Spike TV to Develop New Scripted Drama PENDERGAST

SPIKE has teamed up with Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions to develop a scripted dramatic series, PENDERGAST. Award-winning and critically-acclaimed producer Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Entertainment ("The Walking Dead") serves as Executive Producer, with John McLaughlin ("Black Swan") set as the writer and Executive Producer.

Based on the bestselling novels "Relic" and "Cabinet of Curiosities" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the series centers around Aloysius Pendergast, an eccentric special agent with the FBI. Set in a contemporary version of gothic New York City, the first season finds Pendergast investigating a present day crime mimicking a century old mystery -- which links to his own family's dark past.

"Pendergast" represents the first collaboration between SPIKE and Paramount Television, both Viacom properties. It's also the second co-production between Paramount Television and Universal Cable Productions with the first being the pilot "Shooter."

Sharon Levy, Executive Vice President, Original Series, Ted Gold, Senior Vice President, Scripted Original Series, and Lauren Ruggiero, Senior Director, Scripted Original Series will oversee the project for Spike.

Spike TV debuted its first scripted event series in eight years, "Tut," last July to strong ratings and has recently ordered to series, "Red Mars" based on Kim Stanley Robinson's award-winning "Mars Trilogy."

About SPIKE TV: Spike TV is available in 91.4 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 TV's Internet address is www.spike.com.

About Paramount Television: Paramount Television develops and finances a wide range of creative television programming across all media platforms. Paramount Television is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a global content company with premier television, film and digital entertainment brands.

About Universal Cable Productions: Universal Cable Productions (UCP) creates innovative and critically acclaimed original scripted and digital content across media platforms for domestic and international distribution. In the U.S., UCP's programming can be seen across various networks including the Golden Globe award-winning drama "Mr. Robot," "Colony," "Playing House," "Royal Pains" and "Suits" on USA Network; "The Magicians," "12 Monkeys," "Hunters" and "Killjoys" on Syfy; "Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce" on Bravo; "The Royals," on E!; "Difficult People," on Hulu; and "Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome" on Machinima Prime/YouTube and Syfy. UCP's content library includes critic and fan favorites such as the Emmy-award winning "Monk" as well as "Psych" and "Battlestar Galactica." Universal Cable Productions is a part of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. Follow us @UCPisTV.