Spike Digital Entertainment Unveils New Spike.com
The Ultimate Guys' Web Destination
Site Launches With Exclusive Original Content Including Development Deal
With Playboy.com, The UFC's Evan Tanner Blog, 'The MMA Girls' And Much More
Spike.com To Feature High Resolution And Full Episode Video Player
NEW YORK, May 28 -- Spike.com, a division of MTVN
Entertainment Group, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), has unveiled its
groundbreaking new online platform for men, it was announced today by Erik
Flannigan, executive vice president, digital media, MTVN Entertainment
Group and Jon Slusser, senior vice president, spike digital and video
games. The totally redesigned site, launching on Friday, May 30, offers
visitors a new cutting-edge look and feel. Spike.com will feature deeper
content channels, a high resolution and full episode video player and
advanced social networking. In addition, the new site will feature a slate
of original content including a development deal with Playboy.com.
"With this transformation, Spike.com is now positioned to be the Web's
premier destination for men at the younger end of the 18-34 demo -- guys
who are into the UFC, video games and viral videos," said Flannigan. "We've
combined the best of Spike's television and broadband assets with
compelling guys-only content. Joined under the Spike brand, we now have a
major video site to appeal to this highly desirable audience."
The site marks the full integration of two popular MTVN Web properties:
SpikeTV.com and viral video pioneer IFILM. Announced last year, the merger
of the two sites into a comprehensive, social multimedia experience with a
"Spike Editorial Filter" is designed to further strengthen the network's
reach to the coveted 18-34 male demographic.
The new Spike.com offers video programming in such male-oriented
categories as Viral Videos, Girls, Games & Gadgets, Wheels, Movies and TV,
UFC and Music. The site's newly assembled editorial team will delve into
each of these categories to deliver information and entertainment that
engages visitors in new and compelling ways. To further enhance the video
viewing experience, Spike.com features an extra large high resolution video
player.
"Spike.com is a true online destination for guys that lives parallel to
the channel," said Slusser. "It introduces guys to Spike on-air programming
in a more organic way and so far it's proven to be very successful, with
traffic to Spike TV content jumping more than 150%."
The site features the new Spike.com full episode player, which allows
users to watch their favorite Spike TV shows on a high resolution (600k),
16:9, in-page player with commenting, sharing and embedding capabilities.
Popular Spike TV shows available for online viewing include "Pros vs.
Joes," "DEA" "Murder," "Factory," "GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley,"
"Wacked Out Sports" and "I Bet You Will."
The full episode player is just one of the many site features that
offer corporate partners new, unique and dynamic sponsorship opportunities.
Other venues for marketing and promotions on the site include skins,
roadblocks, wallpaper, group pages, photo galleries, interstitial ads,
profile pages and end-of-play spots.
Leveraging Spike TV's on-air promotional power and the large and avid
Spike.com audience, the combined traffic gives sponsors access to millions
of impressions under the Spike brand.
Advanced social functionality is also key to the new Spike.com. Users
have the ability to build a social experience around their favorite content
by adding friends, writing blogs, messaging users and commenting on other
users' pages -- all from within their own new advanced profile pages.
Spike.com will feature a slate of exclusive original online content for
its May 30 launch including:
-- Spike.com and Playboy.com development deal to co-produce original
digital programming. The new digital series (name TBD) will be shown
on Spike.com and Playboy.com.
-- The UFC's Evan Tanner Exclusive Blog. Evan Tanner, the charismatic
and
talented MMA fighter has signed a deal to share his thoughts and views
with the Spike audience. Tanner's unfiltered weekly blog will be
featured in the new UFC channel on Spike.com. Tanner began his
professional mixed martial arts career in 1997 and is a former UFC
Middleweight champion. He is scheduled to fight Kendall Grove at the
upcoming "The Ultimate Fighter 7" finale on June 21.
-- "The MMA Girls": These beautiful girls really know their stuff -- so
when Spike.com says don't mess with them, they mean it. The popular
series of demonstration videos show guys the specific moves used in
mixed martial arts. "The MMA Girls" has become one of the most popular
originals on Spike.com and will be featured in the new UFC channel.
-- "The Crew": Possibly the most insane group of videos ever made --
featuring wild parties, power sports, mini-bike riding, street stunts
and, of course, beautiful women. "The Crew" is the epitome of
unrestricted masculinity.
-- "James Rolfe -- Cinimassacre": Rolfe, better known as his character,
"The Angry Video Game Nerd," will produce an exclusive series of videos
reviewing classic guy movies in his "special" style. Rolfe has a huge
online fan base and is among the all time Top 10 Most Subscribed
Channels on You Tube
Spike TV (http://www.spike.com) is available in 96.1 million homes and
is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV
Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content
across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is
http://www.spike.com.
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