1 trial, 2 TV shows on it

CNN and sister network HLN have a nightly hour on the Zimmerman trial.

NEW YORK — HLN network chief executive Scot Safon resisted any impulse to call his boss, Jeff Zucker, to say “What are you doing to me?” when he learned that CNN scheduled a nightly hour on the George Zimmerman murder trial for the same time HLN was airing one.

So far, the call hasn’t been necessary.

The CNN sister networks did well the first few nights they competed against each other to recap events in the Florida trial in which neighborhood watch volunteer Zimmerman is accused of murder in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.

Focus on the Zimmerman trial fit naturally in the 7 p.m. Pacific time slot that HLN (formerly CNN Headline News) is using for “HLN After Dark,” a show that started this spring to cover the Jodi Arias murder trial. It was such a success that it attracted the attention of CNN, which has been searching for something new to put on at that hour.

“If someone else is doing it, I would rather have them doing it,” Safon said. “I work for CNN.”

Although he didn’t initiate any corporate battle over CNN’s “Self Defense or Murder?” show, “I looked at it very carefully,” Safon said.

During its first four days on the air, CNN’s “Self Defense or Murder?” averaged 597,000 viewers, the Nielsen Co. said. That was up 41% from what it had been averaging at that time on Mondays through Thursdays during the previous month and instantly made it the network’s most popular show in prime time.

HLN’s “After Dark” averaged 463,000 viewers on Monday through Thursday, up 55% from its average over the past month though below its peak during the Arias trial, Nielsen said.

CNN has been testing different formats for its 7 p.m. hour, which has essentially been filled with either a repeat of Anderson Cooper’s 5 p.m. newscast or, on busy nights, a new one. Cooper has been involved in some of the experiments and hosted “Self Defense or Murder?”

Scheduled initially as a one-week test, the Zimmerman-focused hour is expected to continue because the ratings are so strong. CNN declined a request to have an executive talk about its plans.

“At times I wish we were not talking about the exact same stories,” Safon said. But he noted that the two programs are different in their approaches and play to the strength of each network. Zucker runs both networks as head of CNN Worldwide, and has paid close attention to beefing up CNN’s prime-time lineup.

The Cooper-anchored hour on CNN is a more sober recap of the events; “After Dark” is more stylized. The show’s format is to have a dozen members of the public acting as the jury while lawyers familiar with the case argue both sides of a particular issue addressed in that day’s testimony.

HLN gave birth to “After Dark” in much the same way that ABC’s “Nightline” was invented more than three decades ago. Both shows started as a way to provide extra coverage of an ongoing story (for “Nightline,” it was the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81) and continued after the initial story ended.

Until this spring, HLN aired a rerun of Nancy Grace’s 5 p.m. show at 7. But network executives looked for a way to prolong its coverage of Arias, a woman convicted of stabbing and shooting her boyfriend in suburban Phoenix, when her trial proved popular and lengthy. Why not give a forum to the experts hired by the network to talk about the Arias case, since they loved to talk about it after hours anyway?

In addition to lawyers, the “jury” offers a way to bring in members of the public following the case closely.

Trials are by nature theatrical, Safon said. He wanted a show that would ref lect that, one that was lively and engaging but not descend into silliness.

Producers are keeping their eyes open for other trials that might trigger interest among viewers.

“The conclusion that we came to is that there is always stuff happening in the court of public opinion,” Safon said.