TNN Network Can Call Itself Spike TV
NEW YORK - Filmmaker Spike Lee (news) and Viacom have settled a lawsuit Lee filed to keep the media giant from calling its TNN cable television network "Spike TV." Lee had obtained a temporary injunction in June, preventing the name change, but on Monday state Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub lifted the order.
The ruling means Viacom, which also owns CBS and MTV, can proceed immediately with plans to rebrand TNN as Spike TV, the "first television network for men." Viacom said it was renaming TNN "Spike TV" to attract more men to an audience already two-thirds male. Details on the settlement were not disclosed. Lee, director of "Malcolm X" and "Do the Right Thing," got the injunction after claiming that Viacom was renaming TNN in a deliberate attempt to hijack his name, image and reputation.
Lee, whose real name is Shelton Jackson Lee, said he objected to being associated with low-brow programming. TNN shows reruns of "The A-Team," "Baywatch" and "Miami Vice" and sports entertainment such as pro wrestling and "American Gladiators."
The network also carries an animated series featuring Pamela Anderson (news) as the voice of Stan Lee's "Stripperella," an undercover agent who is also a stripper.
The judge initially ordered Lee to post a $500,000 bond on June 13 after he issued a temporary injunction against Viacom's plan to rename TNN. But after a hearing two weeks ago, the judge raised the bond to $2.5 million and gave Lee until Monday to post it. During the hearing, TNN vice president Kevin Kay said the network had lost millions of dollars since the injunction and stood to lose millions more if the bar continued.
The additional $2 million was never posted, and the judge vacated the injunction after both sides reached the agreement, said one of Lee's lawyers, Terry Gross. "We have settled the case with Viacom," Gross said. "It's obviously good when parties settle."
Viacom officials didn't immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on the judge's order. While the case was pending, Lee was in Los Angeles filming "Sucker-Free City" for Showtime, a cable network owned by Viacom.
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