Beginnings The Nashville Network was launched as a
basic cable and
satellite television network on March 7, 1983, operating from the now-defunct
Opryland USA theme park near
Nashville, Tennessee.
Country Music Television (CMT), founded by Glenn D. Daniels, beat TNN's launch by two days to become the first country music cable television network. TNN was originally owned by
WSM, Inc., a subsidiary of
National Life and Accident Insurance Company that owned several broadcasting and tourism properties in Nashville and the traditional country radio and stage show
The Grand Ole Opry, and initially focused on country music-related original programming. TNN's flagship shows included
Nashville Now and
Grand Ole Opry Live, both of which were broadcast live from Opryland USA. During TNN's first year of broadcasting,
American General Corporation, parent company of NL&AIC, put the network up for sale, along with the other NL&AI properties, in an effort to focus on its core businesses.
Gaylord ownership (1983–1997) The
Gaylord Entertainment Company purchased TNN and the Opryland properties in the latter half of 1983. Much of TNN's programming during the Gaylord era was originally produced by Opryland Productions, also owned by Gaylord Entertainment. Programming included variety shows,
talk shows,
game shows (such as
Fandango and
Top Card), outdoors shows, and lifestyle shows, all centered in some way around country music or Southern U.S. culture. Some of TNN's popular on-air talent included Miss America 1983 Debra Maffett (TNN Country News), and local Nashville media personalities
Ralph Emery, Dan Miller,
Charlie Chase,
Lorianne Crook and
Gary Beaty, as well as established stars such as country music singer
Bill Anderson and actresses
Florence Henderson and
Dinah Shore. TNN even created stars, such as wily professional fisherman
Bill Dance.
Grand Ole Opry singer and 1960s country star
Bobby Lord, known for his skills as a sportsman and living in his native
Florida, hosted the program
Country Sportsman, featuring hunting and fishing excursions with various country stars. Inspired by
ABC's
The American Sportsman, the TNN show was later renamed
Celebrity Sportsman after ABC objected to the similarity to its program. One of the most popular shows that aired on the network during this time was a variety show hosted by the country music quartet
The Statler Brothers. In 1986, TNN started airing professional
rodeos, beginning with the
Mesquite Championship Rodeo. In 1991, Gaylord Entertainment purchased TNN's chief competitor,
CMT, and operated it in tandem with TNN. CMT continued to show country
music videos exclusively throughout Gaylord's ownership. Following the acquisition, TNN quickly phased out its music video blocks, while directing viewers to CMT for such fare. In 1993, Emery began a short-lived retirement from broadcasting, and left
Nashville Now in the process. Upon Emery's exit, the show was merged with fellow TNN program
Crook & Chase and renamed
Music City Tonight (hosted by
Lorianne Crook and
Charlie Chase). The same year,
TNN Country News debuted and was hosted by Debra Maffett. The programming block
TNN Outdoors debuted in 1993, and featured hunting and fishing shows, as well as
PRCA rodeo and
PBR bull riding. In 1996, Crook and Chase left the show to relaunch their eponymous program in daytime syndication; it would return exclusively to TNN in 1997. Meanwhile,
Music City Tonight was again overhauled to more closely resemble its original
Nashville Now format, but was rebranded as
Prime Time Country. This version was originally hosted by actor
Tom Wopat (of
The Dukes of Hazzard fame). He was later replaced with singer/songwriter
Gary Chapman, who enjoyed relative success with the show until its cancellation in 1999 as part of the network's change of focus. TNN had two subdivisions focused on specialty programming:
TNN Outdoors and
TNN Motor Sports. In 1998, country singer
Tracy Byrd became the on-air spokesman for the
TNN Outdoors block, and stayed until 2000.
TNN Motor Sports was responsible for production of all of the network's
auto racing and motorsports coverage. Regarding the latter,
NASCAR races (including those of the then-
Winston Cup Series,
Busch Grand National Series, and
Craftsman Truck Series) were the most prominently featured. However, races of other series such as
IMSA,
Indy Racing League (IRL),
American Speed Association (ASA),
World of Outlaws, and
NHRA were also showcased, as were motorcycle and
monster truck racing.
TNN Outdoors and
TNN Motor Sports also were marketed as separate entities, selling a variety of merchandise and being branded onto
video games such as
TNN Bass Tournament of Champions and ''
TNN Outdoors Bass Tournament '96''. In 1995, the network's motorsports operations were moved into the industrial park located at
Charlotte Motor Speedway in
Concord, North Carolina, where TNN had purchased controlling interest in World Sports Enterprises, a motorsports production company founded by motorsports editor and commentator
Ken Squier and Fred Rheinstein. Notable TNN racing personalities included
Mike Joy, Steve Evans,
Eli Gold,
Buddy Baker,
Neil Bonnett, Randy Pemberton,
Ralph Sheheen,
Dick Berggren,
Matt Yocum,
Brock Yates,
Paul Page,
Don Garlits,
Gary Gerould, Army Armstrong, and
Rick Benjamin. The outdoors and motorsports programs were so successful that, by the early 1990s, only those shows were seen on Sundays, with no musical programming.
Westinghouse-CBS/Viacom ownership (1997–2000) Westinghouse Electric, who at the time owned the
CBS network and had an existing relationship with TNN through its
Group W division, purchased TNN and its sister network
CMT outright in 1997 to form the CBS Cable division, along with a short-lived startup network entitled
Eye On People. Most of the original entertainment-oriented programming ceased production during this period, and the network began to rely more on
TNN Outdoors and
TNN Motor Sports for programming. The network's ties to CBS allowed it to pick up Southern-themed CBS dramas from the 1980s such as
The Dukes of Hazzard and
Dallas, and also allowed it to carry CBS Sports' overruns, which happened during a
NASCAR Busch Series race at
Texas Motor Speedway and also a
PGA Tour event at
Firestone Country Club. In 1999, TNN began to add
sports entertainment programming, beginning with the
roller derby series
RollerJam. The success of
RollerJam led to TNN reaching a three-year deal for a
weekly television series from the Philadelphia-based
professional wrestling promotion
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which would air on Friday nights beginning in late-August 1999. Under the contract, ECW also agreed to
revenue sharing with TNN for all of the promotion's events (including live shows and
pay-per-views) and merchandising. These two programs would air as part of a Friday-night
block themed around
extreme sports programming, alongside
Motor Madness and
bull riding from the
Professional Bull Riders (PBR); a TNN executive described bull riding as being "the original extreme sport". In November 1999, TNN announced new programming and primetime theme blocks it planned to introduce in 2000, including
Movie Monday (which would target female viewers),
Action Wednesday,
Friday Night Thrill Zone (which would be anchored by
RollerJam and ECW),
Classic Country on Saturday nights, and
TNN Outdoors on Sundays. The new schedule, along with new series such as the action drama
18 Wheels of Justice, collegiate
bowling competition series ''Rockin' Bowl
, reruns of the Western anthology Dead Man's Gun'', and a new promotional campaign targeting younger viewers, were intended to introduce a broader audience to the network. Despite ECW reportedly driving a 200% increase in young male viewership in its timeslot, the promotion had a strained relationship with TNN's management. The network gave ECW little promotion in comparison to other shows like
RollerJam (which ECW producer Rick Buffone derided as "that stupid roller blading show"), and gave it an insufficient budget despite expectations for a program with production values rivaling the flagship shows of ECW's competitors. The promotion would reference these difficulties in its storylines via the
heel stable
The Network, whose leader
Cyrus portrayed a TNN executive who constantly criticized ECW's content, and displayed favoritism towards the heavily-promoted
RollerJam and ''Rockin' Bowl''. On September 25, 2000, TNN was folded into the
MTV Networks division based in New York City, and was renamed The National Network. The rebranding coincided with major changes to the network's programming, including the move of
Monday Night Raw—the flagship weekly program of the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE)
—to TNN from
USA Network as part of a new contract with Viacom. As WWF programs were among USA Network's top programs, the move was considered a major coup for TNN. MTV Networks chairman Tom Freston described TNN as now being a general entertainment service, albeit one with a "sort of populist
middle-America flavor" rather than "another network for New York or Los Angeles."
Football also became more prominent on the network, as it began airing games of the original
Arena Football League (AFL) with
Eli Gold as an announcer. TNN was also one of three networks to air games of the ill-fated, WWF-backed
XFL (along with
NBC and
UPN). As part of its contract, TNN had the rights to a late Sunday afternoon game each week except for the first week, when UPN aired the afternoon game instead. In 2001, TNN aired
CBS Sports-produced coverage of the inaugural
opening round game of the
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The opening round game would later move to
ESPN in
2002. In 2001, the channel began to promote itself as "The New TNN" (an inadvertent
pleonasm in its full context), and added off-network sitcoms and dramas such as ''
Diff'rent Strokes, The Wonder Years, The Rockford Files, It also became the first channel to air reruns of MADtv''. These moves went unnoticed for the most part, due to TNN's lack of popularity. By this time, all country music programming had been purged from the network; some of The Nashville Network's former programming was picked up by CMT, while other classic TNN shows were picked up by
Great American Country, including eventually the
Grand Ole Opry, which was pushed off to CMT and eventually removed by Viacom after they did not renew the agreement to carry the series. By 2002, the channel had picked up more male-oriented shows, such as
American Gladiators,
The A-Team,
Baywatch,
Monster Jam, the hidden camera game show
Oblivious,
Robot Wars Extreme Warriors, and
SlamBall.
Relaunch as Spike TV In April 2003, Viacom announced that TNN would be relaunched as Spike TV, becoming a
men's interest channel. Spike was rebranded as the Paramount Network on January 18, 2018. ==Programming==