BRIEFS

CABLEWORLD STAFF

TNN: The National Network will be re-named Spike TV, effective June 16. The switch will be backed by a multimillion dollar awareness campaign that includes on-air, outdoor and print advertising. The network, aimed at male viewers, has entered programming partnerships with Men's Life magazine, Stuff magazine and the website CBS MarketWatch.

Hallmark Channel received million-dollar-plus advertising commitments from four advertisers who will be able to tie in with the 4,500 Hallmark Gold Crown Stores during upcoming holidays, according to EVP of advertising, Bill Abbott. Johnson & Johnson and Coldwell Banker have agreed to sponsor a Mother's Day promotion, while Ace Hardware and Subaru will sponsor Father's Day. These are the first in-store tie-ins for the network for these holidays. Last year, the network had a massive sweepstakes promotion during the Christmas season sponsored by Nestle, Campbell Soup and Ebay. Although Abbott notes the price will be substantially higher this year, one of those sponsors has already renewed.

WE plans to premiere its first three original movies in the coming year, led by Between Strangers, starring Sophia Loren, Mira Sorvino, Deborah Kara Unger and Gerard Depardieu. WE is also planning a fall series, The Tinsley Bumble Show, which uses scripts and improvisation to tell the riches-to-rags story of a New York heiress whose father is arrested for a white-collar crime.

Trio has a new logo, slogan (?Pop, Culture, TV?) and advertisers, including movie studios and home video companies Paramount, Lion's Gate and Focus Features and automaker Acura. The network's theme in June will be ?Uncensored Comedy,? built around original specials such as Sick Humor and Outlaw Comic: The Censoring of Bill Hicks. ?Country Is Cool? will be the theme the week of July 4.

The Tennis Channel plans to launch May 15 with coverage of the Tennis Masters series from Hamburg, Germany. Carried by Time Warner and Cox, the network last week said it got new financial backing from a group led by Apollo Partners and DND Capital Partners.