Spain Getting First Paramount Network Outside U.S.

The rebrand from Paramount Channel comes as the content strategy changes to the broad entertainment focus of the Paramount Network that launched in the U.S. early this year.

Viacom’s Paramount Channel in Spain will officially become the Paramount Network on June 10, the first of 12 international territories to rebrand following the launch of the Paramount Network in the U.S. early this year.

The change does not just rename the channel in Spain, which was the first country to launch the Paramount Channel in 2012. It also marks the first step in aligning programming on the international channels with the U.S. network's programming focus on scripted and nonscripted movie and TV series.

“Paramount Network has great positioning and fits perfectly with our strategy in Spain,” said Raffaele Annecchino, president and managing director of Viacom International Media Networks Southern and Western Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Paramount Channel has achieved great results in Spain, but it’s time to evolve the brand even further, making the channel increasingly contemporary and relevant for the Spanish market.”

The Paramount Channel in Spain is consistently one of Viacom’s highest-rated channels outside of the U.S., with its audience growing 9 percent year-over-year for the fiscal year to date. Additionally, the network has seen 23 percent growth of female viewers aged 25-59.

"Our channels have seen great success in markets around the world, and in Spain in particular,” said Jill Offman, executive vp Paramount Channel/Paramount Network International and Comedy Central International. "As one of Viacom’s flagship six, we will continue to invest in premium entertainment as we further Paramount’s profile as a global TV brand.”

Inspired by over a century of cinema, the Paramount Network in Spain will feature "bold, cinematic and relatable" series, movies, factual and local productions, beginning with the premiere of the fifth season of popular Spanish local reality show Alaska & Mario: El Huracan Mexicano on June 10. The new season follows the popular Spanish-Mexican singer and her husband, accompanied by their inseparable family and friends, on a trip from Vicalvaro, Spain, to Mexico to explore her country of birth. The show has so far aired on MTV Spain.

Additionally, Paramount Network will give Spanish viewers a mix of general entertainment, including premieres of TV series The Librarians, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, Father Brown and Grantchester, as well as iconic films such as Dances With Wolves, Copycat, Fight Club, The Protected One, 60 Seconds and The Three Musketeers.