We all looked at each other and said, "Viacom does not in its portfolio have a general entertainment network." The brands were all very specific, and we knew that was a big opportunity for us. We greenlit a ton of programming designed to attract women to watch with their men folk. When we decided to go from being a young, male network to a broader, general entertainment network. What's been the biggest change in your business since you've been at Spike? The New York native turned Angeleno and married mother of an 8-year-old son - who in her off-hours is a casual art collector, avid boxer and Kauai regular - invited THR to her Santa Monica office to discuss a programming strategy that includes a variation on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke called Caraoke Showdown (Corden's exec producer isn't too pleased about it, telling Adweek, "We're disappointed that our idea would be taken by somebody else"), big-swing scripted fare such as Gale Anne Hurd's take on the popular Pendergast novels and ambitious sci-fi offering Red Mars. Operating revenue for Spike - now in 91.4 million homes - was $842 million in 2015, according to SNL Kagan. It's a promising sign that Levy's bid to be more inclusive is working. Shows such as tattoo competition Ink Master and Bar Rescue helped push ratings up 8 percent in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 demographic and an impressive 26 percent among women in the demo. While Spike was no exception to cable's 2015 ratings woes (off 8 percent in total viewers), the network still sank cash into original programming. That's a radical change for a cable channel that once billed itself as "The First Network for Men." Levy, a former exec at film and TV production company Stone Stanley Entertainment, believes women hold the key to Spike's growth. The result: 2015 was Spike's most watched among women in seven years. That's meant moving away from male-leaning shows (think Cops reruns) to capture a more diverse audience with original shows like Lip Sync Battle and scripted miniseries like Tut. But her greatest mission has been to transform the formerly bro-focused property to a more female-friendly lineup. She has overseen scripted and nonscripted development at the Viacom-owned channel since joining Spike in 2005. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.įor much of the past year, Sharon Levy, 45, has been leading a radical reinvention of Spike TV. 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. She’s told to “make sure to have fun out there,” as if suiting up for Little League.This story first appeared in the Feb. Someone twerks a few feet away impressed, the actress asks, “How do you do that?” Rehearsal ends. Plus, her running-man dance isn’t landing. Everyone’s spread way too far across the stage, and the lights are getting hot, and the dancers are lining up for spankings but the song is moving too fast for her to reach them all. At the moment, she’s rehearsing to sing “Talk Dirty” – which is to say, she’s pretending to sing Jason Derulo’s ode to lipstick marks on his passport and ménage à three-o’s. The choreographer standing just offstage is ecstatic: “Yes! Yes! Exactly that! And then high-five the dancers’ booties!” Akerman asks their permission, but it’s a moot point: The women are already bent over their chairs, awaiting her smacks. You gals will just come and grab onto her, right? OK, Malin, now give me your best man pose!” Malin Akerman – blonde, Swedish, not a dude – starts grabbing her crotch and throwing up devil horns, tongue out.
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