What to Expect From Viacom’s General Entertainment Hub
Paramount Network: A Guide to All the Programming (and Who’s Calling the Shots)
Paramount Network will officially launch Jan. 18 at 9 p.m. with a live, Michael Jackson-themed installment of Lip Sync Battle, Spike’s signature show. Its unscripted offerings also include Spike holdovers Ink Master and Bar Rescue. On the scripted side, its first offering will be Waco, the six-part miniseries about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians starring Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch. That will be followed by Heathers, an hourlong dark comedic reboot of the cult hit 1988 movie starring Christian Slater and Winona Ryder, that TV Land and Paramount Network president of development Keith Cox developed for the former; another TV Land-turned-Paramount Network series, half-hour scripted 1970s-set feminist comedy American Woman starring Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari; and Kevin Costner starrer Yellowstone, picked up straight to series as the cabler’s first show developed specifically for it.
Kay reiterated that Paramount Network’s goal is to reach the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. “We don’t want the Spike audience to go away; we want the audience 50-50 male-female. We’re not that far off as we’ve ended Spike. We went with Waco first because it’s a big, broad show but feels like it still resonates with Spike viewers and then broadens our audience,” Kay said. “Heathers is a young female show. When we tested it, 35- to 49-year-old men loved it. We want to find and evolve our audience. Each of these [shows] has something special to offer. Hopefully they’ll sample us and stick with the other things.”
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