39,327
edits
Spike TV: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (remove unneccessary quote box template) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 6:
Originally, it was known as TNN, a country music channel launched two days after rival [[CMT]]. The Nashville Network was originally owned by Gaylord Entertainment, alongside Westinghouse Broadcasting (an arm of Westinghouse Electric Company). Westinghouse, after becoming [[CBS]] Corporation, purchased all of TNN (and CMT, which Gaylord bought in 1991) in 1997. While it focused mainly on music videos, TNN included original programming such as the game shows ''[[Top Card]]'', [[NASCAR]] races, and outdoor, lifestyle and talk shows targeted to a country audience.
Viacom bought [[CBS]] in 2000, and merged TNN and CMT into [[MTV]] Networks. In order to avoid redundancy, TNN was [[Retool|retooled]] into The National Network, or The New TNN, which tried to go beyond the Southern demographic, and was Viacom's second attempt at a "general entertainment" channel (the first was [[USA Network]], which they were once a part-owner of). Its most successful original program was [[WWE Raw]]. While that still sounds like a part of the original demographic, The New TNN also featured reruns of shows such as ''[[Baywatch]]'', ''[[Diffrent Strokes]]'', ''[[Miami Vice]]'', ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' and ''[[
In 2003, the network title was completely changed to [[Spike TV]], or simply Spike as it is called now. The name change was delayed a little from a lawsuit by director [[Spike Lee]], who claimed that viewers would associate the network with him. Unsurprisingly, the Spike network won the case. It did set up an awkward situation where a party at the Playboy Mansion celebrating the new network had to have censor bars and bleeping all over the place to remove all mentions of "Spike" until they got their issues ironed out with Mr. Lee.
| |||