• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 14, 2010

The Ion network continues to fashion itself as a sort of CBS Afterlife. The network said it had acquired rights to air episodes of "Without A Trace," which was once a staple of CBS' leading Thursday lineup. 

In a deal with syndicator Warner Bros., Ion has acquired all 160 episodes of the show; it ran for seven seasons through May 2009 on CBS. Ion says "Without A Trace" will air twice on weeknights at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. starting July 6.

Ion's current prime-time lineup includes off-net runs of current or former CBS shows, such as "Criminal Minds," "NCIS" and "Ghost Whisperer."

"Trace" is a procedural focusing on a missing persons unit of the FBI. On Thursdays for several seasons, it followed "Survivor" and "CSI:" and was able to topple NBC's "ER" in the 10 p.m. hour. It helped CBS move to No. 1 on a night that NBC had long dominated. Somewhat surprisingly, the show was canceled in May 2009 after running on Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

Time Warner carried "Trace" on TNT, which reportedly caused the company to take a major financial hit.

Kristine Hunsinger, senior vice president, planning, scheduling and acquisition, Ion Media Networks, stated that "Trace" has enjoyed "a strong and consistent network following," calling the series "the perfect complement to our prime-time lineup of off-network series."

Ion recently dipped its toe into creating originals with the launch of "The Emeril Lagasse Show."