It's a very crowded TV landscape out there these days, and several cable channels have taken, recently, to overhauling their brands in the hopes of finally getting into a niche that no other channel is filling and getting an increase in ratings in the process. Word came down today that Spike TV is getting in on the recent cable channel rebranding trend soon. But, what does that mean for its current lineup of shows? Unfortunately for fans of Lip Sync Battle, we don't quite know yet.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Viacom owned, male centered cable network will be rebranded as the Paramount Network. An official announcement is expected to come sometime tomorrow, when Viacom will reveal its turnaround plan during the company's quarterly earnings call. Right now, it looks like Spike TV chief Kevin Kay will remain in his position, and it doesn't look like any other major personnel changes will be made either. The rebranding could begin as early as 2018.
Spike, which got its start as The Nashville Network in 1983 before being rebranded as The National Network in 2000 and then rebranded again as Spike in 2003, currently reaches about 98 million paid TV subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. The network's lineup consists of programming that appeals to males in the 18-49 demographic, and features movies as well as reality shows, sporting events and other original programming.
In recent years, Spike has become known for its reality shows, like Ink Master, Jail, Bar Rescue and 1000 Ways to Die. Most notable among these shows though, is the popular Lip Sync Battle, a spinoff of a segment that was seen on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which pits celebrities against each other in elaborately staged lip sync performances. Typically, when a network rebrands that means that some, if not all, of the network's programming will get shifted or cancelled in favor of what fits the idea of the new brand. And, while the name Paramount Network might not inspire any vivid ideas of what the future of the channel will be, it, at least, makes it sound like properties owned by Paramount will be the focus moving forward.
Seeing as how the rebranding isn't expected to begin happening in earnest until early next year, it's entirely possible that whatever changes to the programming the network is looking to make, won't even start taking place until then. So, hopefully, fans of Lip Sync Battle and other Spike shows will get at least a few months to continue to enjoy those programs, and won't have to worry about them getting pulled from the schedule suddenly. We'll keep you up to date on any programming changes as Spike continues to rebrand itself as the Paramount Network over the coming year.
