Viacom reveals new logo, tips its hand on plans to rebrand Spike as paramount network.
Oxygen rolled out the yellow crimescene tape and ripped-from-the headlines stories and invited armchair detectives to test their sleuthing skills in a recent rebrand of the NBCUniversal-owned cable channel. Unofficial tagline: It’s not your grandmother’s true crime network.
This comes on the heels of other full-scale makeovers (A+E’s H2 to Viceland) and shifts in focus (USA dropped airy, “blue-sky” dramas and went gritty and dark, TruTV leaned away from low-brow reality and into comedy) as cable networks battle for viewers spending less time with linear TV and more with streaming services, social media and digital entertainment.
The latest in this tidal wave of tweaks and reboots is Paramount Network, formerly Spike, launching Jan. 18 with a live, hour-long version of the massive hit Lip Sync Battle as its stake in the ground. But execs, purposely, aren’t calling this a relaunch. They’ll try to forge an identity wholly apart from the testosterone-laced Spike, even though they’re importing some of its most successful shows to Paramount Net, which they describe as a home for “premium, original storytelling.”
“This is a reinvention,” said Niels Schuurmans, CMO for Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT. “It’s a dramatic shift in attitude and programming. It’s a big, bold move.”
Potential fans will begin to see what Schuurmans means in the coming weeks, as Paramount Net kicks off a marketing campaign that aims to position it on par with HBO, Netflix and other prestige TV hotshots.
This story is from the September 25, 2017 edition of ADWEEK.
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This story is from the September 25, 2017 edition of ADWEEK.
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