• by Adam Buckman , April 13, 2017

The 2-year-old Pop network is pitching its growth in audience, ad sales and distribution heading into the upfront sales season.

The cable network, once the TV Guide Network until it was relaunched as Pop in January 2015, will also be talking about a slew of new original and acquired series in its presentations to media buyers this spring.

Pop’s new shows, announced this morning, include “Swedish Dicks, Private Investigators,” an L.A.-based detective comedy starring Peter Stormare (left, above) with “featured” appearances by Keanu Reeves (right). The show is scheduled to premiere next fall. It has already been renewed for a second season, Pop said.

It has acquired the rights to “ER,” the long-running NBC hospital drama that starred George Clooney and Julianna Margulies. Pop has also picked up the off-network cable rights to “The Goldbergs,” the hit sitcom now in its fourth season on ABC.

In its pitch to advertisers, Pop says it has added “58 new national advertisers, expanded its distribution on traditional cable and over-the-top platforms, and drove double-digit growth in viewership among adults 18-49 -- +21% -- and women 25-54 at +13%.”

“Pop continues to defy industry trends with consistent year-over-year growth in all areas of our business and a line-up of premium content featuring award-winning talent in front of and behind the camera,” said Pop president Brad Schwartz.

“Backed by two owners that are industry-leading content companies, we look forward to our biggest year yet,” he said. Pop is co-owned by CBS and Lionsgate.

The network's programming announcement on Thursday included three new scripted series already in production, including “Swedish Dicks,” and four returning series, such as the comedies “Schitt’s Creek,” starring Eugene Levy, and “Nightcap,” starring Ali Wentworth. There are also nine series in development – seven scripted and two unscripted shows.

“Pop’s new slate features programming that takes broad, familiar constructs and puts a forward-thinking, contemporary spin on them,” said Justin Rosenblatt, EVP, original programming and development for Pop. He adds “our new crop of shows will ignite the curiosity of viewers.”

Pop’s two other scripted series slated to premiere later this year are “Hot Date,” a production partnership with CollegeHumor, the popular comedy Web site, and executive producer Will Arnett, and “Clique,” a prime-time drama set at a fictional college.

In development are “Let’s Get Physical,” a scripted comedy about a man who inherits his eccentric father’s fitness business, which was last successful back in the 1980s; and “Kiss & Cry,” described as a “soapy drama” set in the world of competitive figure skating.

In the unscripted realm, Pop is developing a talk show hosted by actress Mary McCormack that will have her welcoming celebrity guests into her own living room in her home in the Hollywood Hills.