TNN

TNN
The TNN logo at the time of Extreme Warriors
Robot Wars Information
Market	United States
UK Series	4 (Grand Champions dub)
US Series	1-2

TNN (standing for The National Network) is a US cable television network, which aired two seasons of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors on American television. At the time of airing the series, the channel was being branded as The New TNN.

History

TNN started as a broadcasting company named The Nashville Network, which primarily aired American country music and concerts, alongside some game shows, talk shows and movies. The focus of the company shifted in 1999 to appease younger viewers, and started airing many wrestling programmes, leading to a name change in September 2000 where the abbreviation TNN now stood for "The National Network". For two years, this brand was marketed to viewers as "The New TNN", encompassing the channel's run of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors in 2001-2002. The channel would later be renamed Spike TV in 2003, and Paramount Network in 2018.

Robot Wars

Upon securing the international production and distribution license for Robot Wars in autumn 1999, Mentorn entered an agreement with Viacom to produce dedicated US versions of the show for their networks. Initially, it was intended for MTV and Nickelodeon to receive their own customized versions, as a means to broaden the reach of the increasingly-popular show.

Shortly after the agreement was reached, an advertisement for the MTV version was sent out to prospective US roboteers, looking for eight competitors to take part in what would become the American Robot Wars 2000 pilot. However, only four robots competed following a last-minute withdrawal, and in the end the pilot was never aired, nor was a full series of Robot Wars picked up by MTV.

American Robot Wars 2000, however, would provide the catalyst for Viacom executives Albie Hecht and Kevin Kay to secure the show's presence on TNN. Upon watching the pilot themselves, they concluded that Robot Wars' simple yet exciting premise would be ideal for the channel, allowing it to replace an earlier proposal for a Nickelodeon series based on the FIRST competitions. Thus, six (later seven) episodes of the dedicated US series - Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors - would be commissioned for a 2001 premiere, shortly after the deal with Viacom was finalized. A second season of thirteen episodes would follow in 2002.

In 2000, Viacom sensed redundancy among its TNN and CMT properties. Catalyzed by its acquisition of the rights to World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) programming, they decided to reposition TNN into a pop network. The network was renamed The National Network on September 25 (later The New TNN) and reformatted to compete with TNT, TBS, and USA Network by attracting viewers in the 18 to 49-year-old demographic. Prior to 2000, over half of TNN's viewers were 55-years old and over. Only one third were between the ages of 18 and 49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This prompted TNN to focus on targeting "young adult males", with Robot Wars being one of the programs highlighted as catering to that demographic.^Citation?

As part of this initiative, Hecht and Kay recognized the synergy between Robot Wars and WWF, both of which shared a similar "sports entertainment" genre and feel. To further entice WWF fans into watching Extreme Warriors, recently-retired full-time wrestler Mick Foley was brought on to host both seasons, while the show itself would be scheduled to air before WWF Raw is War to maximize ratings for the latter. Extreme Warriors Season 1 premiered on August 20 2001, airing in a consistent primetime evening slot at 8pm Eastern time and 9pm Pacific time.

Upon its premiere, Extreme Warriors proved an instant hit for The New TNN, with the opening episode of Season 1 attracting 1.3 million viewers. This represented an overall increase in viewership of 34% over the channel's previous four-week period average, along with a 25% increase in viewers from adults in the 18-49 demographic, 69% from the 18-34 age range, and 147% from the 18-24 age range. Building on this success, Season 2 premiered on April 6 2002 as part of The New TNN's "Slammin' Saturday Nights" block, switching to a universal 9pm-10pm slot across both Eastern and Pacific time zones.

Alongside Extreme Warriors, The New TNN would also air a redubbed version of the fourth UK series, titled Robot Wars: Grand Champions. This was commissioned in June 2001 and aired in 2002 alongside Extreme Warriors Season 2, directly following on from unaltered airings of the UK Series previously shown on PBS stations.

Prior to the show's cancelation, a third season of Extreme Warriors was teased as a "future series" on the official Robot Wars website

A third season of Extreme Warriors was hinted at on the official Robot Wars website, and would have likely been filmed sometime after or during The Sixth Wars. However, despite the series' ratings success on The New TNN - ranking second only to WWF coverage - Viacom decided in November 2002 not to pursue this option. This effectively marked the cancelation of Extreme Warriors ahead of the channel's rebranding into Spike TV, though re-runs of Season 1 would continue on The New TNN in a Saturday 9pm slot by this time. To make up part of the resulting losses, Mentorn would sell TechTV the rights to air the UK Series in the US, beginning in April 2003.

External Links

• Paramount Network on Wikipedia