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Cloo, formerly known as Sleuth, was an American
pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
channel owned and operated by
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
which aired programming originally dedicated to the
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
and mystery
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
s, though in its later years it occasionally aired series and films unrelated to these genres, and was used as an example of channel drift and superfluous channel bundling, presenting series easily found through other venues. The channel launched on January 1, 2006, replacing Trio, and closed on February 1, 2017. , approximately 25,495,000 American households (21.9% of households with television) received Cloo, though this declined with later removals by several cable services as carriage agreements expired.


History

Cloo focused on mystery entertainment, with the majority of the channel's programming sourced from fellow Comcast networks such as NBC and
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
. By 2016, the network's schedule was made up mostly of repeats of USA Network series, and marathons of acquired series from the '' Law and Order'', '' NCIS'', and '' CSI'' franchises, along with the original ''
MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the MacGyver (1985 TV series), 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in Mac ...
'' and ''
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
''. Films from the NBCUniversal library or acquired as part of USA Network's film rights purchases were also part of the schedule, meaning films having nothing to do with crimes or mysteries, such as '' Enchanted'', '' The 40 Year-Old Virgin'' and '' Bee Movie'' aired on the network. On August 15, 2011, Sleuth was renamed as Cloo in order for NBCU to be able to trademark and own the name, as the word " clue" itself is too common a name to be trademark-able and the commonness of both "sleuth" and "clue" would not work for
search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of Web traffic, website traffic to a website or a web page from web search engine, search engines. SEO targets unpaid search traffic (usually referred to as ...
. In addition, the different spelling averted any confusion with
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
's board game Clue.Exclusive: Newly Rebranded Cloo TV Picks Up First Original Series
''TV Guide'' July 15, 2011


Carriage decline and closure

On August 10, 2013, Cloo was removed by Dish Network, which cited that most of the network's rerun-centric programming was duplicative of that available on other networks and streaming services. A year later on August 18, 2014, it was removed from Verizon FIOS for the same reason. Charter Communications (
Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
, Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable) removed the channel with its services in January 2017, as with Esquire Network (another Comcast/NBCU network which was closed on June 28, 2017), when it refused to continue their carriage of Cloo within their new carriage agreements with NBCUniversal, removing around 2/3 of the network's homes and reducing to 8.5 million households. NBCU already had been looking to remove extraneous channels without original programming since the summer of 2016, criteria which Cloo, Chiller, and Esquire fell into. In the end, however, industry media had little to no notice of the closure, and only cable providers learned of its closure in advance on January 31 as of 5:59 a.m. ET from Comcast, due to the limited amount of time between Charter's settlement of their new NBCUniversal carriage agreement and the channel's sudden closure. Because the channel was effectively automated with little to no promotions to maintain, no employees were affected by the channel's closure. On February 1, 2017, its social media presences were removed, and the website redirected to the USA Network site without any notice. The network's last broadcast day consisted of a full-series marathon of Syfy's '' Continuum''. Following the end credits of the last episode, a slide was shown, with the Cloo logo and the words "GOOD NIGHT!" underneath, along with "Thank you for watching Cloo", the NBCUniversal logo, and the name of the satellite that provided Cloo's broadcast (AMC 10, Transponder 7) in between two NBC logos, along with the common NBC off-air audio test using the network's trademark chimes.Cloo has Ceased Operations on February 1, 2017 - YouTube
/ref> Shortly after Cloo's shutdown, NBCUniversal announced that the female-focused network
Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
would be refocused as a
true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...
channel to fill a void left by Cloo's closure, which occurred several months later.


Programming

On September 17, 2011, Cloo premiered two original series, both of which were cancelled after their first seasons. * ''Dateline on Cloo'', featuring repurposed '' Dateline NBC'' episodes focused on true-crime stories. * ''Killer Instinct'', a 13-part true-crime series featuring criminal profiler Mark Safarik. The channel originally featured crime and mystery programming from NBCUniversal's extensive library of feature films, classic television shows, reality series and documentaries. Programming initially included popular and cult television series such as ''
Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...
'', '' Miami Vice'', ''
The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...
'', '' Dragnet'' (1967–70 version), '' Emergency!'', '' Adam-12'', '' Knight Rider'', '' The Equalizer'', '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', '' JAG'', '' Profiler'', '' Magnum, P.I.'', '' The Rockford Files'', '' The Burning Zone'' and more recent canceled series such as '' EZ Streets'', '' Karen Sisco'', and '' Deadline'', ''
Conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...
'', and ''
Medical Investigation ''Medical Investigation'' is an American medical drama television series that began September 9, 2004, on NBC. It ran for 20 one-hour episodes before its cancellation on March 25, 2005. The series was co-produced by Paramount Network Televisio ...
''. Much of this older programming eventually migrated to sister digital subchannel network Cozi TV. As Sleuth, it also aired mystery and suspense films such as '' Scarface'', '' The Jackal'', ''
Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
'', ''
Sneakers Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...
'' and '' Mercury Rising''. On February 25, 2007, the channel aired a fourteen-hour movie marathon entitled "Chiller On Sleuth" to promote the launch of
Chiller A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via a vapor-compression refrigeration, vapor-compression, adsorption refrigeration, or absorption refrigerator, absorption refrigeration cycles. This liquid can then be circulated th ...
, a sister horror and
suspense Suspense is a state of anxiety or excitement caused by mysteriousness, uncertainty, doubt, or undecidedness. In a narrative work, suspense is the audience's excited anticipation about the plot or conflict (which may be heightened by a viol ...
programming that launched four days later on March 1; The movies that aired during this marathon are '' Wait Until Dark'', '' Psycho'', '' I Saw What You Did'' (the 1988 version), and '' The Island''. Also, before this, on February 23 and 24, 2007, a preview of Chiller aired on The 101 Network (which was at channel 101 on
DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...
). In January 2009, all shows from the lineup were removed and replaced with mainly
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
-produced,
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
original shows, ''
Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
'' and '' In Plain Sight'' to its lineup, running marathons of each program's episodes. '' NCIS'' was added to the channel's lineup, as well as two Canadian series, '' Da Vinci's Inquest'' and '' Cold Squad'', which were barter syndication series which were mainly prevalent on low-tier local television stations and digital subchannel networks such as Retro TV. The '' Law & Order'' franchise also joined the channel. It also aired another Canadian series, '' The Eleventh Hour''. It aired instead as ''Bury the Lead'', to avoid confusion with '' Eleventh Hour'', a 2008 CBS series based on a British series unrelated to the Canadian concept. Besides the above-mentioned series and franchises, various other series aired from the
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...
library with rights through USA Network aired on Cloo, along with ''
Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action fiction, action Crime drama, crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both the film and the series starring Chuck Norr ...
'' before its rights to broadcast were expired in 2015, and moved to Grit and INSP. In September 2014, the rights to '' COPS'' previously held by now-defunct sister network G4 moved to Cloo until Spike (now Paramount Network) became sole owner of the cable syndication rights of ''COPS'' (which aired new episodes following its 2013 Fox cancellation) in early 2016.


See also

* Cozi TV, where much of the network's older programming has migrated to. * Trio, predecessor to Sleuth/Cloo


References

{{NBCUniversal 2006 establishments in the United States 2017 disestablishments in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2006 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017 Defunct television networks in the United States