Legacy and Place in UK Television
Although it lasted only two years, Sony Crime Channel illustrated several trends in British television during the late 2010s. It demonstrated Sony Pictures Television's willingness to experiment with genre-specific branding on free-to-air platforms, the increasing cost pressures on drama acquisition, and the way channel operators used local multiplexes and reduced hours to keep marginal channels alive before closure. Its merger of True Crime and the original Sony Channel also marked the beginning of the end for Sony's UK free-to-air entertainment portfolio, which was wound down and restructured in subsequent years.
Key Facts
Sony Crime Channel launched on 6 February 2018, replacing the original Sony Channel and True Crime on Freeview and Freesat. It was owned by Sony Pictures Television, broadcast in 576i 16:9 SDTV, and targeted a predominantly female audience with crime drama, true-crime documentaries and reality crime programming. Its output was downgraded in June 2019 after low ratings, its Freeview carriage was reduced to Manchester-only and its hours cut to 4:00 to 6:00, and the channel closed on 9 June 2020, with Court TV taking its Sky slot.
