Spike TV
Encyclopedia
Spike is an American
cable television
channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network
(TNN), a joint venture
of WSM, Inc. (a subsidiary of National Life and Accident Insurance Company
) and Group W
Satellite Communications; Gaylord Entertainment Company
acquired the channel a few months later.
After several changes of ownership and name, Spike currently operates as part of MTV Networks
, owned by Viacom
.
Spike is available in 96.1 million American homes. It features re-runs of popular shows such as CSI
, CSI: NY
, Unsolved Mysteries
, and The Ren and Stimpy Show
, along with various original programs and movies. It is also the home of Impact Wrestling, the flagship show of professional wrestling
organization Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
(TNA), as well as the mixed martial arts
company Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC) and its show The Ultimate Fighter
. As of 2006, Spike's viewership was almost half women (45%), although many of them are reported to be watching it with male partners or family members, or were watching the CSI franchise. The average age of the channel's viewers was 42 years old.
In October 2007, Kevin Kay
was appointed network president after being executive vice president and general manager of the channel for the previous two years. The post had been vacant since December 2006.
-themed television channel, from the now-defunct Opryland USA
theme park near Nashville, Tennessee
. Country Music Television
(CMT), founded by Glenn D. Daniels, beat TNN's launch by two days, robbing them of the claim of "first country music cable television network." TNN's flagship shows included Nashville Now
, The Statler Brothers Show
, American Sports Cavalcade
, and Grand Ole Opry
Live. Nashville Now and the Grand Ole Opry were broadcast live from Opryland USA. The Gaylord Entertainment Company
purchased TNN and the Opryland properties in the latter half of 1987. Much of TNN's programming (except for its sports) during the Gaylord era was originally produced by Opryland Productions, also owned by Gaylord Entertainment. From 1983-1992, all of TNN's auto racing and motor sports coverage was produced by Diamond P Sports. Starting in 1993, TNN started having their NASCAR
coverage produced by World Sports Enterprises, and the American Speed Association
coverage produced by Group 5 Sports, while Diamond P continued to produce most of the rest of the racing coverage. Programming included variety shows, talk show
s, game show
s, outdoor shows (such as hunting and fishing), and lifestyle shows; all centered in some way around country music or the country style of living. Some of TNN's popular on-air talent included local Nashville media personalities Ralph Emery
, Dan Miller
, Charlie Chase, and Lorianne Crook
, as well as established stars such as country music singer Bill Anderson and actresses Florence Henderson
and Dinah Shore
. By 1995, TNN was acquired by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which owned CBS
; two years later, Westinghouse bought CMT, TNN's chief competitor. In 1998, the channel dropped its "The Nashville Network" moniker and shortened its official name to the simpler TNN, and ownership shifted to Viacom in the late 1990s after its acquisition of CBS Corporation, Westinghouse's successor. TNN subsequently relocated its headquarters to New York City
from Nashville and folded into Viacom's MTV Networks division.
The network's name change also triggered a significant programming change in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience than the channel's original constituency of rural/working-class Southern
whites. This change was catalyzed by Viacom's acquisition of the rights to World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now World Wrestling Entertainment
or WWE) programming, including its flagship show RAW Is War
. Football
also became more prominent on the network, as it began airing games of the original Arena Football League (AFL) with Eli Gold
as an announcer. The National Network was also one of three networks to air games of the ill-fated XFL
(NBC
and UPN
being the other two). As part of its contract, TNN had the rights to a late Sunday afternoon game each week except for the first week, when UPN aired the afternoon game instead.
In 2001
, TNN aired the first opening-round game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament when organizers expanded the field to 65 teams; it was produced by CBS Sports
with CBS announcers. The game coverage moved to ESPN
in 2002
and stayed there until 2010
. As of 2011
, it will be shown on a channel owned by Time Warner
, possibly truTV, and will be produced by Turner Sports
.
In 2001, TNN added off-network sitcoms and dramas such as Diff'rent Strokes
, The Wonder Years
, The Rockford Files
, WKRP in Cincinnati
, Newhart
, Miami Vice
and Taxi
. It also became the first channel to air Mad TV
off-network. These moves went unnoticed for the most part, due to TNN's lack of popularity. By this time, all country-western programming had been purged from the network; some of The Nashville Network's former programming was picked up by CMT, while other classic TNN shows were picked up by GAC
, including eventually the Grand Ole Opry
, which was pushed off to CMT and eventually removed by Viacom after they did not renew the agreement to carry the series in an attempt to infuse a more youthful schedule on CMT.
As time went on, the words "The National Network" were downplayed in promotions. By late 2002, the channel was known simply as The New TNN and had picked up more male-oriented shows, such as Baywatch
, Monster Jam
, Bull Riding
, Robot Wars
and Star Trek: The Next Generation
. This was done in an effort both to further distance itself from its former country music-based identity and to trumpet an increase in original programming. Television critics at the time noted disdainfully that "The New TNN", when written out, technically stood for "The New The National Network", a pleonasm
. Also, after more than two years in a non-country format, the network's offerings had long ceased to be "new" in any meaningful sense.
as the first television channel for men
. In early 2006, Spike removed the word "TV" from its name, referring to itself simply as Spike.
Spike Lee
won a New York Supreme Court
injunction
preventing the name change. Lee claimed that because of his well-known popularity in Hollywood, viewers would therefore assume that he was associated with the new channel. Lee stated in court papers that: "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."
The channel had planned an official launch of its new name at a star-studded, televised party at The Playboy Mansion
in mid-June. But due to Lee's injunction, the special—titled Party With Spike—had to be heavily edited and the impact of the event was considerably muted. During the lawsuit, even the name "TNN" was significantly scaled back, as logos and voice-overs referred to the channel only as "The First Network for Men".
Spike Jones Jr., son of comic musician Spike Jones
, became a party of the lawsuit as part of Viacom's defense to protect the rights to his father's name. The suit was settled on July 8, 2003, and TNN was allowed to call itself Spike TV. In announcing the settlement, Lee admitted that he did not believe that the channel intentionally tried to trade on his name.
The name change became official on August 11, 2003.
and Gary the Rat
. Popular reruns such as Baywatch
, V.I.P.
and The A-Team
, original specials such as The 100 Most Irresistible Women and imported programming such as MXC
.
Spike TV hired cartoonist John Kricfalusi
and a new version of the classic animated hit The Ren and Stimpy Show
returned with new episodes in a series known as Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon
. After Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon was canceled, the channel started airing classic episodes that originally aired on Nickelodeon
in the 1990s; it was named Ren & Stimpy: The Classics. It was TV-PG instead of TV-MA, though it aired late at night. The original Nickelodeon episodes aired on Spike also aired uncut.
The channel now airs a combination of original programming and reruns of network programming, including series from the CSI
and Star Trek
franchises, MXC
, Game Head
, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
, and Ultimate Fighting Championship
programming.
It has scored some major coups in terms of its programming, receiving syndication
rights to several Star Trek
series (which was produced by another Viacom branch, Paramount Pictures
), as well as most of the James Bond
series of movies
. It is also the cable home to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
, and the cult TV favorite MXC
, an overdubbed version of the Japanese
series Takeshi's Castle
.
In the fall of 2003, Spike TV aired The Joe Schmo Show
, a parody of reality television
shows like Survivor
and Big Brother
. Its finale led to the channel's highest ratings
at the time, and a second season aired in the Summer of 2004. In November 2004, Spike TV purchased the cable/satellite syndication rights to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
for a record price of $1.9 million per episode. It joined the lineup on October 1, 2006. The promotion of the CSI franchises earned Spike the colloquial title "The CSI Channel" during this period because as much as one third (eight hours) of programming blocks were devoted to the franchise.
On November 18, 2004, they broadcasted reruns of the Nickelodeon
TV series SpongeBob SquarePants
at midnight, to promote The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
that came out the next day. They did this almost all night, as did another MTV Networks channel, VH1
.
In September 2005, all WWE
(formerly the WWF) programming on Spike TV left the channel as a result of acrimonious contractual matters between WWE and Viacom. WWE Raw
moved back to its original cable home, NBC Universal
's USA Network
while WWE Sunday Night HEAT
and WWE Velocity
moved to WWE.com due to failure to gain a time slot for the shows in the United States. On October 1, 2005, wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
began airing its weekly program TNA Impact!
in the Saturday night time slot formerly occupied by WWE Velocity. In WWE's last Monday Night Raw
broadcast on the channel, executives decided to censor
WWE personalities whenever they tried to mention Raws return to USA Network, scheduled for the following week. In what turned out to be a hectic night of sound suddenly vanishing, WWE's commentators finally succeeded in slipping the words "Next week on USA" past the censors at Spike TV, most likely due to Spike TV executives finally giving in. Spike was the only channel to air first-run matches from all of the major wrestling organizations in the last 15 years (WWF/WWE
from 2000–2005, WCW
in 2001 (including the Raw/Nitro simulcast and WCW-sanctioned matches during the Invasion storyline), ECW
from 1999–2000, and TNA from 2005–present).
On January 18, 2005, Spike TV debuted The Ultimate Fighter
(TUF), an original reality show based around the sport of mixed martial arts
which proved to be a surprise hit. Spike later extended their UFC coverage with UFC Unleashed
and UFC Primetime
. On August 18, 2011, Spike officials made a statement regarding the end of their partnership with the UFC, “The Ultimate Fighter” season 14 in September will be our last....Our 6-year partnership with the UFC has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future.”
In October 2005, Spike TV debuted Game Head
with Geoff Keighley
, a weekly video game show, and later followed up with Fresh Baked Videogames, making them both part of their "Slammin' Saturday Night" lineup. Spike is also home to the annual Video Game Awards and the Spike Guys' Choice Awards
.On February 15, 2010 TNA made a new deal with Spike TV which would move TNA Impact!,one of the channel's primary and most successful programs to Monday nights. The first episode aired on March 8, 2010, though Impact! was shifted back to Thursdays after reduced TNA audience on Mondays.
and has since become an Internet phenomenon which has helped propel Svedman's notoriety. The best known version of the clip (usually distributed as a Flash clip) shows a cheerleading outfit clad Svedman (complete with pom poms) moving her legs back and forth before delivering a debilitating kick. The original clip was made and distributed on YouTube
from a thread of the original segment. The clip has been continuously removed from the website for copyright infringement, however, the clip continues to reemerge due to its cult-like popularity.
franchise, to varying degrees. It initially featured Star Trek: The Next Generation
heavily before introducing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
in 2004 and Star Trek: Voyager
in 2006. All of these introductions were accompanied by multi-day marathons at some point, the Next Generation one including appearances by celebrities such as Wil Wheaton
, who played Wesley Crusher
on The Next Generation. Deep Space Nine and Voyager had been relegated to late-night hours before their disappearances and The Next Generation had disappeared months before the syndication rights were bought by Syfy
. The promotion of the Trek franchises earned Spike the colloquial title The Star Trek Channel during this period because as much as one third (eight hours) of programming blocks were devoted to the franchise.
A notable omission during the period was Star Trek: Enterprise
, which the channel passed on (Syfy had proceeded to ease it into four-hour Monday night blocks). TV Land
meanwhile had the rights to Star Trek: The Original Series
, but Spike stated that there may not be sufficient episodes (only three seasons) to accommodate the kind of blocks it would like to air. Syfy and BBC America
now have the rights to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Spike has replaced that block with reruns of Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol
and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
.
split of 2005, Spike became a part of the "new" Viacom
with its sibling channels in the MTV Networks
family. In May 2006, the station was re-branded to accentuate its masculinity, including a new logo, dropping the second half of its channel name (TV) from the logo and adding the "Get More Action" tagline.
In June 2006, Spike debuted Blade: The Series
, a TV series based on the Blade films. Rapper Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones
played Blade in the series. David S. Goyer
, writer of all three Blade
films (and director of the third Blade film
), wrote the pilot
and served as Executive Producer
on the series. It was canceled on September 28, 2006.
On September 5, 2006, the documentary film Metal of Honor: The Ironworkers of 9/11 by filmmaker Rachel Maguire, premiered on Spike. Metal of Honor is a documentary profiling the Ironworkers' efforts in the attempts for rescue and recovery on and after the September 11, 2001 attacks
at the World Trade Center
site. The film proceeds through the Ironworkers' dismantling of the fallen towers.
On October 10, 2006, Spike presented the Scream Awards
, the first awards show honoring horror, science fiction, fantasy and comic books. At the 2007 Comic Con International the Spike TV booth was awarding tickets to that year's presentation ceremony to the winners of their "Scariest Costume" contest.
In late 2006, Spike introduced the Late Night Strip consisting of original series that are sometimes inappropriate for daytime TV, with regular intermissions featuring women. The programming airs Thursdays and Fridays at 12:00 a.m., and includes MXC
, Wild World of Spike, The Dudesons, and Game Head
.
Throughout the summer of 2007, starting on Father's Day
, the channel launched its first public service
campaign, the "True Dads" national outreach campaign, with former New York Yankees
player Don Mattingly
spokesperson. This focused on fathers who demonstrated active roles in their children's lives, through public service announcements on the channel featuring both celebrity
and ordinary fathers and websites such as Spike's own "True Dads" site, among other things.
In April 2008, Spike aired the commercial TV premiere of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
, and became the first basic-cable channel in the U.S. to air all six Star Wars
movies. Viacom bid against NBC Universal
and Turner Broadcasting for this opportunity, which is worth up to $80 million, despite each of those channel systems having previously aired at least part of the original trilogy. The same year, the channel began to broadcast a reality show based on the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA). On the weekend of April 5 and April 6, 2008, the channel aired the first three Star Wars films against the simultaneous TNT
broadcast of all three Lord of the Rings
films. More viewers watched the Star Wars broadcasts on Spike than watched the Lord of the Rings broadcasts on TNT. On April 7, 2008 the channel acquired cable syndication rights for the sitcom Married... with Children
. Five new unscripted series were picked up for the channel's summer 2008 lineup.
Though the programming is still aimed at the male demographic (age 18–49), Spike no longer makes the claim to be "the first network for men". Presumable motivations for this include acknowledging earlier attempts at "male-only" television (such as mentv
in Canada
), and the risk of losing access to its Canadian audiences due to a claim of "duplication" (in terms of programming and target audience) contrary to Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulations. Due to licensing restrictions and programming rights issues, Canadian viewers of Spike see alternate programming whenever Spike airs certain films such as the James Bond
film series, or other certain series programs.
On June 1, 2010, Spike launched into the first crowd-sourced pilot episode contest with Scripped
, a web-based screenwriting community. In this contest, Spike tested its ability to discover new talent from untested channels.
, Spike launched a new series called Alternate History, illustrating what the world could be like if past events were slightly different. The premiere episode documented what would have happened if the Germans stopped the Allied invasion of France
and took over the world.
creator Thom Beers), Spike rebranded itself with a slightly-recolored logo and a new theme.
, which was initially launched in 1997. After acquiring the website for $49 million, it was eventually re-branded to Spike.com and provided hosting of user-uploaded videos.
YouTube
was also launched in 2005, which later suffered a class action lawsuit reported to be over $1 billion dollars. Spike.com's managing division claims that they only host videos they approve after they are submitted. YouTube Partner user Mike Mozart pointed out videos on Spike.com/iFilm that were uploaded from YouTube onto Spike.com, without permission as their descriptions are criticizing
the video itself. He also pointed out that YouTube embeds hosted on Spike.com did not link back
to YouTube, and any sort of video hyperlinking was forcedly disabled, contradicting with YouTube's Terms of Use.
semi finals games from the NRL and also showed the grand final, as David Niu
tried to bring professional rugby league (NRLUS) to the United States.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows...
(TNN), a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
of WSM, Inc. (a subsidiary of National Life and Accident Insurance Company
National Life and Accident Insurance Company
The National Life and Accident Insurance Company is a former life insurance company which was based in Nashville, Tennessee.National Life and Accident began in 1900 as the National Sick and Accident Association, a mutual company...
) and Group W
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
Satellite Communications; Gaylord Entertainment Company
Gaylord Entertainment Company
The Gaylord Entertainment Company operates a number of hotel, resort, and media companies that were built by Edward Gaylord. It was previously a subsidiary of the Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma Publishing Company, which is owned by the Gaylord family and publishes the Daily Oklahoman newspaper...
acquired the channel a few months later.
After several changes of ownership and name, Spike currently operates as part of MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
, owned by Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
.
Spike is available in 96.1 million American homes. It features re-runs of popular shows such as CSI
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
, Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
, and The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren & Stimpy Show, often simply referred to as Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series, created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat...
, along with various original programs and movies. It is also the home of Impact Wrestling, the flagship show of professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
organization Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
(TNA), as well as the mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
company Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
(UFC) and its show The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...
. As of 2006, Spike's viewership was almost half women (45%), although many of them are reported to be watching it with male partners or family members, or were watching the CSI franchise. The average age of the channel's viewers was 42 years old.
In October 2007, Kevin Kay
Kevin Kay
Kevin Kay is an American television executive. In October 2007, he was named president of Viacom's Spike TV, a division of the MTV Network Entertainment Group, after the post remained vacant since December 2006. Kay, who joined the network when it was known as TNN, reports to Doug Herzog, who also...
was appointed network president after being executive vice president and general manager of the channel for the previous two years. The post had been vacant since December 2006.
The Nashville Network era (1983–2000)
Spike was originally launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network (TNN), a country living and country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
-themed television channel, from the now-defunct Opryland USA
Opryland USA
Opryland USA was an amusement park located in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally from 1972 until 1997...
theme park near Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Country Music Television
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
(CMT), founded by Glenn D. Daniels, beat TNN's launch by two days, robbing them of the claim of "first country music cable television network." TNN's flagship shows included Nashville Now
Nashville Now
Nashville Now is a television talk show that focused on country music performers. It aired live weeknights on The Nashville Network from 1983-1993. The host was Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph Emery. The show won several Emmy awards during its run. A frequent guest and substitute host was...
, The Statler Brothers Show
The Statler Brothers Show
The Statler Brothers Show was an hour American variety show hosted by the country music group The Statler Brothers broadcast on The Nashville Network...
, American Sports Cavalcade
American Sports Cavalcade
American Sports Cavalcade was an American motorsports television show produced by Diamond P Sports that aired on TNN from 1983 to 1995. American Sports Cavalcade was also a winner of the cable television Ace Awards for their motorsports coverage....
, and Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
Live. Nashville Now and the Grand Ole Opry were broadcast live from Opryland USA. The Gaylord Entertainment Company
Gaylord Entertainment Company
The Gaylord Entertainment Company operates a number of hotel, resort, and media companies that were built by Edward Gaylord. It was previously a subsidiary of the Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma Publishing Company, which is owned by the Gaylord family and publishes the Daily Oklahoman newspaper...
purchased TNN and the Opryland properties in the latter half of 1987. Much of TNN's programming (except for its sports) during the Gaylord era was originally produced by Opryland Productions, also owned by Gaylord Entertainment. From 1983-1992, all of TNN's auto racing and motor sports coverage was produced by Diamond P Sports. Starting in 1993, TNN started having their NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
coverage produced by World Sports Enterprises, and the American Speed Association
American Speed Association
The American Speed Association is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana and currently is headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. ASA was most famous for a national touring series which began in 1973 but was...
coverage produced by Group 5 Sports, while Diamond P continued to produce most of the rest of the racing coverage. Programming included variety shows, talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s, game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
s, outdoor shows (such as hunting and fishing), and lifestyle shows; all centered in some way around country music or the country style of living. Some of TNN's popular on-air talent included local Nashville media personalities Ralph Emery
Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery is a country music disc jockey and television host from Nashville, Tennessee. He gained national fame hosting the syndicated television music series, Pop! Goes the Country, from 1974 to 1980 and the nightly Nashville Network television program, Nashville Now, from 1983 to 1993...
, Dan Miller
Dan Miller (television journalist/personality)
Zachariah Daniel Miller III , commonly known as Dan Miller, was an American television personality who grew up in Augusta, Georgia....
, Charlie Chase, and Lorianne Crook
Lorianne Crook
Lorianne Crook is an American radio and television host, producer and writer. She is best known for her work on The Nashville Network programs This Week In Country Music and Crook & Chase with Charlie Chase.-Early life:...
, as well as established stars such as country music singer Bill Anderson and actresses Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
and Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
. By 1995, TNN was acquired by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which owned CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
; two years later, Westinghouse bought CMT, TNN's chief competitor. In 1998, the channel dropped its "The Nashville Network" moniker and shortened its official name to the simpler TNN, and ownership shifted to Viacom in the late 1990s after its acquisition of CBS Corporation, Westinghouse's successor. TNN subsequently relocated its headquarters to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
from Nashville and folded into Viacom's MTV Networks division.
The National Network, The New TNN and the WWE era (2000–2003)
On September 25, 2000, Viacom sensed redundancy among its TNN and CMT channels when it merged them into its MTV Networks unit. Hence, the company decided to refocus TNN, and in the process the channel dramatically scaled back its country-western trappings and changed its name to The National Network.The network's name change also triggered a significant programming change in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience than the channel's original constituency of rural/working-class Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
whites. This change was catalyzed by Viacom's acquisition of the rights to World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
or WWE) programming, including its flagship show RAW Is War
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
. Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
also became more prominent on the network, as it began airing games of the original Arena Football League (AFL) with Eli Gold
Eli Gold
Eli Gold is an American sportscaster. Gold is best known as the radio voice for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, along with Tom Roberts, as part of the Crimson Tide Sports Network since 1988. He has also been the host of NASCAR Live on the Motor Racing Network since 1982...
as an announcer. The National Network was also one of three networks to air games of the ill-fated XFL
XFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
(NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
being the other two). As part of its contract, TNN had the rights to a late Sunday afternoon game each week except for the first week, when UPN aired the afternoon game instead.
In 2001
2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in...
, TNN aired the first opening-round game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament when organizers expanded the field to 65 teams; it was produced by CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
with CBS announcers. The game coverage moved to ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
in 2002
2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta, Georgia...
and stayed there until 2010
2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The first and second round games were played at the following sites:*March 18 / 20*March 25 / 27*March 26 / 28Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosted by the Horizon League and Butler University, as per the NCAA's...
. As of 2011
2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:First Four*March 15 and 16**University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, OhioSecond and third rounds*March 17 and 19**Verizon Center, Washington, D.C....
, it will be shown on a channel owned by Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, possibly truTV, and will be produced by Turner Sports
Turner Sports
Turner Sports is the division of Turner Broadcasting System responsible for sports broadcasts on Turner channels including TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and for operating the interactive properties , , , and...
.
In 2001, TNN added off-network sitcoms and dramas such as Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
, The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
, The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files
The Rockford Files is an American television drama series which aired on the NBC network between September 13, 1974 and January 10, 1980. It has remained in regular syndication to the present day. The show stars James Garner as Los Angeles-based private investigator Jim Rockford and features Noah...
, WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta...
, Newhart
Newhart
Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...
, Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
and Taxi
Taxi (TV series)
Taxi was an American sitcom that originally aired from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and from 1982 to 1983 on NBC. The series, which won 18 Emmy Awards, including three for "Outstanding Comedy Series", focuses on the everyday lives of a handful of New York City taxi drivers and their abusive dispatcher...
. It also became the first channel to air Mad TV
Mad TV
Mad TV may refer to:*MADtv, an American sketch comedy television series based on Mad magazine*Mad TV , a 1991 German television station management simulation game*MAD TV , a Greek music channel-See also:...
off-network. These moves went unnoticed for the most part, due to TNN's lack of popularity. By this time, all country-western programming had been purged from the network; some of The Nashville Network's former programming was picked up by CMT, while other classic TNN shows were picked up by GAC
Great American Country
Great American Country , is a Nashville, Tennessee-based country music cable television network.-History:The station launched December 31, 1995 and Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" was the first video to air on GAC....
, including eventually the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
, which was pushed off to CMT and eventually removed by Viacom after they did not renew the agreement to carry the series in an attempt to infuse a more youthful schedule on CMT.
As time went on, the words "The National Network" were downplayed in promotions. By late 2002, the channel was known simply as The New TNN and had picked up more male-oriented shows, such as Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
, Monster Jam
Monster Jam
Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld Entertainment. The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association and takes place primarily in the United States and around the world...
, Bull Riding
Bull riding
Bull riding refers to rodeo sports that involve a rider getting on a large bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal attempts to buck off the rider....
, Robot Wars
Robot Wars (TV series)
Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
and Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. This was done in an effort both to further distance itself from its former country music-based identity and to trumpet an increase in original programming. Television critics at the time noted disdainfully that "The New TNN", when written out, technically stood for "The New The National Network", a pleonasm
Pleonasm
Pleonasm is the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, or burning fire...
. Also, after more than two years in a non-country format, the network's offerings had long ceased to be "new" in any meaningful sense.
Spike TV
In early 2003, The New TNN was rebranded as Spike TV, marketedMarketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
as the first television channel for men
Man
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
. In early 2006, Spike removed the word "TV" from its name, referring to itself simply as Spike.
Spike Lee lawsuit
The name change to "Spike TV" was supposed to be official on June 16, 2003. However, on June 13, film directorFilm director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
won a New York Supreme Court
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
preventing the name change. Lee claimed that because of his well-known popularity in Hollywood, viewers would therefore assume that he was associated with the new channel. Lee stated in court papers that: "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."
The channel had planned an official launch of its new name at a star-studded, televised party at The Playboy Mansion
The Playboy Mansion
The Playboy Mansion is the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. Located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California, the mansion became famous during the 1970s through media reports of Hefner's lavish parties.-History:The house is described as being in the "Gothic-Tudor" style...
in mid-June. But due to Lee's injunction, the special—titled Party With Spike—had to be heavily edited and the impact of the event was considerably muted. During the lawsuit, even the name "TNN" was significantly scaled back, as logos and voice-overs referred to the channel only as "The First Network for Men".
Spike Jones Jr., son of comic musician Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
, became a party of the lawsuit as part of Viacom's defense to protect the rights to his father's name. The suit was settled on July 8, 2003, and TNN was allowed to call itself Spike TV. In announcing the settlement, Lee admitted that he did not believe that the channel intentionally tried to trade on his name.
The name change became official on August 11, 2003.
Spike programming
The name change was slated to coincide with an adult-oriented change in programming including original animated series StripperellaStripperella
Stripperella was an American animated series created by Stan Lee. The main character, voiced by and based on Pamela Anderson, is a stripper named Erotica Jones who is also the superheroine/secret agent Stripperella. The series was produced by The Firm and Spike Animation Studios...
and Gary the Rat
Gary the Rat
Gary the Rat is an American television program adult-oriented animated series animated by Spike Animation Studios, produced by Grammnet Productions and distributed by Cheyenne Enterprises that was originally broadcast on Spike in 2003. The program lasted one season before cancellation...
. Popular reruns such as Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
, V.I.P.
V.I.P. (TV series)
V.I.P. is an American action/comedy-drama series starring Pamela Anderson. Created by J. F...
and The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
, original specials such as The 100 Most Irresistible Women and imported programming such as MXC
MXC
MXC was an American comedy television program that aired on Spike TV from 2003 to 2007. It is a re-edit of footage from the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle which originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1989...
.
Spike TV hired cartoonist John Kricfalusi
John Kricfalusi
Michael John Kricfalusi , better known as John K., is a Canadian animator. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, its adults-only spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", The Ripping Friends animated series, and Weekend Pussy Hunt, which was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based...
and a new version of the classic animated hit The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren & Stimpy Show, often simply referred to as Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series, created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat...
returned with new episodes in a series known as Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon
Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" is an animated television series created by an american animator John Kricfalusi for the cable network Spike . The series was an adults-only-revival and spin-off of the original animated series, The Ren & Stimpy Show, which had previously aired on the American...
. After Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon was canceled, the channel started airing classic episodes that originally aired on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
in the 1990s; it was named Ren & Stimpy: The Classics. It was TV-PG instead of TV-MA, though it aired late at night. The original Nickelodeon episodes aired on Spike also aired uncut.
The channel now airs a combination of original programming and reruns of network programming, including series from the CSI
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
and Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
franchises, MXC
MXC
MXC was an American comedy television program that aired on Spike TV from 2003 to 2007. It is a re-edit of footage from the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle which originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1989...
, Game Head
Game Head
GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley is a television show about video games hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Originally titled Game Head, on January 25, 2008, the show relaunched under its current name with a slightly different format and further incorporation of GameTrailers hosts,...
, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
, and Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
programming.
It has scored some major coups in terms of its programming, receiving syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
rights to several Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
series (which was produced by another Viacom branch, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
), as well as most of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
series of movies
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
. It is also the cable home to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, and the cult TV favorite MXC
MXC
MXC was an American comedy television program that aired on Spike TV from 2003 to 2007. It is a re-edit of footage from the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle which originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1989...
, an overdubbed version of the Japanese
Japanese popular culture
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, manga, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation...
series Takeshi's Castle
Takeshi's Castle
was a Japanese game show that aired between 1986 and 1989 on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It featured the Japanese actor Takeshi Kitano as a count who owns a castle and sets up impossible challenges for players to get to him. The show has become a cult television hit around the world...
.
In the fall of 2003, Spike TV aired The Joe Schmo Show
The Joe Schmo Show
The Joe Schmo Show is a reality television parody show which aired on the American cable network Spike TV from 2003–2004. The show's premise is that a target person or persons are led to believe that they are contestants on a reality television show; in reality, all of the other participants in the...
, a parody of reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
shows like Survivor
Survivor (TV series)
Survivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...
and Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
. Its finale led to the channel's highest ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
at the time, and a second season aired in the Summer of 2004. In November 2004, Spike TV purchased the cable/satellite syndication rights to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
for a record price of $1.9 million per episode. It joined the lineup on October 1, 2006. The promotion of the CSI franchises earned Spike the colloquial title "The CSI Channel" during this period because as much as one third (eight hours) of programming blocks were devoted to the franchise.
On November 18, 2004, they broadcasted reruns of the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
TV series SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
at midnight, to promote The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a 2004 American animated film based on the popular Nickelodeon television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The film stars the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Doug Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Alec Baldwin, Jeffrey Tambor, and...
that came out the next day. They did this almost all night, as did another MTV Networks channel, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
.
In September 2005, all WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(formerly the WWF) programming on Spike TV left the channel as a result of acrimonious contractual matters between WWE and Viacom. WWE Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
moved back to its original cable home, NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
's USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
while WWE Sunday Night HEAT
WWE HEAT
WWE Heat was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
and WWE Velocity
WWE Velocity
WWE Velocity was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It replaced two syndicated WWE shows, Jakked/Metal. Once a weekly Saturday night show on Spike TV and on Sky Sports 2 in the UK on Sunday mornings, Velocity became a webcast from 2005 to 2006...
moved to WWE.com due to failure to gain a time slot for the shows in the United States. On October 1, 2005, wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
began airing its weekly program TNA Impact!
TNA iMPACT!
Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...
in the Saturday night time slot formerly occupied by WWE Velocity. In WWE's last Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
broadcast on the channel, executives decided to censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
WWE personalities whenever they tried to mention Raws return to USA Network, scheduled for the following week. In what turned out to be a hectic night of sound suddenly vanishing, WWE's commentators finally succeeded in slipping the words "Next week on USA" past the censors at Spike TV, most likely due to Spike TV executives finally giving in. Spike was the only channel to air first-run matches from all of the major wrestling organizations in the last 15 years (WWF/WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
from 2000–2005, WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
in 2001 (including the Raw/Nitro simulcast and WCW-sanctioned matches during the Invasion storyline), ECW
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
from 1999–2000, and TNA from 2005–present).
On January 18, 2005, Spike TV debuted The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...
(TUF), an original reality show based around the sport of mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
which proved to be a surprise hit. Spike later extended their UFC coverage with UFC Unleashed
UFC Unleashed
UFC Unleashed is a television series produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It features matches from past UFC events. Episodes are one hour in length, showing several UFC bouts and "best of" compilations of popular fighters such as Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.-Overview:In...
and UFC Primetime
UFC Primetime
UFC Primetime is a television series currently airing on Spike TV in the United States. The show chronicles the training regimens of two UFC fighters prior to their next upcoming main event bout.-Premise:...
. On August 18, 2011, Spike officials made a statement regarding the end of their partnership with the UFC, “The Ultimate Fighter” season 14 in September will be our last....Our 6-year partnership with the UFC has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future.”
In October 2005, Spike TV debuted Game Head
Game Head
GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley is a television show about video games hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Originally titled Game Head, on January 25, 2008, the show relaunched under its current name with a slightly different format and further incorporation of GameTrailers hosts,...
with Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley is a Canadian video game journalist. His work spans online, print, and TV outlets, and he has been writing about games since 1992....
, a weekly video game show, and later followed up with Fresh Baked Videogames, making them both part of their "Slammin' Saturday Night" lineup. Spike is also home to the annual Video Game Awards and the Spike Guys' Choice Awards
Spike Guys' Choice Awards
The Spike Guys' Choice Awards is an awards show produced by the Viacom cable channel Spike and held since 2007. It is patterned after Viacom's MTV Movie Awards...
.On February 15, 2010 TNA made a new deal with Spike TV which would move TNA Impact!,one of the channel's primary and most successful programs to Monday nights. The first episode aired on March 8, 2010, though Impact! was shifted back to Thursdays after reduced TNA audience on Mondays.
Fresh Baked Video Games
On January 14, 2006, Spike introduced the short lived video game review show Fresh Baked Videogames. Among the shows many comedy sketches, pranks and animations was its most popular segment "A Free Video Game for a Shot to The Nuts". In this segment male contestants volunteer to take a strike to their testicles for a free video game. The contestants are given options on how they will be struck, ranging from a sack of nickels, to a female soccer player. The most popular episode was episode four of season 1 which aired January 28, 2006. On this episode Swedish actress Annika Svedman dressed as an NCAA cheerleader and was selected twice by contestants to be kicked in their testicles by her. This specific segment of Annika Svedman emerged in early 2007 on YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and has since become an Internet phenomenon which has helped propel Svedman's notoriety. The best known version of the clip (usually distributed as a Flash clip) shows a cheerleading outfit clad Svedman (complete with pom poms) moving her legs back and forth before delivering a debilitating kick. The original clip was made and distributed on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
from a thread of the original segment. The clip has been continuously removed from the website for copyright infringement, however, the clip continues to reemerge due to its cult-like popularity.
Star Trek
Spike has devoted large chunks of its programming time to the Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
franchise, to varying degrees. It initially featured Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
heavily before introducing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
in 2004 and Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
in 2006. All of these introductions were accompanied by multi-day marathons at some point, the Next Generation one including appearances by celebrities such as Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton
Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
, who played Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher
Wesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is Beverly Crusher's son and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in...
on The Next Generation. Deep Space Nine and Voyager had been relegated to late-night hours before their disappearances and The Next Generation had disappeared months before the syndication rights were bought by Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
. The promotion of the Trek franchises earned Spike the colloquial title The Star Trek Channel during this period because as much as one third (eight hours) of programming blocks were devoted to the franchise.
A notable omission during the period was Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, which the channel passed on (Syfy had proceeded to ease it into four-hour Monday night blocks). TV Land
TV Land
TV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
meanwhile had the rights to Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, but Spike stated that there may not be sufficient episodes (only three seasons) to accommodate the kind of blocks it would like to air. Syfy and BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
now have the rights to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Spike has replaced that block with reruns of Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol
Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol
Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol is an American reality television series produced by Cheri Sundae Productions. The US version is narrated by Robert Patrick...
and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
.
Get More Action
After the Viacom/CBS CorporationCBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
split of 2005, Spike became a part of the "new" Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
with its sibling channels in the MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
family. In May 2006, the station was re-branded to accentuate its masculinity, including a new logo, dropping the second half of its channel name (TV) from the logo and adding the "Get More Action" tagline.
In June 2006, Spike debuted Blade: The Series
Blade: The Series
Blade: The Series is a 2006 American live-action television program based on the Marvel Comics character and film series. It premiered on Spike on June 28, 2006...
, a TV series based on the Blade films. Rapper Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones
Kirk Jones
Kirk Jones also referred to as Sticky Fingaz or Sticky, is an American rapper, actor, and a member of the hip-hop group Onyx...
played Blade in the series. David S. Goyer
David S. Goyer
David Samuel Goyer is an American screenwriter, film director and comic book writer.-Early life:Goyer was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended Hebrew school and has described himself as "half Jewish"...
, writer of all three Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
films (and director of the third Blade film
Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...
), wrote the pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
and served as Executive Producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
on the series. It was canceled on September 28, 2006.
On September 5, 2006, the documentary film Metal of Honor: The Ironworkers of 9/11 by filmmaker Rachel Maguire, premiered on Spike. Metal of Honor is a documentary profiling the Ironworkers' efforts in the attempts for rescue and recovery on and after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
at the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
site. The film proceeds through the Ironworkers' dismantling of the fallen towers.
On October 10, 2006, Spike presented the Scream Awards
Scream Awards
The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films. Originally only having Scream Queen and Heroic Performance awards for actors, the personnel awards have expanded to include actors and actresses of all three recognized genres. In addition,...
, the first awards show honoring horror, science fiction, fantasy and comic books. At the 2007 Comic Con International the Spike TV booth was awarding tickets to that year's presentation ceremony to the winners of their "Scariest Costume" contest.
In late 2006, Spike introduced the Late Night Strip consisting of original series that are sometimes inappropriate for daytime TV, with regular intermissions featuring women. The programming airs Thursdays and Fridays at 12:00 a.m., and includes MXC
MXC
MXC was an American comedy television program that aired on Spike TV from 2003 to 2007. It is a re-edit of footage from the Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle which originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1989...
, Wild World of Spike, The Dudesons, and Game Head
Game Head
GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley is a television show about video games hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Originally titled Game Head, on January 25, 2008, the show relaunched under its current name with a slightly different format and further incorporation of GameTrailers hosts,...
.
Throughout the summer of 2007, starting on Father's Day
Father's Day
Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June but it is also celebrated widely on other days...
, the channel launched its first public service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
campaign, the "True Dads" national outreach campaign, with former New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
player Don Mattingly
Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur "Don" Mattingly is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nicknamed "The Hit Man" and "Donnie Baseball", he played his entire 14-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
spokesperson. This focused on fathers who demonstrated active roles in their children's lives, through public service announcements on the channel featuring both celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
and ordinary fathers and websites such as Spike's own "True Dads" site, among other things.
In April 2008, Spike aired the commercial TV premiere of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
, and became the first basic-cable channel in the U.S. to air all six Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
movies. Viacom bid against NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
and Turner Broadcasting for this opportunity, which is worth up to $80 million, despite each of those channel systems having previously aired at least part of the original trilogy. The same year, the channel began to broadcast a reality show based on the Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA). On the weekend of April 5 and April 6, 2008, the channel aired the first three Star Wars films against the simultaneous TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
broadcast of all three Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
films. More viewers watched the Star Wars broadcasts on Spike than watched the Lord of the Rings broadcasts on TNT. On April 7, 2008 the channel acquired cable syndication rights for the sitcom Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
. Five new unscripted series were picked up for the channel's summer 2008 lineup.
Though the programming is still aimed at the male demographic (age 18–49), Spike no longer makes the claim to be "the first network for men". Presumable motivations for this include acknowledging earlier attempts at "male-only" television (such as mentv
Mentv
The Cave is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel dedicated to airing lifestyle and entertainment programming aimed at men. It is currently owned by Groupe TVA and Shaw Media.-History:...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), and the risk of losing access to its Canadian audiences due to a claim of "duplication" (in terms of programming and target audience) contrary to Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regulations. Due to licensing restrictions and programming rights issues, Canadian viewers of Spike see alternate programming whenever Spike airs certain films such as the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film series, or other certain series programs.
On June 1, 2010, Spike launched into the first crowd-sourced pilot episode contest with Scripped
Scripped
Scripped is an online screenplay services company offering three services: script writing, script registration, and script coverage. Scripped currently does not facilitate collaboration among screenwriters. It combined with Zhura in 2010...
, a web-based screenwriting community. In this contest, Spike tested its ability to discover new talent from untested channels.
Alternate History
On August 24, 2011, at 7 pm Pacific TimePacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
, Spike launched a new series called Alternate History, illustrating what the world could be like if past events were slightly different. The premiere episode documented what would have happened if the Germans stopped the Allied invasion of France
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
and took over the world.
2011 Rebrand
On March 30, 2011, with the series premiere of Coal (a new series from 1000 Ways1000 Ways to Die
1000 Ways to Die is a docufiction anthology television series that premiered on May 14, 2008 on Spike. The program recreates unusual supposed deaths and debunked urban legends and includes interviews with experts who describe the science behind each death...
creator Thom Beers), Spike rebranded itself with a slightly-recolored logo and a new theme.
Website
On October 15, 2005 Viacom acquired ifilm.comIFilm
ifilm.com was an online archive of short films, movie trailers, and other video clips of interest. Ifilm.com was originally founded by independent filmmaker Raphael Raphael in 1997 as an independent film and media collective...
, which was initially launched in 1997. After acquiring the website for $49 million, it was eventually re-branded to Spike.com and provided hosting of user-uploaded videos.
YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
was also launched in 2005, which later suffered a class action lawsuit reported to be over $1 billion dollars. Spike.com's managing division claims that they only host videos they approve after they are submitted. YouTube Partner user Mike Mozart pointed out videos on Spike.com/iFilm that were uploaded from YouTube onto Spike.com, without permission as their descriptions are criticizing
Criticism
Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...
the video itself. He also pointed out that YouTube embeds hosted on Spike.com did not link back
Copyright aspects of hyperlinking and framing
In copyright law, the legal status of hyperlinking and that of framing concern how courts address two different but related web technologies...
to YouTube, and any sort of video hyperlinking was forcedly disabled, contradicting with YouTube's Terms of Use.
Rugby League
In the fall of 2009, Spike showed live Australian rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
semi finals games from the NRL and also showed the grand final, as David Niu
David Niu
David Niumataiwalu, better known as David Niu , is an Australian-American rugby league and rugby union administrator, coach, and former player...
tried to bring professional rugby league (NRLUS) to the United States.