Oxygen Greenlights 8 Series Amid Transition to Crime Network

Oxygen Media, expanding into the crime programming genre, said it greenlit eight new series and acquired Dateline: Secrets Uncovered.

The new projects come from producers including BuzzFeed, Dick Wolf, Ice-T, Soledad O'Brien and Nancy Grace.

In connection with the network's new focus, it unveiled a new yellow and black logo. Since becoming a crime destination for women, total day ratings are up 48% from a year ago among total viewers.

This new slate has a great mix of high stakes real time crime investigation and innovative formats that allows viewers to stay engaged from beginning to end with immersive storytelling, said Rod Aissa, executive VP of original programming and development at Oxygen Media, part of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It's a real differentiator in our programming, and we're thrilled to be working with some of the sharpest talent and producers in the genre.

Oxygen also said it had two new projects in development.

This investment in premium video content is a strong signal to our industry partners as they continue to seek out quality environments for their brand messages, said Laura Molen, executive VP of Lifestyle and Hispanic Advertising Sales at NBCUniversal. We know that crime programming delivers an engaged, passionate consumer and we're excited to deliver these audiences to marketers as they continue to advance their business priorities.

Here are Oxygen's new series, with descriptions provided by the network:

What Happened to Jessica Chambers? (working title): Produced by Wilshire Studios and BuzzFeed Motion Pictures with Joe Berlinger and Matthew Henick serving as Executive Producer. This active crime investigation docu-series takes a deep dive into the mysterious death of Jessica Chambers, the Mississippi teen who was doused with gasoline and set on fire in December of 2014. The series is inspired by the investigative journalism of BuzzFeed News' Senior National Reporter Katie J.M. Baker, who reported Chambers' story, uncovering developments and helping raise awareness about the case. Executive Produced by Academy Award nominated, two-time Emmy and Peabody Award winner Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, the Paradise Lost Trilogy and Intent to Destroy), the series looks at the mystery and unanswered questions surrounding Chambers' death, which has made it one of the most-talked about cases on the internet. In 2016, a grand jury indicted Quinton Tellis, 27, charging him with capital murder. Tellis has pled not guilty to the charge. A trial date has been set for October of 2017, which Wilshire Studios plans to cover as part of production.

Mysteries and Scandals: Produced by Wilshire Studios with Jason Sklaver and Soledad O'Brien serving as Executive Producer. Hosted and executive produced by multiple Emmy and Peabody Award winner Soledad O'Brien, this new true crime series investigates Hollywood's most intriguing criminals, murders and cases of corruption, exploring infamous headlines that captured the nation's attention using archival footage, new interviews and stylized depictions of past events.

Final Appeal: Produced by Peacock Productions with Sharon Scott, Elizabeth Waller, Melody Shafir and Siobhan Walshe serving as Executive Producers. Brian Banks was a star football player with NFL aspirations before he was wrongfully convicted. He spent five years behind bars until he was fully exonerated a decade later. The series will follow Brian along with former prosecutor, Loni Coombs, as they attempt to unravel details of criminal cases where the defendants claim to have been wrongfully convicted. The series will expose viewers to a thrilling whodunit mystery as the puzzling cases unfold and potentially reveal new information that could change the fates of the suspected criminals.

Ice Cold Murder (working title): Produced by Asylum Entertainment with Steven Michaels and Jonathan Koch serving as Executive Producers along with Final Level Entertainment with Ice-T and Jorge Hinojosa serving as Executive Producers. Hosted by Ice-T, this series exposes outrageous tales and shocking true stories involving sex, money, murder and sometimes a fatal cocktail of all three. Captivating reenactments will spotlight the very dark side of playing with fire and the tangled webs of lust, greed and death.

Criminal Confessions: Produced by Wolf Reality and Shed Media with Dick Wolf, Tom Thayer, Pam Healey, John Hesling and Adam Kassen serving as Executive Producers. This series delves into the psychological showdown that takes place inside actual police interrogation rooms and dissects what happens to yield a confession. Each hour-long episode takes viewers through the twists and turns of a real homicide case from the crime scene to the suspects' questioning to the ultimate confession. The police officers and detectives assigned to each case will reveal their methodology while interviews with the suspects' and victims' friends and family will shed light on the crime. In every case, the interrogating officer will break the suspect and get a shocking reveal of what really happened.

The Disappearance of : is a series of multi-part documentaries that dive headfirst into a rabbit hole of unexplored leads, missing evidence and unnerving suspicion surrounding the most puzzling cases of young women who have gone missing. The first two cases in the franchise are:

The Disappearance of: Natalee Holloway: Produced by Brian Graden Media with Brian Graden, Dave Mace, LB Horschler and Alex Weresow serving as Executive Producers. Since her mysterious disappearance, Natalees family has been plagued by false leads and confessions of what happened that night. Then, two years ago, Natalee's father Dave Holloway, was presented with the most promising lead to date. A first-hand account from someone who claims

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