Police procedural Rizzoli & Isles premieres on multicast net Start TV Jan. 4. Starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander, Rizzoli & Isles will air 5 and 10 p.m. ET Monday-Sunday. 

Start TV offers programs “showcasing strong and resourceful female leading characters in a lineup of contemporary and proven procedural dramas,” in its own words. 

Rizzoli & Isles debuted on TNT in 2010 and ran for seven seasons. Harmon and Alexander play an odd couple, friends who work together to solve Boston’s most puzzling crimes. Harmon’s Detective Jane Rizzoli is brash and and Alexander’s medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles prefers a more methodical approach. 

Also starting Jan. 4, Ghost Whisperer, with Jennifer Love Hewitt, moves to 11 a.m. weekdays on Start TV and Cagney and Lacey moves to 4 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Complete coverage of the TCA Winter Press Tour available here.

Pasadena, Calif— Touting  a complete “reinvention” of TBS and TNT, the networks’ president, Kevin Reilly, said the veteran programming outlets will soon reflect a changing TV environment. 

Reilly, speaking Thursday (Jan. 7) at Turner’s Television Critics Association tour event, said the networks – through a four-pronged effort that will include the addition of quality originals, improved consumer experience, a new business paradigm and investments in growth – will radically change the struggling brands.

While Reilly admitted that the networks' ratings are down – mostly, he said, due to inadequate Nielsen measurement – he said the new strategy will bring greater fortunes to Turner.

“We tend to rewrite the rules for what a TV network is in the marketplace,” Reilly said. 

He conceded the transition won’t be easy, particularly in a crowded cable environment, and will take upward of about three years, but the networks are in it for the long run. 

“It will be a hairy couple of years, and we're going to feel it but we’ll fight though it,” he said.

Reilly wants to limit the number of ads in TNT shows in particular, and said the network is in negotiations to add eight to 10 minutes of additional content to one-hour shows this summer. A potential 50% ad load reduction next season for original hour-long shows would create "real change on the business structure," Reilly said.

Part of the transition will be moving on without Rizzoli and Isles. The upcoming seventh season of the female buddy-cop drama will be its last, Reilly said.

"It felt like it was time,” he said.

The 13-episode final season will premiere this summer.

Last month, TNT renewed drama series Major Crimes, The Librarians and Murder in the First, while opting not to renew Legends, Public Morals and Agent X.

Jessika Walsten of B&C contributed to this report.

Fox News was triumphant once again on the weekly ratings front, winning its fifth straight primetime weekly ratings race.

The news network’s average 1.86 million viewers barely bested ESPN’s 1.82 million watchers to finish in the top spot during the month on Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, according to Nielsen.

Disney Channel finished third with 1.5 million viewers, followed by HGTV and USA Network, which tied with 1.4 million viewers. TBS and History matched each other for fifth place for 1.3 million, while TNT followed closely with 1.2 million. ESPN2 (1.1 million) and Adult Swim (1 million) rounded out the top 10.

Nickelodeon topped Fox News on a total day basis, followed by Disney, Adult Swim and Cartoon Network.

TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles was the top-rated show of the week, while Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor placed two episodes among the top 10 most watched shows during the period, according to Nielsen.

DateShowNetworkTotal Viewers

9/1         Rizzoli & Isles                                                TNT                                        4.7 million

8/31       WWE Monday Night Raw                             USA                                       3.9 million

8/31       WWE Monday Night Raw                             USA                                       3.8 million

8/31       WWE Monday Night Raw                             USA                                       3.8 million

9/3         College Football (Live)                                  ESPN                                    3.6 million

8/31       Love & Hip Hop Atlanta                                 VH1                                        3.4 million

8/31       The O’Reilly Factor                                         Fox News                             3.3 million

9/1         The Haves and The Have Nots                    OWN                                     3.2 million

9/5         College Football (Live)                                   ESPN                                    3.2 million

9/2         The O’Reilly Factor                                          Fox News                            3.0 million

Source: Nielsen

USA Network was the most watched cable network in primetime over the seven-day period that included the July 4th holiday weekend, according to Nielsen.

USA averaged 1.6 million viewers to top all cable network during the week of June 29 to July 5, topping Discovery Channel, TNT and Fox News who tied for second with 1.5 million viewers.

HGTV and Disney Channel finished fifth with 1.4 million viewers, followed by TBS (1.2 million viewers), History (1.1 million) and FX and Food Network (1 million.)

Cartoon Network was the top choice for viewers on a 24-hour basis averaging 1.3 million viewers, followed by Disney Channel with 1.2 million viewers and Nickelodeon with 1 million viewers.

Discovery Channel was the most watched network among adults 18-49 in primetime during the week, while Adult Swim took top honors in the demo on a 24-hour basis.

TNT drama series Major Crimes and Rizzoli & Isles captured the top two slots among the most watched shows during a rare week in which a major live sporting event did not finish among the top 10, according to Nielsen.

Most Watched Shows On Cable During The Week Of June 29 to July 5

DateProgramNetworkTotal Viewers

6/29    Major Crimes                                                 TNT                  4.3 million

6/30    Rizzoli & Isles                                               TNT                  4.2 million

7/3       Alaskan Bush People                                    Discovery         3.5 million

6/29    WWE Monday Night Raw (9-10 p.m.)                USA                3.5 million

6/29    WWE Monday Night Raw (10-11:17 p.m.)          USA                3.4 million

6/29    WWE Monday Night Raw (8-9 p.m.)                  USA                3.3 million

6/30    The Haves and The Have Nots                         OWN               3.2 million

7/5       Island Of The Mega Shark                              Discovery         3.2 million

7/5       Monster Mako                                               Discovery          3.2 million

6/29    Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta                                  VH1                  2.9 million

Source: Nielsen

TNT has ordered a sixth season of its hit drama series Rizzoli & Isles, the network said Tuesday.

The drama network has commissioned 18 episodes for season six of the crime series starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander. TNT will air the second half of season five in early 2015, with season six debuting in summer 2015.

Rizzoli & Isles was the top series on basic cable this past summer, with 7.6 million viewers in Live + 7 delivery, said network officials. Rizzoli & Isles was also the second most watched series behind the network’s The Last Ship among adults 25-54 and within the Top five among adults 18-49 for the summer.

Rizzoli & Isles is produced for TNT by Warner Horizon Television and Bill Haber’s Ostar Productions, with Haber and showrunner Jan Nash serving as executive producers.

TNT’s action/adventure series The Liberians drew 5.4 million viewers Sunday night, the most watched new series premiere on cable in 2014, said the network. 

The series, based on TNT’s movie franchise of the same name, outdrew the 5.3 million viewers for TNT's June premiere of The Last Ship. The Librarians also drew a combined audience of 7.3 million viewers in Live + Same Day delivery for its two-hour premiere.

The series, which stars Rebecca Romijn (X-Men), Christian Kane (Leverage, Angel), Lindy Booth (Dawn of the Dead, The Philanthropist) and John Kim (Neighbors, The Pacific), also drew 2.1 million adults 25-54, and 1.6 million adults 18-49.

The episode was also the most watched year-to-date in live + same day delivery of adults 25-54, according to Turner. The Liberians,which centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath the Metropolitan Public Library dedicated to protecting an unknowing world from the secret, magical reality hidden all around, is now on track to join other TNT series Rizzoli & Isles, The Last Ship, Major Crimes, Murder in the First and Falling Skies among the top 10 most watched scripted series on cable in 2014.  

Cable’s two general entertainment behemoths TNT and USA battled last week for primetime ratings supremacy, with TNT pulling out a close victory.

TNT averaged 1.96 million viewers during the week of Aug. 4 to Aug. 10, besting USA 1.93 million viewers and winning its eight straight weekly ratings race, according to Nielsen. Disney Channel finished third with 1.78 million viewers, followed by Fox News’ 1.77 million viewers and History’s 1.66 million watchers.

Discovery rode the launch of its annual Shark Week programming stunt to fifth place with 1.57 million viewers, followed by TBS (1.48 million viewers); HGTV (1.33 million)Nick At Nite (1.11 million) A&E (1.13 million) and NFL Network and Syfy (tied with 1.05 million viewers.)

Nickelodeon held on to the weekly ratings top spot on a 24-hour basis with 15.6 million viewers, barely ahead of Disney’s 1.53 million watchers. Adult Swim (1.17 million) Cartoon Network (1.12 million); and  Fox News (1.05 million) rounded out the top 5.

Discovery Channel was the most watched network among adult 18-49 and adult 25-54 year old viewers during the week, while Adult Swim topped all network among adults 18-34, according to Nielsen.

Most Watched Shows During The Week Of Aug. 4 to Aug. 10
DateProgramNetworkTotal Viewers
8/4        Major Crimes                                                TNT                          5.2 million
8/5        Rizzoli & Isles                                               TNT                          5.0 million
8/10      NASCAR Sprint Cup                                    ESPN                       4.9 million
8/10      The Last Ship                                               TNT                          4.6 million
8/4        WWE Mon. Night Raw (9 to 10 p.m.)           USA                         4.1 million
8/4        WWE Mon. Night Raw (8 to 9 p.m.)             USA                         4.0 million
8/4        Toy Story Of Terror                                      Disney                     3.9 million
8/4        WWE Monday Night Raw (10 to 11:13)       USA                        3.8 million
8/10      Shark Of Darkness: Wrath                           Discovery                3.8 million
8/4        Longmire                                                      A&E                         3.6 million
Source: Nielsen