or


[06/05/13 - 10:17 AM]
Spike TV Bolsters Original Series Department with New Additions and Key Promotions
Chris Rantamaki is promoted to Senior Vice President, Original Series while Justin Lacob is promoted to Vice President, Original Series.

[via press release from Spike TV]

SPIKE TV BOLSTERS ORIGINAL SERIES DEPARTMENT WITH NEW ADDITIONS AND KEY PROMOTIONS

Los Angeles, CA, June 5, 2013 - As Spike TV continues to evolve and develop its brand through broad-appealing original programming, the network is announcing additions and promotions to its Original Series Team. The department's growth correlates with the network's biggest ever commitment to originals, which include the network's hit series "Ink Master," "Bar Rescue," "Tattoo Nightmares," "Auction Hunters," and the upcoming "Fight Master" and "Criss Angel: Believe."

"The Original Series team's expansion reflects our ever-continuing goal to create distinctive, bold shows geared toward a more-gender balanced audience," said Sharon Levy, Executive Vice President, Original Series, Spike TV. "We are developing more original series than ever before, and we are bringing in two real superstars in Kevin Bartel and Hayley Lozitsky to join one of the best development teams in the business."

The Original Series department changes include the following:

Chris Rantamaki is promoted to Senior Vice President, Original Series and will continue to report to Levy. Rantamaki will oversee the day-to-day department activities relating to development and production. Rantamaki joined Spike in April 2011 as Vice President, Original Series and was instrumental in developing the highest-rated series on the channel, "Ink Master," which delivered nearly three million viewers for its most recent season finale. Rantamaki also oversees the successful "Tattoo Nightmares," "World's Worst Tenants" and "Urban Tarzan." Before joining Spike, Rantamaki spent four years at the Discovery Channel.

"I am thrilled to announce Chris's well-deserved promotion today. He'll now be taking more of a leadership role in the department and company," said Levy. "He is a rising star in our industry and his creativity, passion and taste have played an enormous role in helping Spike grow its slate of successful original programming."

Justin Lacob is promoted to Vice President, Original Series. Lacob previously served as Director where he oversaw two of the network's signature series, the critically-acclaimed "Bar Rescue" and "Savage Family Diggers." Lacob is now developing two of the network's highly anticipated series, the upcoming "Tattoo Rescue" and "10 Million Dollar Big Foot Bounty." In his new role, Lacob will also work with Levy and other members of the team in the development of the network's scripted miniseries. Lacob came to Spike following a two-year stint at Intuitive Entertainment, where he served as Senior Director of Development overseeing such projects as "LA Shrinks" and "Love Broker" for Bravo.

Hayley Lozitsky joins Spike TV as Vice President, Original Series. Lozitsky previously served as Senior Vice President of Development at Ellen Rakieten Entertainment where she developed non-scripted/scripted programming. Among the series she developed include "Trisha's Southern Kitchen" for Food Network, "Pretty Wicked Moms" for Lifetime and "Hideous Houses" for A&E. Prior to that, Lozitsky was an agent specializing in non-scripted television at UTA. She began her career at E! and Style Network in Programming and Development.

Kevin Bartel joins Spike TV as Vice President, Original Series. Bartel previously served as Vice President of Development and Current Programming for All3Media America. Prior to that, Bartel joined Eli Holzman as one of the first employees of the U.S. arm of the British production company, Studio Lambert and helped launch "Undercover Boss," the #1 new show of the 2009-2010 season for CBS. Working across All3media Americas diverse slate of projects, Bartel has helped develop and produce television for A&E, AMC, Animal Planet, Bravo, CBS, CMT, CW, Discovery, E!, Lifetime, Logo, MTV, Nat Geo, NBC, Oxygen, Spike, Style, SyFy, TLC, TNT, Travel, TruTV, Vh1 and USA.

After nine years at Spike TV, Senior Vice President Tim Duffy will be leaving this fall to start a production company with his twin brother, Mike Duffy. "Tim has been an invaluable asset to me and a tremendous force in developing some of Spike's signature series. While we will miss Tim on our team, we are very excited to partner with him on a development deal as he sets out to create our next hit series with his new production company. We wish him tremendous luck and a big thank you for his time here."

About Spike:

Spike is available in 98.7 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks. A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike's Internet address is www.spike.com.





  [june 2013]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· AUCTION HUNTERS (SPIKE TV)
· BAR RESCUE (PARAMOUNT)
· CRISS ANGEL BELIEVE (SPIKE TV)
· FIGHT MASTER: BELLATOR MMA (SPIKE TV)
· INK MASTER (PARAMOUNT PLUS)
· TATTOO NIGHTMARES (SPIKE TV)





[06/01/26 - 09:03 AM]
Paramount+ Sets Streaming Debut for Baz Luhrmann's "EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert"
The film will make its streaming debut June 3, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and in Canada on July 24.

[06/01/26 - 08:27 AM]
ESPN Scores Most-Viewed Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final Since 2015, The Latest Viewership Successes Headed Into the Stanley Cup Final
Across four games on ESPN, the series averaged 2.2 million viewers and was up 44% vs. the Western Conference Final last year (Edmonton vs. Dallas) which went five games on ESPN.

[06/01/26 - 07:15 AM]
ABC's Exclusive Coverage of the 2026 NBA Finals Begins June 3: New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs
The matchup marks the Knicks' first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 - and their first ever on ABC - and the Spurs' sixth NBA Finals appearance on ABC.

[06/01/26 - 07:15 AM]
Queen Latifah, P!NK, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Whitney Leavitt, and More to Celebrate "Chicago's" 30th Anniversary with Special Performance at "The 79th Annual Tony Awards" Live Sunday, June 7 on CBS
Broadway's biggest night will also feature performances from "The Lost Boys," "Schmigadoon!," "TitanĂ­que," "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," "CATS: The Jellicle Ball," "Ragtime" and "Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show."

[06/01/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "I Will Find You" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Wrongfully imprisoned for murdering his own son, a father sets out on a desperate rescue mission after learning the boy may still be alive.

[05/31/26 - 11:31 PM]
Video: "Raakh" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
"Raakh" is a haunting crime investigation that begins with the disappearance and murder of two teenagers in Delhi.

[05/31/26 - 09:45 AM]
The Quest for the Stanley Cup Reaches Its Peak: ESPN Exclusively Presents the 2026 Stanley Cup Final Presented by Geico
The series continues in Raleigh, N.C. with Game 2 (June 4) before shifting to Vegas for Game 3 (June 6), and Game 4 (June 9).

[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).

[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[05/29/26 - 01:01 PM]
Video: Peacock Releases Summer Sizzle for "Days of Our Lives"
Audiences can access the past season and new episodes every weekday.

[05/29/26 - 10:38 AM]
Video: We TV and All Reality Unveil Sneak Peek of All New Original Unscripted Series "Age Inappropriate"
The eight episode series is set to premiere this August, exclusively on We TV and All Reality.

[05/29/26 - 10:01 AM]
Hallmark Channel's Annual "Christmas in July" Programming Event Returns June 26 with Four Original Movie Premieres
Plus: Hallmark+ subscribers will be treated to a second season of sailing the high seas with their favorite Hallmark stars in "Christmas at Sea," available to stream on Wednesday, July 1.

[05/29/26 - 08:01 AM]
Paramount+ Sets U.S. and International Premiere for "Wild Cherry"
The acclaimed six-part BBC thriller from the U.K., will stream exclusively on Paramount+ on June 24 in the U.S., Canada, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Latin America.

[05/29/26 - 08:01 AM]
Video: "A Different World" - Official Teaser - Netflix
The new class just enrolled. "A Different World" premieres on Netflix September 24.

[05/29/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: HBO Releases Official Trailer for Season Three of Original Drama Series "House of the Dragon"
Based on George R.R. Martin's "Fire & Blood," the series, set 200 years before the events of "Game of Thrones," tells the story of House Targaryen.