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Paramount Network is an American cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Skydance Corporation, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was originally founded by a partnership between radio station WSM and Westinghouse Broadcasting as The Nashville Network (TNN) and began broadcasting on March 7, 1983. It initially featured programming catering towards the culture of the Southern United States, including country music, variety shows, outdoors programming, and motor racing coverage. TNN was purchased by the Gaylord Entertainment Company in 1983. After Gaylord bought CMT in 1991, TNN's music programming was shifted to CMT, leaving TNN to focus on entertainment and lifestyle programming. In 1995, TNN and CMT were acquired by Westinghouse, which was in turn acquired by Viacom in 1999. Under Viacom ownership, TNN would phase out country-influenced programming in favor of a general entertainment format appealing to Middle America. It was renamed "The National Network" in September 2000, coinciding with the network premiere of WWF Raw. In August 2003, TNN relaunched as Spike TV, which targeted a young adult male audience. From June 2006, the network's programming had a more explicit focus on the action genre, while in 2010, the network had an increased focus on original reality series. This culminated with a final rebrand in 2015 to emphasize gender-balanced series and a return to original scripted programming. On January 18, 2018, the channel took its current name, aiming to align the channel with the Paramount Pictures film studio, and reposition it as a "premium" basic cable network similar to competitors such as AMC and FX. Paramount Network's most successful original program was Yellowstone—which quickly became its flagship series, and has spawned multiple spin-offs on Paramount+, the streaming service owned by its parent company Paramount Skydance Corporation. The network has also featured limited engagements of new Paramount+ original series by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, using Yellowstone as a lead-in. Between 2020 and 2021, most of Paramount Network's original programming would either be cancelled, or moved to other Paramount Global outlets, as part of a proposed plan to relaunch the network with a focus on made-for-TV films. By January 2022, these plans had been scrapped due to the impact of COVID-19, and the success of the Yellowstone franchise; leaving it, and Spike holdover Bar Rescue, as the channel's only original, first-run programs. As of December 2023, approximately 61.33 million pay television households in the United States received Paramount Network; down from 80.24 million in September 2018.