TruTV orders shows for brand refresh

US cablenet TruTV is refreshing its brand with six new programmes intended to attract a younger audience of what the company calls “funseekers.”

Shows on the slate include Idaho-based docusoap Way Out West from Rogue Atlas Productions in association with Lionsgate Television, and Local News (working title) from Electus, which follows a cub reporter working in a small town.

A further 13 episodes of comedic reality show The Carbonaro Effect from Fields Entertainment and 11 Television have also been ordered ahead of the first season’s debut in May, while sketch show Jokers Wild! will be produced by NorthSouth.

Motoring renovation show Motor City Masters, from Bunim/Murray Productions, and Aegis Media’s The Story Lab and Shine America’s Fake-Off, which recreates iconic moments in pop culture, are also on the slate.

The new commissions from the Turner Broadcasting-owned network are part of a drive to attract “a dual-gender audience that looks for television to take them on a fun ride that both surprises and entertains.”

Chris Linn, head of programming for TruTV, said the new programmes included “big swings in new areas including reality/scripted hybrid shows, sketch comedy, docusoaps and competition elimination as we continue to shape and evolve the truTV brand.”