TNN to Change its name to "Spike TV"

[Scott Greczkowski]

I just heard that on June 16th TNN will officially change it's name to "Spike TV" the channel will be geared twards men.

Sounds like a dumb name to me, but what do I know. :D

[Maniacal1]

Scott, you know enough to know it's a dumb name. Really dumb. :)

To me, it sounds like a channel for dogs.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I was thinking a Vollyball Channel.

Hmm Babewatch girls playing Vollyball, hey I like that idea... Bouncy bouncy! :D

[shy007]

Whats wrong with TNN name..... I would hate to be the person who came up with this name change..... Their job has about 6 months left...... I'm just not sure I want to watch a channel called Spike......

[Steve Mehs]

I like the new name :) Makes it sound more tough and masculine. Like a biker dude with a spiked hair do or a big mean pit bull or bulldog with a spiked color. It's about time men have got their own channel that's not 24/7 sports or 24/7 porn :D Insert a Tim The Tool Man Taylor grunt or two here.

[Sherlock]

All Spike Lee all the time?

[toomuchtv]

They had all these BIG plans when they changed it the first time but still haven't shown me anything exciting or worth watching. I doubt if this "great idea" will help things either. They might just as well shut it down.

[Mark Holtz]

Sorry, but when I hear of Spike TV, I think James Masters 24/7.

What don't they call it what it REALLY is: The black bar network.

[Ontarian]

I knew a guy with the nick name "Spike" and he was as gay as a jay bird. Sorry, no offense to gays. Maybe the name change also means the end of the black bar.

[guest]

What was so wrong with the old Nashville Network..I thought it served its niche well

[Geronimo]

Didn't Fonzie have a nephew named Spike? Before Chachi.

[Uncle Peter]

Sounds like another Animal Channel to me. Their Motto.....Quality TV gone to the Dogs...

[Jacob S]

How many more channels are having a name change? First Muchmusic now TNN? Both stupid names to try to attract new people.

[Rick_EE]

I thought CNN had already taken the name.

[TerryC]

Originally posted by Geronimo
Didn't Fonzie have a nephew named Spike? Before Chachi.
I think his dog was named Spike.

And I agree with Z'loth. The name makes me think of the character from Buffy.

[waydwolf]

    24/7 Elvis Costello and his one major hit, "Veronica".

    24/7 "Cool World" and stuff we didn't see on the DVD because we were bored to sleep before we got that far.

    Well, those are my references.

    Can we rename CNN to Covered-Up News Network?

 

[TerryC]

Originally posted by TerryC

I think his dog was named Spike.

Maybe I was thinking about dear old Spunky.

Never mind.

[raj2001]

TNN should change its name to "the banner channel" or "burnin TV."

[raj2001]

Originally posted by waydwolf
Can we rename CNN to Covered-Up News Network?

I know some conspiracists repeatedly refer to CNN as "The Communist News Network".

I prefer to call them CeNNsored.

[music_beans]

My Predictions for Channel Name Changes: :D

Nickelodeon = Slime
ESPN = Expensive Sports Programming NUTwork
ABC = America's Boring Channel

That is all i can think of now!

[Mark Holtz]

R$N = Regional Stickup Networks

[Frank Z]

Originally posted by Sherlock
All Spike Lee all the time?

Nooo!

[DS0816]

With this report, I think TNN -- er, Spike TV (come June) -- gives cable outlets, like Comcast and Time Warner, all the ammo they need in dropping this channel from their (at least analog) systems. Hey, it deviates so badly from original programming content. ABC Family has been better at staying the course, despite questionable content quality. TNN sounds like it should be its way out. Bring in the newer channels, Comcast and Time Warner! Dump Spike TV (formerly The New TNN, formerly TNN, formerly The Nashville Network…). :blush:

 

[BobMurdoch]

Spike TV is a stupid name. I thought it was an April Fool's joke when I first heard it.

What they SHOULD have down was hook up with Maxim and call it the Maxim Channel. Use a brand that is taking off in the publishing world, and carry it over to the frat boy demographic they want. Think of the beer commercials alone they could sell on the thing.

[Rick_EE]

Originally posted by TerryC

Maybe I was thinking about dear old Spunky.

Never mind.

http://www.tvland.com/shows/happydays/episodes4.jhtml

he had a cousin spike

[Cyclone]

Spike TV is a pretty queer name. Maybe its going to be the gay mens channel? oh, never mind thats Lifetime. ;)

Still there is a Mens channel already on Dish but its Informercial channel.

[durl]

Spike? It sounds like a name for a new Nickelodeon channel but since they're owned by the same people I shouldn't be surprised. As I sit here thinking "Spike?" over and over, it sounds more lame every time.

I don't mind the idea of a guy network but "Spike" seems to really limit them. Why not just call it "MTV" for Men's Television? oh...hold it...

[Timco]

Wasn't Spike Snoopy's brother? All Peanuts, all the time.

[crkeehn]

It hasn't been the Nashville Network for a while. It changed it's name to The National Network. I guess they're tired of initials unless they'll just be known as
S

[Mark L]

Spike TV? LOL That's absolutely horrible, hopefully TNN's management will rethink that one. Spike TV is a name for a gay porn channel if I've ever heard of one. Yikes!

[TerryC]

With all the negative feedback in this thread, it makes me wonder if these people bothered with a marketing survey at all.

[Brett]

Viacom probably saw how the Family Channel under bad management and direction with change of owners to Fox then ABC Family, with a complete loss of identity. Viacom figured they'd try it out with TNN.

I'd expect cable systems to play hardball and insist the channel moves to digital cable being the channel will be "niche". Viacom is one of the few companies that knows how to take a cable network and ruin it.

[TNGTony]

Well...Spike TV may be a bad name, but I bet we'll all remember it. that's half the battle.

But to reitterate my previous rants...they can call themselves whatever they want. I will NEVER, ever ever ever watch this channel NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE SHOWING as long as they have that MORONIC tittle bar on the screen. And the same goes for any channel that does the same.

See ya
Tony

[waydwolf]

Originally posted by TNGTony

But to reitterate my previous rants...they can call themselves whatever they want. I will NEVER, ever ever ever watch this channel NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE SHOWING as long as they have that MORONIC tittle bar on the screen. And the same goes for any channel that does the same.


    I see Internet-enabled overlays being used in the black bar section as letterbox becomes more common and eventually, floating pop-ups linked to what you're watching. Wouldn't surprise me if live casters are aware of what is being overlayed and have to crane their necks and contort to keep their faces visible between the floating moving ads and banners.

    Sounds like an SNL skit, but these things have a way of coming true.

 

[sul]

Steve says:
I like the new name Makes it sound more tough and masculine. Like a biker dude with a spiked hair do or a big mean pit bull or bulldog with a spiked color. It's about time men have got their own channel that's not 24/7 sports or 24/7 porn Insert a Tim The Tool Man Taylor grunt or two here.

I thought it sounded like a channel for Dikes (lesbians)

[Lurker]

This is a brilliant idea! Maybe they can double the size of the black bar too!

[Jacob S]

Perhaps the reason some dont like Spike TV is that we are used to the TNN name but in the future Spike TV will be more well known and people will be more used to that name like the other channels.

[music_beans]

Here is some interesting news from the UK. Many TV viewers there are complaining about those DOG's (digital originated graphics, or knows as bugs here in the US) that are on the channels there. The website below is an online campaign to remove the bugs from the channels in the UK, and in fact, it has removed some bugs from a few of the UK's channels.

http://www.logofreetv.org.uk/
http://625.uk.com/dogwatch/index.htm

People in the good ol' USA should do the same. Personally, I don't mind bugs, but some can get annoying.

[DarrellP]

Here's another bug killer (http://www.illumina.net/default.htm) site.

I just emailed TNN and let them know that if they drop the bottom black bar and quit vertically squishing the image, they could win me back as a Spike viewer, but until then, I refuse to tune them in, fat Babewatch Babes and all.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have emailed them last week about this, the only show I watch on TNN is RAW and thats one of the only shows with no black bar on the screen.

[RichW]

Maybe Spike Jones music... all the time :)

[CoriBright]

Originally posted by Z'Loth
Sorry, but when I hear of Spike TV, I think James Masters 24/7.


Presume that's James Marsters... ie Spike from Buffy (which I've never watched BTW) but he's Margaret Weiss's first choice if a Dragonlance movie ever comes to pass for Raistlin.

[Cyclone]

Over on CNN they have a story in their entertainment section that Spike Lee is suing for the name Spike TV. :D Someone needs to tell him he isn't the only Spike in the world.

Found this link (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/spikelee1.html)

[Nick]

Howzabout " Spike & Dyke" or "Spike, Dyke & Byke"?

[Scott Greczkowski]

So if I have a kid and name him Spike does that mean Spike Lee will try suing me?

Honestly when I first heard the name I thought they were going to have Spike Dudley from the WWE be the channels on air host. :)

Spike Lee proves why the name SpikeTV is a dumb one.

[Mike A]

Here is another link

http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-bzspik043315906jun04,0,5992621.story?coll=ny-business-print

[n0qcu]

As much as I hate people suing, maybe if he wins they will have to find another name :D

[ramcm7]

Then they can run a marketing campaign for "The NEW Spike TV" with that Jason the Slacker character who gets comped rooms in Vegas and dreams of "you know, would ya" with the Klingon Duros sisters on Star Trek. ("I would.")

At whom was that whole campaign aimed, slackers who were too lazy to change the channel on the remote to begin with after Monday night RAW was done?

[spi-dee]

I have noticed the last few of weeks on Highlander that the annoying black bar is being used less and less. For over half the show they only use the gray bug common on Trek Uncut.

This week they only use the annoying black bar for the first segment. The rest of the show has a gray script Spike TV bug. It is one of the least obtrusive bugs I have seen. They do have a thick translucent bar right before the commercials to let me know I am watching Highlander (duh) and that Seven Days is up next.

I hate screen clutter, but this does seem like a very good step in the right direction for Spike (Lee, Jones, or even Snoppy's brother) TV.

[Jacob S]

I wonder why they do not have the black bar on WWE like they do on other programs they air?

[Greg Bimson]

Because WWE buys the airtime on TNN/Spike TV to show Raw. WWE then sells the commercials for their own show.

That means WWE effectively runs TNN during that time slot. Which means WWE doesn't like the black bar, and won't run it.

[Jacob S]

I thought TNN paid for WWE. How did TNN ultimately end up with WWE when USA used to have it?

[Cyclone]

Isn't Ren and Stimpy supposed to start up soon on "Spike"?

[music_beans]

Yes, as an "adult party cartoon." It comes along with 2 other adult-toons (not as in XXX. More adult-swim type) named Gary the Rat, and Stipperrella. (may be xxx though.)

http://www.thenewtnn.com/shows/animation

[Jacob S]

Well hot dog, I heard about this Ren and Stimpy coming to TNN (Spike) as well.

[Greg Bimson]

From E!News Online, June 28, 2000 (http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,6705,00.html):When Viacom came knocking, USA claimed it matched Viacom's $550,000-per-week offer, thereby granting the network first rights to the WWF. But Viacom said USA still couldn't match the fringe benefits--including countless promotional arrangements and production deals with the likes of CBS, TNN, MTV and UPN.Promotional arrangements and production deals.

It is generally assumed since the shows are a partnership between WWE and Viacom, that WWE sells commercial time and has a say in the production of their show. Kind of exactly how the NFL has a say with their networks.

[Danny R]

Wow, I would have thought this would be thrown out, but apparently not... its going to trial:

Spike Lee prevents use of Spike TV name (http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/13/tv.spiketv.ap/index.html) A Manhattan judge on Thursday granted Lee's petition and ordered Viacom Inc. to stop using Spike TV as the new name for its TNN network, pending a trial on the issue.

Lee ... said he sued Viacom to protect his name from a deliberate attempt to capitalize on his image and prestige.

Yes, Lee is just the guy people think of when they think of Men and all things manly. :rolleyes:

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/13/tv.spiketv.ap/spike.lee.jpg

[BobMurdoch]

What a weasal. I can't believe that he's managed to convince a judge to look at this horsepucky.

Then again, I was amazed when I found out Steve Jobs has to pay a royalty check to Apple Records (the Beatles label) for using the name Apple. Unreal.

Coming soon. Someone will patent the number "2" and I will have to send someone a check everytime I write a date on one of my checks. Aargh. Shakespeare was right. First off, kill all the lawyers.

[durl]

Congrats to the judge for feeding an already bloated ego.

[Scott Greczkowski]

No one thought of Spike Lee when they heard of SpikeTV, now because of this lawsuit when people think of SpikeTV they will also think of Spike Lee.

Good promotion for Spike Lee anyways.

Just a STUPID ruling.