 Logo used since February 25, 2024 | |
| Type | General entertainment cable network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | 5555 Melrose Avenue,Hollywood, California, United States |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Media Networks (Paramount Global) |
| Parent | MTV Entertainment Group |
| Key people | |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | March 7, 1983; 42 years ago (1983-03-07) |
| Former names | The Nashville Network (1983–2000) The National Network (2000–2001) The New TNN (2001–2003) Spike TV (2003–2006) Spike (2006–2018) |
| Links | |
| Website | paramountnetwork.com |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Associated Streaming Service | Paramount+ |
| Service(s) | YouTube TV,Hulu + Live TV,Philo,FuboTV |
Paramount Network is an American basiccable television channel and the flagship property of theParamount Media Networks division ofParamount Global, who operates it through theMTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located at theParamount Pictures studio lot inLos Angeles. The channel was originally founded by a partnership between radio stationWSM andWestinghouse Broadcasting asThe Nashville Network (TNN) and began broadcasting on March 7, 1983.[1][2]
It initially featured programming catering towards the culture of theSouthern United States, includingcountry music,variety shows, outdoors programming, andmotor racing coverage (such asNASCAR). TNN was purchased by theGaylord Entertainment Company in 1983.[3] After Gaylord boughtCMT in 1991, TNN's music programming was shifted to CMT, leaving TNN to focus on entertainment and lifestyle programming.
In 1995,TNN andCMT were acquired by Westinghouse (owner ofCBS), which was in turn acquired byViacom in 1999. Under Viacom ownership, TNN would phase out country-influenced programming in favor of a general entertainment format appealing toMiddle America. It was renamedThe National Network in September 2000, coinciding with the network premiere ofWWF Raw. In August 2003, TNN relaunched asSpike TV, which targeted ayoung adult male audience. From June 2006, the network's programming had a more explicit focus on the action genre, while in 2010, the network had an increased focus on original reality series. This culminated with a final rebrand in 2015 to emphasize gender-balanced series (such asLip Sync Battle) and a return to original scripted programming.
On January 18, 2018, the channel took its current name, aiming to align the network with its Paramount Pictures (which previously lent its name to theUnited Paramount Network, which is nowThe CW), and to position Spike as a flagship, "premium" channel (similar to pay television networksHBO andCinemax, which are both owned byHome Box Office, Inc.). Paramount Network's most successful original program wasYellowstone—which quickly became its flagship series, and has spawned multiple spin-offs onParamount+, the streaming service owned by its parent companyParamount Global. The network has also featured limited engagements of new Paramount+ original series byYellowstone co-creatorTaylor Sheridan, usingYellowstone as a lead-in.
Between 2020 and 2021, most of Paramount Network'soriginal programming would either be cancelled, or moved to other Paramount Global outlets, as part of a proposed plan to relaunch the network with a focus onmade-for-TV films. By January 2022, these plans had been scrapped due to the impact ofCOVID-19, and success of theYellowstone franchise; leaving it, and Spike holdoverBar Rescue, as the channel's only original, first-run programs. As of December 2023[update], approximately 61.33 million pay television households in the United States received Paramount Network;[4] down from 80.24 million in September 2018.[5]
The Nashville Network first launched on March 7, 1983; it was dedicated to the culture and lifestyle ofcountry music and theSouthern United States.[6] It originally operated as ajoint venture of WSM, Inc., at the time owned byNational Life and Accident Insurance Company, andGroup W Satellite Communications. TNN operated 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, robbing them of the claim of the "first country music cable television network." TNN's flagship shows includedNashville Now,The Statler Brothers Show,American Sports Cavalcade andGrand Ole Opry Live.Nashville Now and theGrand Ole Opry were broadcast live from Opryland USA.[7][8]
TheGaylord Entertainment Company purchased WSM, along with 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.[9] From 1983 to 1992, all of TNN's auto racing and motor sports coverage was produced by Diamond P Sports. Starting in 1993, TNN started having itsNASCAR coverage produced by World Sports Enterprises, and theAmerican 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 shows,game shows, outdoor shows (such as hunting and fishing), and lifestyle shows; all centered in some way around country music or the country style of living.[10]
Some of TNN's popular on-air talent included local Nashville media personalitiesRalph Emery,[11]Dan Miller,Charlie Chase andLorianne Crook, as well as established stars such as country music singerBill Anderson and actressesFlorence Henderson andDinah Shore. By 1995, TNN was acquired byWestinghouse Electric Corporation, which had recently acquiredCBS around that time; 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 TNN. Ownership shifted toViacom in the late 1990s after its acquisition of CBS Corporation, Westinghouse's successor.[7]
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".[12][13][14][15]
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.[16]
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 with itsstable "The Network,” whose leaderCyrus criticized the ECW program for its content, and showed a blatant adoration for TNN shows such asRollerJam.[12][13][17]
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 network premiere ofRaw Is War—the flagship weekly program of theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE)—which moved 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."[18][7][19]
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.[20] The opening round game would later move toESPN in2002.
In 2001, TNN added off-network sitcoms and dramas such asDiff'rent Strokes,[21]The Wonder Years,[22]The Rockford Files,[22]WKRP in Cincinnati,[22]Newhart,Hangin' With Mr. Cooper,Miami Vice[22] andTaxi.[22][23] 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-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 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. In 2001, TNN began to market itself as "The New TNN", an inadvertentpleonasm in its full context.[24][25]
By late 2002, the channel had picked up more male-oriented shows, such asBaywatch,Monster Jam, the hidden camera game showOblivious,Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, andSlamball.[26]
In April 2003, Viacom would announce that TNN would be relaunched asSpike TV on June 16.[27] Promoted with the slogan "The FirstNetwork for Men", They aimed to targetyoung adult males aged 18–34 — a demographic they believed were being served insufficiently by other cable networks. Spike's launch programming started with three animated shows includingGary the Rat,Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" (an adult-oriented revival of the originalNickelodeonThe Ren & Stimpy Show), andStripperella, as well as other new series such asRide with Funkmaster Flex,CSI,Star Trek, andRaw.[27] Other planned programming includedinterstitial segments on health, technology, and finance in collaboration withMen's Health,Stuff, andMarketWatch.[27]
Three days before the planned launch date,film director andactorSpike Lee won aNew York Supreme Courtinjunction preventing Viacom from using the "Spike TV” name. Lee claimed that due to his well-known popularity in Hollywood, viewers would therefore assume that he was associated with the new channel.[28] 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."[29][27] Spike Jones Jr., son of comic musicianSpike Jones, became a party to the lawsuit as part of Viacom's defense to protect the rights to his father's name.[30]
Most of the new programming would premiere on the originally-planned date as asoft launch, at this time, the TNN name and logo was downplayed heavily in favor of the "First Network for Men" tagline. The suit was settled on July 8, 2003, in announcing the settlement, Lee admitted that he did not believe that the channel intentionally tried to trade on his name.[31] On July 28, 2003, it was announced that Spike TV would officially launch on August 11, of the same year.—eight weeks later than initially scheduled. Its launch night programming featured two programs originally intended to air on June 16, includingParty with Spike—a launch special filmed at thePlayboy Mansion, and the premiere ofMost Extreme Elimination Challenge—a comedicdub of theJapanese game showTakeshi's Castle.[32]Klasky Csupo'sImmigrants and theJohn Leguizamo-producedZilch & Zero were originally slated to run on Spike TV's animation block,[33] but these plans never materialized and the former was released as a film instead.[34][35] Later that year, Spike premiered thereality television parodyThe Joe Schmo Show, which had positive attention.[36] and launched theSpike Video Game Awards.
On January 17, 2005, The network premieredThe Ultimate Fighter, a reality competition series followingmixed martial arts (MMA) fighters training and competing to earn a contract with theUltimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The series helped to raise the profile of the promotion, and would run for 14 seasons, ending its run in 2011 only afterFox Sports acquired the U.S. television rights to UFC programming and events under a new, seven-year deal.[37][38]
In March 2005, Viacom announced that it would not renew its contract withWWE when it expired in September 2005. Spike TV's new president,Doug Herzog, stated that Spike had planned to "expand its investments in original programming and new acquisitions for its core audience", including new scripted programming. The following month, it was announced thatWWE Raw would return to USA Network.[39][40] Spike TV subsequently reached a deal with another wrestling promotion,Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which sawTNA Impact! premiere on Saturday, October 1, 2005.[41] Later in the month, The block debuted the video game news showGame Head, hosted byGeoff Keighley.
In 2005, Viacom conducted research which found that word-of-mouth knowledge narrowly perceived Spike TV's programming as being predominantly "low-brow,” violent, and reliant onsex appeal. These findings led Viacom to pursue a rebrand in an effort to clarify the network's focus. At its upfront presentations in 2006, Viacom unveiled a new logo for the channel (officially shortening its name to "Spike"), with the new slogan "Get More Action.” The new brand was described as being "authentic" and "unapologetically" masculine, and emphasizingaction as a core genre of programming for the network. The new branding would launch alongside the premiere ofBlade: The Series in June 2006. An aspect of the rebranding were themedpromos with integratedproduct placement, such as "Men of Action" (which featured homages and parodies of "classic action moments").[42]
On September 5, 2006, Spike premiered the documentary filmMetal of Honor: The Ironworkers of 9/11 by filmmaker Rachel Maguire, which profiled the ironworkers' efforts in the attempts for rescue and recovery of theSeptember 11 attacks at theWorld Trade Center site. The film proceeds through the ironworkers' dismantling of the fallen towers.[43] On October 10, 2006, Spike aired theinauguralScream Awards, an awards show honoringhorror, science fiction, fantasy and comic book-based entertainment.[44] In January 2007, Spike premiered theanime seriesAfro Samurai, whose English-language cast featured actorSamuel L. Jackson.[45][46]
In October 2007,Kevin Kay was appointed network president after serving as executive vice president and general manager of the channel for the previous two years.[47] The post had been vacant since December 2006.[48] In 2008, the network premieredDEA, a reality series based on theDrug Enforcement Administration.[49]
On April 7, 2008, Spike acquired cable syndication rights for the sitcomMarried... with Children.[50] And five new unscripted shows were also picked up for the channel's Summer 2008 lineup, including1000 Ways to Die.[51]
In the fall of 2009, Spike broadcast live Australianrugby league semifinal games from theNational Rugby League and also showed the grand final, as part of efforts byDavid Niu to bring theNational Rugby League USA to the United States.[52][53] On June 1, 2010, Spike launched into the first crowd-sourced pilot episode contest withScripped, a web-based screenwriting community.[54]
In January 2011, Spike ordered two newreality television shows,Bar Rescue andRepo Games.[55] During Viacom's upfronts presentation that May, it was announced that Spike would undergo a brand repositioning, with a larger focus on reality programming and a broader audience of males in thekey demographic. The changes were intended to pivot Spike's brand in a more mature direction, which were described as an aim to be less likeMaxim magazine and more likeEsquire.[56] A promotional campaign emphasizedadversity as a common theme in Spike's programming.[57][58][56]
The following year, Spike ordered the new seriesRat Bastards (a series following apest control business in Mississippi),Tattoo Nightmares, along with a revival ofWorld's Wildest Police Videos,[59] andFull Bounty—abounty hunting reality series that was later revealed to actually be a third season ofThe Joe Schmo Show.[36] In 2013,Bellator MMA made its network debut with the premiere of itseighth season; the now Viacom-ownedmixed martial arts promotion previously aired on sibling channelMTV2.[60][61] Later that year,Fox reality seriesCops moved to Spike beginning September 14.[62] In the fall,kickboxing promotionGlory made its network debut withGlory 11: Chicago.[63] This was not Spike's first time broadcasting a kickboxing event as, in 2012, they partnered withK-1 to broadcast several events on their website.[64] The end of the year saw theVideo Game Awards revamped and become known as VGX.[65]
At the end of the year,Impact Wrestling would air its last episode on Spike on December 24, 2014, before moving toDestination America in 2015.[66] Spike also announced that they would drop their video game award show;[67] Geoff Keighley would go on to create his own award show in the form ofThe Game Awards. In January 2015, following a similar deal made byNBC, Spike announced they would air monthly fight cards by theHaymon Boxing-created "Premier Boxing Champions.”[68][69][70]
During its upfronts on March 3, 2015, Spike featured a new logo and tagline, "The Ones to Watch".[71] The re-branding aimed to make the channel more inclusive to women, emphasizing a focus on "big talent, engaging shows and hits that get people talking" and further expansions into scripted series. Alongside the miniseriesTut and the announcement of an expanded episode order for the seriesLip Sync Battle (a spin-off of a segment fromLate Night with Jimmy Fallon), Spike announced an output deal withDwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions for a series of specials,Emergency Broadcast, an original drama co-created byMax Brooks, andSweat Inc., a fitness-oriented reality series hosted byJillian Michaels.[72][73][74]
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On February 9, 2017, Viacom announced that Spike would relaunch as Paramount Network in 2018 and move its headquarters from theOne Astor Plaza inNew York City toParamount Pictures inLos Angeles to give the network a closer association with the film studio. This was part of a restructuring plan by new Viacom CEOBob Bakish to refocus the majority of its media business around six flagship brands, which included Paramount Pictures,BET,Comedy Central,Nickelodeon, theNick Jr. Channel, andMTV.[75][76][77] New original series announced in the first half of 2018 included the miniseriesWaco andYellowstone, along withAmerican Woman andHeathers—two comedies originally slated forTV Land.The Shannara Chronicles, which moved to Spike for season 2 from MTV, was not renewed by Paramount Network.[78][79][80][81]
Paramount Network is being positioned as a "premium" basic cable network, similar toAMC andFX.[82] Network president Kevin Kay explained that Bakish wanted Viacom to have a "flagship" outlet for scripted programming, as opposed to making inefficient investments into them across individual channels. He added that Paramount Network's offerings would be distinguished from its competitors by continuing to emphasize Middle America as a key viewer base. Even with its subsequent rebrandings, Paramount Network still had significant carriage strength and viewership in theMidwest andSouth due to its heritage as TNN. Kay argued that its initial slate of original dramas were not as "dark,” citing thesetting ofYellowstone as making it "brighter and a bit more blue sky than some of the things that are on premium cable TV now.”[82]
In regards to the programs moved to Paramount Network from TV Land,American Woman was moved to take advantage of its prominent leadsAlicia Silverstone andMena Suvari, whileHeathers was moved because, in Kay's opinion, the show was not appropriate for TV Land's target audience.[82] In June 2018,Heathers was dropped by Paramount Network and Viacom, citing network concerns over the content of the series in the wake of recent shootings in the United States, such as theStoneman Douglas High School shooting.[83] The series would eventually air on Paramount Network in October 2018 in an edited form, with two episodes dropped due to thePittsburgh synagogue shooting.[84][85][86]
Paramount Network began aviral marketing campaign to promote its launch in December 2017. The campaign included aTimes Square advertisement asking viewers to phone and email Paramount Network's chief marketing officer Niels Schuurmans to protest Spike's "firing,” as well as a string ofself-deprecating posts by the network'sTwitter account about its history and programming (including that "My favorite number is 329 because it's the number of timesCops is on every night,” "We had a show calledThe Joe Schmo Show. Apparently every decent show name was taken", and that "There's a reason all our early shows wereCSI,UFC,TNA,MXC,UTI. No one around here knew how to read"). A network executive stated that the campaign was meant to represent a "public meltdown" by a fired employee.[87][88]
The campaign concluded with a live streaming event on January 17, 2018, where users could vote on various ways a crew would deface a large model of the former Spike logo, culminating in its demolition.[89][90] Paramount Network officially launched the following night at 9:00 p.m. ET, marked by a live,Michael Jackson-themedLip Sync Battle special from theDolby Theatre.[91]
The Spike trademark remains in active use as a series of channels on Paramount Global'sPluto TV mainly carrying action and reality content.[92]
In early 2020, Paramount Network began to cut back on scripted series development, having dropped upcoming projects such asEmily in Paris (which was subsequently picked up byNetflix), and cancelling68 Whiskey after a single season.[93] On September 11, 2020, it was announced that Bellator would move toCBS Sports Network in October 2020.[94] It would later move toShowtime in April 2021.[95]
On September 22, 2020, ViacomCBS president of Entertainment and Youth Brands Chris McCarthy toldVariety in an exclusive that Paramount Network would relaunch as amovie channel "within the next year" (to be tentatively known asParamount Movie Network). The relaunched network was to focus primarily on originalmade-for-TV films featuring major talent, with a plan to premiere 52 films per-year.[93] The films would have been largely produced by Paramount Pictures andMTV Studios, with plans for co-productions withViacomCBS International networks such as Argentina'sTelefe, Australia'sNetwork 10, and the United Kingdom'sChannel 5.[93] These changes would have mirrored a similar shift in programming that McCarthy undertook at sister channelComedy Central, which also dropped live-action series development in favor of original specials, films, andadult animation.[93]
At least one scripted series or miniseries was to be carried per-quarter, such asYellowstone (albeit with episodes premiering in a different format to suit a cinematic presentation), but the channel was to abandon non-scripted programming.[93] In preparation for the relaunch, it was stated thatBar Rescue and Lip Sync Battle would move to another ViacomCBS channel to be determined, whileInk Master andWife Swap were both cancelled.[93]
FormerLifetime SVP of original movies Meghan Hooper White had been brought on as ViacomCBS's head of original movies and specials in May 2020,[96] and was to oversee the Paramount Movie Network slate, as well as television films and specials across all other ViacomCBS networks.[97] However, she was released from the company in August 2021 as part of a reorganization ofParamount+ and MTV Entertainment Group's executive structure.[98] In the interim, new seasons ofBar Rescue andYellowstone would premiere on the network in 2021,[97] and in October 2021, the second season ofThe Last Cowboy (a reality competition series byYellowstone co-creatorTaylor Sheridan) moved to CMT.[99]Ink Master was also picked up for a new season by Paramount+.[100]
The channel also began a strategy of promoting new Paramount+ original series involving Sheridan, such asMayor of Kingstown andYellowstone prequel1883, under which their initial episodes were given special television airings on Paramount Network as lead-outs forYellowstone.1883 would set a record for the highest-rated premiere in Paramount Network history, and on cable overall since 2015, with 4.9 million viewers. McCarthy described this practice as a method of using its linear platforms as a "launch pad" for streaming content.[101][102][103]
In January 2022,Deadline reported that the network relaunch had been shelved, partly due to theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television and film production, in addition toYellowstone's ratings success—which had been influenced by the acquisition of streaming rights to the series byNBCUniversal'sPeacock.[97] The network also acquired linear rights to theSpectrum Originals seriesGeorge & Tammy.[97] During the Paramount Global upfronts in May 2022, it was announced thatYellowstone spin-off6666 had been shifted from Paramount+ to Paramount Network, the fifth season ofYellowstone would premiere in November 2022, and that the first two episodes of Sheridan andSylvester Stallone's Paramount+ seriesTulsa King would receive special airings as lead-outs forYellowstone.[104][105]
Paramount Network's current programming consists primarily of reruns ofsitcoms anddrama series, as well as airings of feature films. As of 2022, the network's lone original drama isYellowstone, which launched alongside the rebranding of Spike as Paramount Network, and grew in viewership throughout its first four seasons.[106]Bar Rescue, a reality series carried over from Spike, has also continued to air new episodes on Paramount Network.[97]
As Spike, male-oriented programs constituted the majority of the network's schedule upon its original relaunch in 2003. By 2011, Spike had shifted its programming towards shows aimed at a broader audience, such asBar Rescue. Finally, with its 2015 rebrand, Spike attempted to add more "gender-balanced" programming.[73][74]
The network had formerly carriedcombat sports programming throughout its various incarnations; being the first basic cable home ofmixed martial arts promotionUFC, and including early seasons of the promotion's reality seriesThe Ultimate Fighter. Other promotions and sports-related programming have includedkickboxing events fromGlory andK-1;professional wrestling fromTNA Wrestling,WWE, andExtreme Championship Wrestling;boxing cards fromPremier Boxing Champions; and the Paramount-ownedBellator MMA andBellator Kickboxing.
On October 15, 2005, Viacom acquirediFilm, which was initially launched in 1997. After acquiring the website for $49 million, it was eventually rebranded to Spike.com and provided hosting ofuser-uploaded videos in a short-lived attempt to compete withYouTube (which Viacom hadsued to remove user-generated uploads of its programming from), a strategy eventually abandoned to refocus Spike.com as a general network site. The iFilm.com domain redirected to theScreen Junkies website for a period of time.
During the era where they hosted user generated content, Spike.com's managers only approved videos pre-screened to meet their standards.[107] On January 18, 2018, Spike.com was sunsetted, and viewers were redirected to the new Paramount Network site and domain.
In April 1984, while as TNN, theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved the channel for carriage by Canadian cable and satellite television providers.[108] Following its re-branding as Spike TV, theCanadian Association of Broadcasters filed a complaint with the CRTC on behalf ofCanwest Global, demanding the channel be removed from Canadian television providers. The CAB felt that its new general entertainment format would unduly compete with various Canadian-run specialty channels, arguing that there was overlap in its niche and its then-current schedule withMen TV (men's lifestyle),Space (Star Trek), sports channels such asTheScore (WWE),Discovery Health (interstitial segments focusing on men's health, although the network did not air any full-length programs on the topic and mainly focused on generic women's and children's health and pregnancy-related programming at the time), along with the inexplicable naming ofReport on Business Television andCTV Travel for reasons unknown.[109]
In January 2005, the CRTC dismissed the CAB's complaint, ruling that it provided insufficient evidence that Spike was directly competing with Canadian specialty channels. The CRTC ruled that Spike did not unduly compete with Men TV, since it was licensed as a service that would carry men's lifestyle programming (in contrast to Spike, which the CRTC classified as ageneral entertainment channel targeting males), and that the remaining allegations of overlap with domestic Canadian specialty channels represented only a minority of Spike's overall programming.[109][110]
Due to programming rights issues, programs which the channel does not hold rights to air outside of the U.S. are replaced with alternate programs, consisting mainly of reruns of Spike's previous reality programs.[111][112]
In 2022, with Paramount Global prioritizing promotion of theParamount+ streaming service in the market instead, a number of major providers began dropping the channel, beginning withRogers Communications on April 1, 2022, followed byShaw Cable andShaw Direct on August 31, 2023, andEastlink on September 15, 2023.[citation needed] The Canadian feed was discontinued on all other providers on January 1, 2024.[citation needed]
Prima Comedy Central was rebranded as Paramount Network on January 12, 2021.[113]
On December 17, 2020, Paramount Channel in Hungary rebranded as the Paramount Network.[114]
On April 14, 2020, ViacomCBS rebranded the Latin American version of Paramount Channel into Paramount Network.[115]
Spike rebranded as the Paramount Network in the Netherlands on May 24, 2022.[116]
In May 2018, Viacom announced that it would rebrandParamount Channel in Spain under theParamount Network name on June 10, 2018, marking Viacom's first property outside of the U.S. to adopt the brand. Paramount Channel in Spain had been among Viacom's most successful international properties. The channel adopted a similar general entertainment format to the U.S. version, with its launch lineup featuring the fifth season ofAlaska y Mario (moving fromMTV Spain), and a lineup of imported dramas and films.[117]
Paramount Network launched in the UK on July 4, 2018, it is operated by the Viacom-owned networkChannel 5.[118] It is the second Paramount-branded property in that market; its domestic version ofComedy Central launched as the Paramount Channel in 1995, then was Paramount Comedy from 1997 until 2009, when it took the Comedy Central name. On January 7, 2020, it replaced theBritish version of Spike in its channel allotments onFreeview, cable, and satellite.[119] The British version of Paramount Network was closed the day prior, and rebranded as 5Action on January 19, 2022.
Viacom began to launch localized versions of Spike in 2015.
the nashville network.
