TNN Rebrands Itself Spike TV (Cable for Manly Men!)

Mediaweek.com ^ | April 15, 2003

[George W. Bush]

Sounds gay, gayer, gayest.

It reminds me of that stupid book, "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche". I probably offended a few people by pointing out that real men don't read those kinds of books.

[lainie]

Spike

[Future Useless Eater]

Keep in mind TNN is owned by Viacom, so every hour spent there
adds money to the scumbags that support the Clintons every
way they possibly can!


I'm not sure why a name change will bring higher ratings,
especially this name.


Hey, there are lots of cable channels that get truncated to
FOUR LETTERS in the TV guides, like NICK, FLIX,

This one will be SPIK.

[cherry]

PBR is on OLN if you have it....saturday and sunday evenings....

you should have seen it last weekend....wow....

[B Knotts]

Yeah, I saw it on OLN once when they had a free preview, but I'm too cheap to upgrade from America's Top 100 to AT150. :-)

[Future Useless Eater]

I don't want to help out Viacom, but I have totally negative vibes for a "SPIK" channel. Even if it gets spelled out with all five letters SPIKE, it just connotates a put-down like spike'ing a news story, or S&M, or that hideous actor named Spike.

If Viacom wants a name with machoism, they should just call it

'NADS TV

[lainie]

Good one. Although, there already is a channel for men. It's called ESPN. :)

[Timesink]

Spike TV: Tune In The Testosterone
NEW YORK, April 15, 2003


Spike is no longer just the name of a famous film director or a volleyball move. Now it's the name of a cable network, too.

(AP) "We just like the idea of having a guy's name. We thought that was smart and fun and irreverent." Albie Hecht, Network president

Struggling TNN - which just two years ago changed from The Nashville Network to The National Network- announced Tuesday that, effective June 16, it will call itself Spike TV and become the first network aimed specifically at men.

"We just like the idea of having a guy's name," said Albie Hecht, network president. "We thought that was smart and fun and irreverent."

TNN's switch isn't exactly a stretch. Since it already airs World Wrestling Entertainment, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and a made-up game of basketball played on trampolines called "slam ball," nearly two-thirds of TNN's audience is male, anyway.

Lifetime, Oxygen and the Women's Entertainment network all seek female viewers. Although outlets like ESPN have a mostly male audience, Hecht said Spike TV is the first to explicitly identify this as a goal.

The switch also enables TNN, and parent company Viacom, a chance to outmaneuver the publishers of Maxim magazine. Dennis Publishing is developing a cable channel called the Maxim Entertainment Network, or MEN.

Viacom's attempt two years ago to keep the TNN initials, though, confused some viewers who still saw it as a regional, country music-oriented channel.

TNN's ratings have been sagging, with an average prime-time audience of a little more than 1 million viewers during the first three months of 2003, down 16 percent from the same year-earlier period. TNN dropped from the eighth-most popular basic cable station to 14th.

Its most popular programs, Monday's two WWE wrestling shows, are off 22 percent in viewership, with "Star Trek" down 32 percent, Nielsen Media Research said.

They will remain on Spike TV. Spike will also work with Men's Health magazine to produce segments on fitness or relationships, and CBS Marketwatch to provide financial updates.

New programs in the works include "A Guy and His Stuff," about gizmos and gadgets, and "Top 10 Things Every Guy Should Experience," which will follow men to top sporting events like the Super Bowl.

Spike TV is already available in 86 million television homes.

Despite the name, Hecht promises the network will be no He-Man Woman Hater's Club.

"We'll be unapologetically male," he said. "But it will also be a place where women are welcomed."


CBSNews.com, CBS Marketwatch and TNN/Spike TV are subsidiaries of Viacom.

[peteram]

Two or three ratings sweeps and it'll tank. Then they'll have to re-re-invent it again.

[golder]

I wonder, am I the only idiot that notices 50% commercial time on these two bit outfits?

[boris]

Spike Lee Sues Viacom on Cable Name Plan

Jun 3, 10:16 PM (ET)

By SAMUEL MAULL

NEW YORK (AP) - Filmmaker Spike Lee has sued Viacom Inc. (VIA) over plans to rename its TNN cable channel Spike TV as part of its campaign to attract male viewers.

In court papers filed Tuesday, Lee asked for an injunction against Viacom's use of the name, saying he had never given his consent for it to be used.

"The media description of this change of name, as well as comments made to me and my wife, confirmed what was obvious - that Spike TV referred to Spike Lee," Lee said in court papers.

The judge directed Viacom to explain why it shouldn't be barred from using the name.

TNN, which bills Spike TV as "the first network for men," said it was "confident that the court will reject any legal claims by Mr. Lee to the popular word and name Spike."

Viacom bought TNN in 2000, and said in April that it would change the channel's name to Spike TV on June 16 in an attempt to increase the number of men in an audience that is already about two-thirds male. It said on Tuesday that it was confident the court would reject Lee's claims to the name Spike.

Viacom also owns CBS, Showtime movie channel, VH1, UPN, book publisher Simon & Schuster and other properties.

According to Lee, TNN's president, Albie Hecht, has said the public associates the name 'Spike' with Lee.

Lee, whose given name is Shelton Jackson Lee, included in court papers affidavits from people including former Sen. Bill Bradley, and actors Ossie Davis and Ed Norton. The affidavits said the signers had thought of Lee when they heard about Spike TV and some said they believed he had become affiliated with the network.

Lee directed Nike sneaker commercials with Michael Jordan. His movies include "Malcolm X,""Jungle Fever" and "Do the Right Thing."

==================

This reminds me when Oleg Cassini's lawyers sent a "cease and desist" letter to the Jet Propulsion Lab for naming a spacecraft "Cassini" without permission. They reminded JPL that Oleg has a strong copyright position on the brand and trademark "Cassini". Who knows, maybe Oleg is actually related to:

Giovanni Domenico Cassini, 1625-1712 (Aka Jean Dominique) Italian-born French astronomer. Cassini was the first director of the Royal Observatory in Paris. He discovered four of Saturn's moons (Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus) and the major gap in its rings.