TNT debuted in 1988 as a branch of the Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System, which at the time included WTBS and CNN. Originally positioned as a sister channel for Turner's WTBS, and Turner intended to use TNT as a venue on which to air the library of classic movies he'd recently acquired from MGM. Over the years, TNT, which is now a subsidiary of Time Warner, has become its own entity, and the channel now produces a significant amount of original dramatic programming.
Early on, TNT relied on Turner's movie library, cartoons, syndicated series and sports broadcasts. Between 1990 and 1997, TNT was home to the NFL's "Sunday Night Football," and between 1995 and 2001, the WWE's "Monday Nitro" aired on TNT.
After 2001, TNT began to explicitly focus on TV drama, undergoing a rebranding effort and adding the tagline "We Know Drama" to its brand image. More specifically, the focus was on crime drama, and the channel's schedule included syndicated network crime series such as "Law & Order," "Judging Amy" and NYPD Blue." In the second decade of the century, the channel produced several original dramatic series, including "Franklin & Bash," "Rizzoli & Isles," "Major Crimes" and "Murder in the First." The science fiction thriller series "Falling Skies" debuted on the channel in 2011.
