The Crime & Investigation Network is on the lookout for contemporary "real crime" shows to bolster its launch schedule.

Among those on its target list is Crimewatch UK, the monthly crime series broadcast on BBC One.

"We've written to the BBC to see if we can run next-day repeats of Crimewatch UK," programming director Richard Melman told C21. "It gets shown once on the BBC but on the Crime & Investigation Network we could show it twice the very next day."

The channel, which launches at 8pm on July 10, is also "in talks" to broadcast missing person alerts during commercial breaks.