Twitter

If you plan on watching much March Madness coverage over the next few weeks, expect to see a lot of promos for new and returning shows on the four networks — CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV — that are broadcasting the tournament.

True to its brand as a millennial-skewing comedy network, truTV is branding its promos as “truTV Awareness Month.” The stunt pokes fun at its status as a smaller cable network, parodies public-service ad campaigns, and actually does raise awareness for returning shows like The Chris Gethard Show and Adam Ruins Everything.

TruTV president Chris Linn sat down with Decider to talk about how truTV has carved a unique space for itself with reality-tinged comedic programming over the last few years and what in the world that has to do with the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

DECIDER: Why is a network that’s oriented around comedic programming broadcasting March Madness basketball games?

CHRIS LINN: It’s a few things. Having the tournament on our network each year as part of the Turner and CBS partnership around the NCAA Tournament expands our reach. We see a lot of new viewers coming to the network every March, which gives us an opportunity to market directly to them through promos and a strategic social media campaign. Plus, from a distribution perspective, having marquee sporting events like this helps to strengthen the value of the overall portfolio.

When you re-branded from Court TV to truTV, was the idea to get away from current events and find programming that played better in repeats and on demand?

The rebranding from Court TV to truTV in 2008 was driven by Turner’s acquisition of the network. The more recent rebrand of truTV from reality to comedy was in 2014. The intention behind that rebrand was to take the old network — which had solid ratings but content that was largely downscale and derivative — and relaunch as a more premium network that would better align with Turner’s portfolio. We felt like the time was right to create a distinct comedic brand that would have creators at the center and would appeal to millennial audiences.

TruTV’s shows — reality and scripted — are largely episodic and watch well out of order, and TBS has gone almost entirely with highly serialized comedies. Are there different intentions behind those approaches?

I think there are certainly merits to both, and I wouldn’t necessarily rule either of those approaches out. It really depends on what’s best for the creative of the show and not getting in the way of that. For us, it’s worked well to have a non-serialized approach to our originals, which gives us the maximum flexibility with scheduling and allows for strong multi-platform viewership. Since our network is made up entirely of original series — we have no acquisitions or movies on our air – it helps to have the ability to schedule episodes without worrying too much about air orders. That said, we wouldn’t rule out a show that was more serialized in nature if it was a good fit for us.

TBS has a buzzy late-night show in Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and late-night has become a more popular format in the Trump years. Are you looking for your own show like that?

I think there are some people who are doing political comedy in the late show format incredibly well. Samantha Bee has obviously become a go-to source for that type of comedy. Stephen Colbert has hit his stride by leaning into more topical, politically-driven segments, so there’s certainly an appetite for that. We’ve made a conscious effort not to lean into the more political late-night shows, which is an incredibly and increasingly cluttered space.

You air The Chris Gethard Show live and have March Madness starting this week, and other cable networks have recently been emphasizing live events. Why does cable care about live viewing, and what’s the right amount for truTV to have?

Sports has the highest level of appointment viewing because there’s a real reason to tune in live. It creates a sense of urgency among passionate fans. I think there’s a strong appeal among programmers to try and recreate that sense of urgency in entertainment, but I don’t think it’s the right strategy to chase unless there is a real reason for something to be broadcast live. With The Chris Gethard Show, we knew there was a passionate fan base of people who watched the show live on public access and called in to interact with the guests, so we wanted to tap into that authenticity and bring that element to truTV.

And you’ve done a live episode of Impractical Jokers.

Yes. To mark the 100th episode of Impractical Jokers, we knew we wanted to celebrate in a big way and bring the guys’ fandom to life in an experience that was authentic to the show. We broadcast a live episode with all four guys walking a high-wire above the South Street Seaport in New York City, and we had thousands of Jokers fans come out to witness it. It was a huge event for us and featured real stakes. And by airing it live, there was an urgency and excitement to it that resembled a live sports event.

TruTV had a documentary last year called The Problem with Apu that generated a lot of positive media and social-media attention. How do you compare the value of that attention to ratings in a TV world where it’s hard to stand out?

We’re incredibly proud of The Problem with Apu and the discussion around media representation that it has prompted. It is an outstanding example of what we mean when we say creator-driven – Hari Kondabolu is a talent who had something to specific to say, and we gave him a platform on which to say it. The attention among press and social audiences that it garnered is certainly valuable to us and our portfolio, which has a number of success metrics including ratings, fan engagement and acclaim or buzz.

You’ve got several animated episodes of Adam Ruins Everything coming up. Will those more or less be Adam but animated?

Yes, starting next week and for the next six weeks, we’re airing animated episodes of Adam Ruins Everything, which will very much be similar to the existing series and through Adam’s distinct lens but in this new format. The strategy behind the animated episodes is that they allow us to more quickly produce more episodes of the series and keep it in premieres at multiple points throughout the year. Plus, animation allows us to expand the universe and tell more stories, so Adam will take on history lessons learned and travel through time to uncover some surprising truths.

At Home with Amy Sedaris and Jon Glaser Loves Gear are both scripted shows dressed up as reality shows. Is that a sweet spot for truTV?

We consider both of these to be hybrid series, which is a place we’ve been playing in that elevates the creative beyond the typical reality series but allows maximum flexibility for the talent. It’s another format that we have in our portfolio as we think about innovative ways to tell the stories and pique viewer interest.

The interfaces for streaming-bundle services like DirecTV Now and Hulu Live TV emphasize shows over networks. Do you see that making the networks more important as programmers but less important as brands?

I truly believe brands matter. When a brand is well executed, it becomes a lens through which viewers make choices about the content they want to watch. In an increasingly cluttered landscape, that becomes more and more valuable as you try and stand outside of the pack. As the herd thins — which will happen over time — what remains will be the strongest and most relevant brands.

Scott Porch writes about the TV business for Decider, is a contributing writer for Playboy, and hosts a weekly podcast about new digital content called Consumed with Scott Porch. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottPorch.