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TNN (originallyThe Nashville Network; later known asThe National Network andThe New TNN), was an Americancountry music-orientedcable television network. Programming includedmusic videos, tapedconcerts,movies,game shows,syndicated programs, and numeroustalk shows. On September 25, 2000, after an attempt to attract younger viewers failed, TNN's country music format waschanged and the network was renamedThe National Network, and eventually becameSpike TV in 2003 andParamount Network in 2018.
The Nashville Network was launched as abasic cable andsatellite television network on March 7, 1983, operating from the now-defunctOpryland USA theme park nearNashville, Tennessee.Country Music Television (CMT), founded by Glenn D. Daniels, beat TNN's launch by two days to become the first country music cable television network.
TNN was originally owned byWSM, Inc., a subsidiary ofNational Life and Accident Insurance Company that owned several broadcasting and tourism properties in Nashville and the traditional country radio and stage showThe Grand Ole Opry, and initially focused on country music-related original programming. TNN's flagship shows includedNashville Now andGrand Ole Opry Live, both of which were broadcast live from Opryland USA.[1][2] During TNN's first year of broadcasting,American General Corporation, parent company of NL&AIC, put the network up for sale, along with the other NL&AI properties, in an effort to focus on its core businesses.
TheGaylord Entertainment Company purchased TNN and the Opryland properties in the latter half of 1983. Much of TNN's programming during the Gaylord era was originally produced by Opryland Productions, also owned by Gaylord Entertainment.[3] Programming included variety shows,talk shows,game shows (such asFandango andTop Card), outdoors shows, and lifestyle shows, all centered in some way around country music or Southern U.S. culture.[4] Some of TNN's popular on-air talent included Miss America 1983 Debra Maffett (TNN Country News), and local Nashville media personalitiesRalph Emery,[5] Dan Miller,Charlie Chase,Lorianne Crook andGary Beaty, as well as established stars such as country music singerBill Anderson and actressesFlorence Henderson andDinah Shore. TNN even created stars, such as wily professional fishermanBill Dance.[6]Grand Ole Opry singer and 1960s country starBobby Lord, known for his skills as a sportsman and living in his nativeFlorida, hosted the programCountry Sportsman, featuring hunting and fishing excursions with various country stars. Inspired byABC'sThe American Sportsman, the TNN show was later renamedCelebrity Sportsman after ABC objected to the similarity to its program. One of the most popular shows that aired on the network during this time was a variety show hosted by the country music quartetThe Statler Brothers.
In 1986, TNN started airing professionalrodeos, beginning with theMesquite Championship Rodeo.
In 1991, Gaylord Entertainment purchased TNN's chief competitor,CMT, and operated it in tandem with TNN. CMT continued to show countrymusic videos exclusively throughout Gaylord's ownership. Following the acquisition, TNN quickly phased out its music video blocks, while directing viewers to CMT for such fare.
In 1993, Emery began a short-lived retirement from broadcasting, and leftNashville Now in the process. Upon Emery's exit, the show was merged with fellow TNN programCrook & Chase and renamedMusic City Tonight (hosted byLorianne Crook andCharlie Chase).[7] The same year,TNN Country News debuted and was hosted by Debra Maffett. The programming blockTNN Outdoors debuted in 1993, and featured hunting and fishing shows, as well asPRCA rodeo andPBR bull riding. In 1996, Crook and Chase left the show to relaunch their eponymous program in daytime syndication; it would return exclusively to TNN in 1997.[8] Meanwhile,Music City Tonight was again overhauled to more closely resemble its originalNashville Now format, but was rebranded asPrime Time Country. This version was originally hosted by actorTom Wopat (ofThe Dukes of Hazzard fame). He was later replaced with singer/songwriterGary Chapman, who enjoyed relative success with the show until its cancellation in 1999 as part of the network's change of focus.
TNN had two subdivisions focused on specialty programming:TNN Outdoors andTNN Motor Sports.[9] In 1998, country singerTracy Byrd became the on-air spokesman for theTNN Outdoors block, and stayed until 2000.TNN Motor Sports was responsible for production of all of the network'sauto racing and motorsports coverage. Regarding the latter,NASCAR races (including those of the then-Winston Cup Series,Busch Grand National Series, andCraftsman Truck Series) were the most prominently featured. However, races of other series such asIMSA,IRL,ASA,World of Outlaws, andNHRA were also showcased, as were motorcycle andmonster truck racing.TNN Outdoors andTNN Motor Sports also were marketed as separate entities, selling a variety of merchandise and being branded ontovideo games such asTNN Bass Tournament of Champions andTNN Outdoors Bass Tournament '96.
In 1995, the network's motorsports operations were moved into the industrial park located atCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord, North Carolina, where TNN had purchased controlling interest in World Sports Enterprises, a motorsports production company founded by motorsports editor and commentatorKen Squier and Fred Rheinstein. Notable TNN racing personalities includedMike Joy, Steve Evans,Eli Gold,Buddy Baker,Neil Bonnett, Randy Pemberton,Ralph Sheheen,Dick Berggren,Matt Yocum,Brock Yates,Paul Page,Don Garlits,Gary Gerould, Army Armstrong, andRick Benjamin.
The outdoors and motorsports programs were so successful that, by the early 1990s, only those shows were seen on Sundays, with no musical programming.
Westinghouse Electric, who at the time owned theCBS network and had an existing relationship with TNN through itsGroup W division, purchased TNN and its sister networkCMT outright in 1997 to form the CBS Cable division, along with a short-lived startup network entitledEye On People.
Most of the original entertainment-oriented programming ceased production during this period, and the network began to rely more onTNN Outdoors andTNN Motor Sports for programming. The network's ties to CBS allowed it to pick up Southern-themed CBS dramas from the 1980s such asThe Dukes of Hazzard andDallas, and also allowed it to carry CBS Sports' overruns, which happened during aNASCAR Busch Series race atTexas Motor Speedway and also aPGA Tour event atFirestone Country Club.[1] It also broadcast the1998 Pepsi 400 on October 17, 1998, after CBS was unable to air it on the rescheduled date (from July 4, due to the1998 Florida wildfires).
The late 1990s also saw the network's first attempts to distance itself from its country music/rural lifestyle image and court a younger demographic, one more attractive to potential advertisers.[10] In 1998, the network dropped its "The Nashville Network" moniker and shortened its official name toTNN, and ownership shifted toViacom in 2000 after that company's acquisition of Westinghouse's successor, CBS Corporation.[11] TNN subsequently moved from its original Nashville headquarters toNew York City and was folded into Viacom'sMTV Networks division; sister network CMT, however, remained situated in Nashville and began to venture away from 24/7 music videos in favor of lifestyle programming.
1998 witnessed the premiere ofRollerJam, which broughtroller derby back to television for the first time in almost a decade. The next year, TNN began its relationship withprofessional wrestling, signing a three-year deal withExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).ECW on TNN was the highest-rated show on TNN through 2000, despite limited advertising (which was a point of contention with ECW officials).[12]ECW on TNN andRollerJam formed the core of the network's "Friday Night Thrill Zone"program block, which was responsible for an increase in the network's young male viewership on Friday nights.
In 1999, TNN began to downplay its previous country lifestyle programming to appeal to a wider demographic, including younger viewers; capitalizing on the success ofRollerJam (aroller derby-inspired series with elements ofprofessional wrestling), TNN reached a three-year deal to broadcast aweekly television series from the Philadelphia-based wrestling promotionExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which would air on Friday nights beginning in late August 1999. Under the contract, ECW also agreed torevenue sharing with TNN for all of the promotion's events (including live shows andpay-per-views) and merchandising. These two programs would air as part of a Friday-nightblock themed aroundextreme sports programming, alongsideMotor Madness andbull riding from theProfessional Bull Riders (PBR); a TNN executive described bull riding as being "the original extreme sport".[13][14][15][16]
In November 1999, TNN announced new programming and primetime theme blocks it planned to introduce in 2000, includingMovie Monday (which would target female viewers),Action Wednesday,Friday Night Thrill Zone,Classic Country on Saturday nights, andTNN Outdoors on Sundays. The new schedule, along with new series such as the action drama18 Wheels of Justice, collegiatebowling competition seriesRockin' Bowl, reruns of the Western anthologyDead Man's Gun, and a new promotional campaign targeting younger viewers, were intended to introduce a broader audience to the network.[17]
Despite ECW reportedly driving a 200% increase in young male viewership in its timeslot, the promotion had a strained relationship with TNN's management—which had given the program little advertising, among other issues. ECW would reference these difficulties in its storylines viaCyrus and hisheel stableThe Network, who had agimmick of portraying a network executive who constantly criticized ECW's content, and displayed favoritism towards the heavilly-promotedRollerJam andRockin' Bowl.[13][14][18]
On September 25, 2000, TNN was folded into theMTV Networks division based in New York City, and was renamed The National Network. The rebranding coincided with major changes to the network's programming, including the move ofMonday Night Raw—the flagship weekly program of theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE)—to TNN fromUSA Network as part of a new contract with Viacom. As WWF programs were among USA Network's top programs, the move was considered a major coup for TNN. MTV Networks chairman Tom Freston described TNN as now being a general entertainment service, albeit one with a "sort of populistmiddle-America flavor" rather than "another network for New York or Los Angeles."[19][1][20]
Football also became more prominent on the network, as it began airing games of the originalArena Football League (AFL) withEli Gold as an announcer. TNN was also one of three networks to air games of the ill-fated, WWF-backedXFL (along withNBC andUPN). 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 airedCBS Sports-produced coverage of the inauguralopening round game of theNCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[21] The opening round game would later move toESPN in2002.
In 2001, the channel began to promote itself as "The New TNN" (an inadvertentpleonasm in its full context),[22] and added off-network sitcoms and dramas such asDiff'rent Strokes,[23]The Wonder Years,[24]The Rockford Files,[24]WKRP in Cincinnati,[24]Newhart,Hangin' With Mr. Cooper,Miami Vice[24] andTaxi.[24][25] It also became the first channel to air reruns ofMADtv. These moves went unnoticed for the most part, due to TNN's lack of popularity. By this time, all country music 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 byGreat American Country, including eventually theGrand Ole Opry, which was pushed off to CMT and eventually removed by Viacom after they did not renew the agreement to carry the series.[26]
By 2002, the channel had picked up more male-oriented shows, such asAmerican Gladiators,[27]The A-Team,Baywatch,Monster Jam, the hidden camera game showOblivious,Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, andSlamBall.[28]
The New TNN was relaunched as Spike TV in August 2003,[29] and then renamed to simply Spike in 2006.
Spike was rebranded as the Paramount Network on January 18, 2018.[30][31]
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