Armed with a new tagline and several new original series, TNT will look to draw in younger viewers and advertisers, the network announced during its upfront presentation Wednesday morning.
TBS will look to continue its appeal to 18-34 year old viewers through the return of acquired series Big Bang Theory as well as several new shows said network officials.
TNT will refresh its brand under the new tagline “TNT Drama. Boom,” which will roll out on May 19 to coincide with TNT's coverage of the NBA Western Conference Finals. The network will delve heavily into the science fiction/supernatural genre with several shows in development including Breed, a supernatural drama the follows a volatile race of creatures and the FBI investigators assigned to track their movements; Fix-it Men, which follows time travelers sent back to disrupt a cataclysmic war in the future; Kali, based on a French web series that follows a woman with no memory who is transformed into a powerful human weapon; and The Shop, a supernatural thriller based on characters created by Stephen King.
Other dramas in development include Anonymous, which chronicles a highly trained, ex-special operations soldier who goes off the grid to help others in need; Ed McBain’s 87the Precinct, from Donnie Wahlberg and based on a long-running crime series; andPresident X, a conspiracy political thriller, said network officials.
The dramas follow the previously announced new series Public Morals, Proof, The Last Ship, Murder In The First, Legends and The Librarians. While the network finished first in primetime in April due mostly to its NBA playoff coverage, the network is hoping its new original series will continue to boost its ratings fortunes. TNT’s primetime average was down 2% during first quarter 2014.
"Today, we are introducing an aggressive update of our drama brand – our look, our tone and the content behind it," said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in a statement. "It's time to evolve and grow TNT– and that starts with refreshing the brand and evolving our content along with it."
TBS, which finished 2013 as cable’s most watched network in prime time during the first quarter among adults 18-49, will continue to lean heavily on acquired series The Big Bang Theory announced several comedy shows in development including Good Bread, Jackass Of All Trades and Jake & Amir, following already announced series Angie Tribeca, Buzzy’s and Your Family Or Mine.
