And that ultimately led to going with action and identifying ourselves as being edgy and taking chances, but getting away from the whole ‘Stripperella’ vibe.” We made the decision to position Spike as a place that speaks to guys the way guys speak to guys, with honesty and no bullshit. What we didn’t have is a strong brand voice and personality. “We had off-network runs of ‘CSI,’ we had WWE wrestling, and young guys already loved us. “The challenge I came into was how to take an emergent brand and give it some real buzz,” recalls Niels Schuurmans, Spike senior vp consumer marketing, who joined a year after the network’s inception. But despite those early successes, the network was often hit-or-miss with programming. Later that year came the first Video Game Awards, a program that presciently anticipated the worldwide industry phenomenon that video games would soon represent. Thanks in part to the publicity windfall, Spike’s first outing - the reality parody show “The Joe Schmo Show” - drew 3.4 million viewers for its October 2003 finale. But in launching the suit, Lee gave unexpected publicity to the fledgling network, which launched in 86 million homes and on average drew 1.2 million viewers in its first full calendar year, according to the Nielsen Co. The planned relaunch was delayed two months, until August, when the lawsuit was settled. On the eve of the network’s name change announcement in 2003, filmmaker Spike Lee filed a lawsuit, saying the channel was infringing on his name and reputation. By then the channel was a member of the Viacom/MTV Networks family and became the National Network, which specialized in “pop entertainment,” including WWE, Arena Football League and reruns of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”īecoming Spike, however, heralded not just another name change but a full overhaul of content and direction. Programming consisted of a mix of videos, NASCAR and the Grand Ole Opry, and the network survived until September 2000. Technically, the network has a 25-year history, starting out in 1983 as the Nashville Network (TNN), which was founded by WSM and Group W Satellite Communications. “MANswers” probably won’t do that for Spike, though the channel has been trying to build momentum in that direction with other shows like last year’s John Leguizamo starrer “The Kill Point” and the announcement of a full slate of unscripted original pilots.īig hit aside, Spike is still a youngster in the world of cable networks and has come far in just five years. It takes at least one big crossover hit on a network to give a channel status - just think what “Mad Men” has done for AMC. “We pay competitive money for shows and have been building successful titles under the Spike banner, like our late-night show ‘MANswers.’ It’s a show that asks questions guys want to know the answers to - like how to survive being hit by a car.” “It’s always a fight for respect, but the proof in where we are is our ability to target and attract marquee producers for our original shows,” explains Sharon Levy, senior vp original series. Shanelle Loraine is a Poison Cues Rep and managed by Dragon Promotions. She is just as smart and charming as she is beautiful and very willing to give billiards more exposure." said Dragon Promotions CEO Cindy Lee. "Shanelle portrays the type of image that our sport needs. Shanelle will perform during the breaks from the movie doing trickshots and show billiard tips to the audience. It has quickly risen to become one of the hottest new TV networks. Spike (formerly called Spike TV), a division of MTV Networks, is an American cable network designed for an audience described demographically as "young adult males". Loraine in her short period of time has gained popular recognition in the pool world and is one of the few players who has been able to attract main stream media. New York, New York- International pool beauty queen Shanelle Loraine will appear on Spike TV February 9,2009 during Monday episode for Playbook at 9:00pm EST during Terminator 2. Shanelle Loraine (Photo courtesy of William Fuentes)
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