A year after Anthem Sports and Entertainment purchased AXS TV from entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the music channel is looking to hit all the right distribution and content notes under new general manager Frank Tanki. 

The Viacom vet assumed operations of AXS TV and HDNet Movies in June, and is positioning AXS TV to fill a void for music programming with shows such as documentaries Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams, which tells the band’s history through interviews, archival footage and performances from its global Head Full of Dreams tour; and Hype!, profiling the 1990s grunge music scene; and with the return of such brand-defining shows as The Big Interview with Dan Rather. Tanki spoke with senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.

As an independent network, how do you see AXS TV navigating an evolving television environment? The industry is evolving … it feels like every day, there’s a new dynamic and a new challenge. But we feel that the music category is still very, very valuable to a linear audience. I feel like that white space plus the investments that we’re making in original content has us well-positioned for growth. We’ve had a lot of good conversations on the linear side — we just did a recent renewal with the NCTC [National Cable Television Cooperative] that I think is a sign that we’ve got good things to come. On the digital side, we’re talking to literally every player and we’ve received a lot of great feedback while we continue shoring up our linear distribution. 

How does AXS TV differentiate itself in a very crowded TV environment? I feel like there is definitely a white space that is underserved in linear cable TV and in the music space. We like to offer great music storytelling, whether that be through live concerts or more behind the scenes stories. That’s the heart of who we are and where we want to be. I think we’re just going to sharpen it a bit more.

Where does HDNet Movies fit in Anthem’s cable network strategy? It’s got a very loyal core base on linear TV. If you look at movie ratings on some cable networks, they’re higher than they’ve ever been. So we think it plays a really important part of our portfolio. We've got a great lineup of movies from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and we’re going to look at different opportunities to pitch and catch content between the two brands. 

AXS TV also televises Impact Wrestling. Do you see the service getting more involved in live sports in the future? The answer is a firm yes. AXS has a long history with pro wrestling and MMA, and I also have a little background with MMA given my days at Spike TV and Bellator, which is still a very important part of ViacomCBS today. I think we’ll have a defined enough home for music that we can put a couple of other things under our roof. Working with Anthem, which owns the Fight Network, we’ll look for ways to be really smart about what we can add to the sports side of our portfolio. 

What’s the key for brands that want to survive the current evolution of the television industry? There's a major evolution happening right now. I remember a moment in time earlier in my career where we were debating, is [digital] an evolution or a phase? Now we know it’s an evolution, so we have to embrace that and be more nimble with how and where we distribute our content. We all have to look for new opportunities. For us, linear is still our bread and butter, but I think it all comes down to the communication that we’re having with our audience. It’s more of a direct, two-way street now, and the brands that will succeed are those that are smartly defined and are laser-focused on what the white space is while continuing to have a dialogue with their audience.

Viacom has named Jennifer Zaldivar-Clark senior VP of talent for Paramount Network, which launches in January 2018.

Zaldivar-Clark will also continue to serve as SVP of talent and communications for Viacom’s TV Land.

Related: Executive Shuffle Continues at Viacom’s TVLand

She reports to Kevin Kay, president of Paramount Network, TV Land and CMT, with a dotted-line relationship to Frank Tanki, TV Land general manager.

“Jen has an innate ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with talent and the creative community,” Kay said. “She has significantly elevated the TV Land brand and expanded its footprint across the entertainment business in new and creative ways. Jen’s leadership will be instrumental to the success of Paramount Network as a premier destination for top-tier talent across the industry.”

Read Kay's staff memo about Zaldivar-Clark at broadcastingcable.com.

TV Land, one of the networks designated as non-core by new Viacom CEO Bob Bakish, has named Frank Tanki as general manager.

In Viacom’s recently revised structure, TV Land reports into Kevin Kay, president of Spike TV, a core Viacom network that will be undergoing a brand change to become the Paramount Network.

Since the restructuring, TV Land’s president of development and production Keith Cox was promoted to president of development and production for both Paramount and TV Land, while Sharon Levy, TV Land’s executive VP of original series, left the network.

Tanki most recently served as executive VP, brand marketing and creative for Spike.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.