Law&Crime and Court TV are preparing a six-series programming expansion under the name Partners in Crime, a fall 2026 initiative built around established on-air journalists, digital creators and an existing audio-podcast host. The slate will roll out from October through December across a mix of YouTube, Court TV’s FAST and linear outlets, the Law&Crime+ app, and social platforms.
The practical idea is straightforward: bring personalities who already have audiences into a broader true-crime and legal-news ecosystem, while giving viewers several routes to watch the same wider programming push. Rather than presenting one uniform kind of crime show, the announced lineup ranges from incident analysis and case misinformation coverage to a weekly one-hour series and a podcast making its network debut.
Six shows, six distinct formats and hosts
The first scheduled premiere is Court Wars With Cody Thomas, hosted by Court TV anchor Cody Thomas. It is due in October 2026 and is the slate’s clearest appointment-viewing entry: one-hour episodes are set to air every Saturday at 7 p.m. EST. It will be available on YouTube, Court TV FAST and linear, the Law&Crime+ app, and social platforms.
November brings four more projects. Code 3 With Ashleigh Banfield will feature broadcast journalist Ashleigh Banfield providing real-time analysis of law-enforcement incidents. “Real-time analysis” here means the show is positioned around interpreting events as they develop, rather than solely revisiting a closed case after the fact. That distinction matters for viewers: reporting and legal details can change quickly in active situations, and early information may later need clarification.
Court Junkie, hosted by Jillian Jalali, is an audio podcast moving into the network’s programming lineup. Its November launch is set for Court TV FAST and linear, the Law&Crime+ app, and social platforms. The move gives an audio-led true-crime program a place within a video and television distribution plan, though no further format details were announced.
Also arriving in November, Justice With Matt Johnson will be hosted by correspondent Matt Johnson and distributed on YouTube, Court TV FAST and linear, the Law&Crime+ app, and social platforms. MissInformation, hosted by digital-first journalist Marcella Baietto, is framed as a series that addresses misinformation around notorious crimes and cases. It is also scheduled for Court TV FAST and linear, the Law&Crime+ app, and social platforms.
The final announced addition is Boze vs. The World, featuring true-crime digital creator Ericka Bozeman. It is scheduled to premiere in December 2026 on YouTube, the Law&Crime+ app and social platforms. Court TV FAST and linear distribution was not listed for this title.
What FAST and linear distribution mean for viewers
The rollout uses several different distribution labels, which can sound more complicated than they are. Linear refers to scheduled programming: viewers tune in at a given time, as with a traditional channel schedule. FAST stands for free ad-supported streaming television. It generally describes a streaming channel experience supported by advertising rather than a paid subscription.
For this slate, the combination means programs can have both a schedule-based television home and digital avenues for audiences who increasingly watch on YouTube, apps and social platforms. Court Wars With Cody Thomas is the most explicit example of the schedule side, with its Saturday 7 p.m. EST slot. The platform list for the other series signals broad availability but does not establish episode lengths, release times, or whether all platforms will receive episodes simultaneously.
That is an important limit on what has been announced. The companies have identified hosts, broad show concepts, premiere months and platforms. They have not detailed episode counts, season lengths, case selections or the mechanics of each program’s release cadence beyond the weekly Saturday schedule for Court Wars.
A creator-led strategy for true-crime coverage
The initiative is deliberately centered on recognizable hosts. The stated strategy is to connect creator trust and digital reach with Law&Crime and Court TV’s legal focus. Bobby Szoke, executive vice president of social media and YouTube strategy at Law&Crime, described the goal as building with creators, connecting digital audiences and offering deeper, more frequent access to cases across the places people watch.
In practice, that approach recognizes that a true-crime audience is not confined to one screen or one format. A viewer might encounter a host through short-form social video, follow a longer discussion on YouTube, listen to an audio program, or turn to scheduled television coverage. The six-show plan reaches across each of those behaviors without making every show identical.
MissInformation is particularly notable in that context because its announced purpose is debunking misinformation. Crime stories can generate intense public attention, fragmented social discussion and claims that travel faster than confirmation. A show focused on misinformation suggests an editorial role beyond simple recap coverage. At the same time, the announcement does not specify its fact-checking process, the types of cases it will cover, or whether its episodes will be tied to current events, older cases, or both.
Similarly, Code 3 With Ashleigh Banfield is aimed at law-enforcement incidents, while Justice With Matt Johnson is identified through its host but has not yet received a more detailed format description. Viewers interested in a particular kind of program should therefore treat the current slate as a release roadmap, not a full season guide.
How the new programs fit the existing lineup
The six titles will join existing programming that includes VPI: Vinnie Politan Investigates, Sidebar with Jesse Weber and Scandal with Sierra Gillespie. Together, the additions broaden the number of named hosts and entry points across the Law&Crime and Court TV lineup.
There is also a broader media trend at work in the mix of a podcast, digital-first reporting, YouTube distribution and scheduled television. Personality-led formats can give audiences a clear place to start, while the shared network and app infrastructure can connect programs that otherwise have different styles. Podcast audiences may find a visual or television companion; television viewers may discover hosts whose work is more native to social and digital video.
That overlap does not mean every show will appear everywhere. The announced platform plans differ by title. Boze vs. The World, for instance, is listed for YouTube, Law&Crime+ and social platforms, while the November titles and Court Wars include Court TV FAST and linear in their announced distribution. Checking the platform listing for each program will be more useful than assuming the entire initiative follows one release model.
The strategy also arrives at a time when podcasting remains a meaningful part of the wider entertainment conversation. For another example of a personality-based podcast format, see this report on a weekly podcast built around a rotating panel. The Law&Crime and Court TV slate differs in subject and distribution, but its inclusion of Court Junkie similarly shows how audio brands can be incorporated into multiplatform plans.
Fall 2026 release calendar
- October 2026: Court Wars With Cody Thomas, with one-hour episodes every Saturday at 7 p.m. EST, on YouTube, Court TV FAST and linear, Law&Crime+ and social platforms.
- November 2026: Code 3 With Ashleigh Banfield, on YouTube, Court TV FAST and linear, Law&Crime+ and social platforms.
- November 2026: Court Junkie, on Court TV FAST and linear, Law&Crime+ and social platforms.
- November 2026: Justice With Matt Johnson, on YouTube, Court TV FAST and linear, Law&Crime+ and social platforms.
- November 2026: MissInformation, on Court TV FAST and linear, Law&Crime+ and social platforms.
- December 2026: Boze vs. The World, on YouTube, Law&Crime+ and social platforms.
For viewers, the biggest immediate takeaway is the staggered release rather than a single launch day. The first title arrives in October, the bulk of the slate follows in November, and Bozeman’s series closes out the announced rollout in December. With the stated emphasis on creators, legal coverage and multiplatform access, Partners in Crime is designed as an ongoing expansion of the existing true-crime lineup rather than a one-off event.
