In an unusual Web-TV play, Diller plans a network around Crime.com

In an unusual Web-TV play, Diller plans a network around Crime.com. The new digital-cable channel will be tied to the site — from the creator of ‘Cops’ — that brought JailCam to the world.Reality cop-show impresario John Langley has found another way to make crime pay. Barry Diller’s USA Cable has snapped up Langley’s fledgling Crime.com and will launch a new digital-cable channel tied to the site. THE CHANNEL, TO be called simply Crime and scheduled to debut this fall, taps into Langley’s status as a reality-programming trend setter: his “Cops” on Fox was an early winner in the genre, and Crime.com’s JailCam, tracking life inside a Phoenix jail, is already a cult hit on the Web. USA Cable president Stephen Chao promises to use USA’s four other networks — USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, TRIO and Newsworld International — to promote both the Web site and the new network. This is Crime.com’s second dance with a major cable network. The site launched with a joint venture with Court TV, trading an ownership stake for network promotions.