'Slamball' still jamming
Guy network TNN renews series for 2nd year
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Renewal of the series marks TNN's first pickup since rebranding itself as the "first entertainment network for men" and putting Albie Hecht in charge of the channel (Daily Variety, Jan. 10).
"It's a perfect fit in terms of its appeal and its style and its newness for our network," Hecht told Daily Variety. The exec, who continues to run the record and motion picture divisions of Viacom's Nickelodeon, was named prexy of TNN earlier this month.
Pat Croce, former president and current limited partner-board member of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, will return as both a venture partner in the project and an occasional sideline commentator.
Tollin/Robbins Prods. produces "SlamBall" in association with Telepictures Prods.
Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins, Mason Gordon and Joe Davola are exec producers.
Debuted in summer
"SlamBall" debuted last year as a six-episode summer series that aired as part of TNN's "Slammin' Saturday Nights." Player recruitment and production on a 13-episode new season is skedded to get under way this spring, with a debut expected in summer.
SlamBall, the hybrid team sport combining elements from basketball, football, hockey and gymnastics, was conceived as a multitiered endeavor. The project's partners aim to develop SlamBall venues in neighborhoods across the country.
"With the pickup of the second season, it kicks in a lot of things," Mike Tollin told Daily Variety. "We're putting together a business plan and have had a number of inquiries about putting together capital to take the sport to the next level, and we can start pursuing them in earnest."
In season two, the sport will expand to eight teams vs. the six teams involved in season one.
Several other production changes are being hashed out. Teams will continue to compete round robin-style for the "SlamBall" championship title.
'Quality and credibility'
"Now it's about quality and credibility in year two," Tollin said. "We need to go from a curiosity to a credible sport that creates a true rooting interest."
Hecht said that in addition to playing out well in its first season in terms of the look and feel the show, "SlamBall" the series also showed signs of big ratings potential.
"The ratings story has been about getting exactly what we want: Young males are watching this thing, people we didn't have, such as African-American audiences, 12- to 17-year-olds," Hecht said.
Among African-American men 18-49, the first season of "SlamBall" earned a 0.9 rating (50,000 viewers). Among younger (teens 12-17) viewers it drew a 0.8 rating and 79,000 viewers), the highest numbers on the network.
"Young, upscale males really love the show, and word of mouth is growing it," Hecht said. "Repeats play well, because viewers call each other up and say, 'Did you see that guy, when he went upside down, off the wall and underneath that thing? Let's get together next Saturday and watch.' "
(Josef Adalian contributed to this report.)
