LET THE BATTLE BEGIN ON SEASON EIGHT OF "INK MASTER" PREMIERING TUESDAY, AUGUST 23 AT 10 PM ET/PT

New Season Introduces An Unprecedented 30 Contestants Who, For The First Time In Series History, Vie For A Spot On Either Team Nuñez Or Team Peck

New York, NY, July 26, 2016 - Spike TV's hit original reality-competition series "Ink Master" returns for an eighth season on Tuesday, August 23 at 10 pm ET/PT, introducing a variety of new twists and series firsts. This season, judges - and now, mentors - Oliver Peck and Chris Nuñez will pick their own teams of tattoo artists as the contestants battle it out in permanent ink for a $100,000 grand prize, an editorial feature in Inked and, for the first time in "Ink Master" history, a guest residency in their mentor's shop.

Season Eight starts with 30 potential contestants who are put through a series of intense tattoo- style challenges, after which, both Nuñez and Peck will select their top nine to compete as part of their teams. Throughout the competition, the artists are not only tested on their technical skills, but also their on-the-spot creativity, as they must conceive and execute original tattoos on "human canvases." Each episode will focus on a different and distinct style of tattooing, and as always, while the artists' masterpieces will last a lifetime... so will their mistakes.

After every challenge, the contestants face a tough panel comprised of musician, filmmaker and artist Dave Navarro, as well as world-renowned tattoo artists Nuñez ("Miami Ink") and Peck (Elm Street Tattoo).

Additionally, this season, instead of a human canvas jury, the team safe from elimination will form a jury of peers and nominate artists from the opposing team up for elimination.

Viewers can find more on each artist including biographies, photo galleries, artwork portfolios and artist introduction videos by visiting inkmaster.spike.com. Throughout the season, fans can watch full episodes and video clips, and are encouraged to join the conversation on social media using #InkMaster. The latest in tattoo culture and series news can be found on the official "Ink Master" Facebook page, on Twitter @spikeinkmaster, Tumblr and on Instagram @spikeinkmaster.

"Ink Master" completed its 7th season on Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 with a LIVE 90-minute finale that delivered 1.9 million viewers. The full season averaged 2.0 million viewers while ranking 2nd among ad-supported cable competition in the time slot (behind FX). "Ink Master" is 44% male, demonstrating the network's ongoing plan to deliver gender-balanced original hit series.

"Ink Master" is produced for Spike by Original Media (Ink Master: Redemption, Swamp People, Dual Survival) with Steven Weinstock, Glenda Hersh and Andrea Richter serving as executive producers. Original Media is a subsidiary of Endemol Shine North America.

Sharon Levy is Spike's executive vice president, original series, Chachi Senior is senior vice president of original programming for Spike and oversees production of "Ink Master" and Tori Socha serves as the network's executive in charge of production.

About Original Media:

Original Media is a subsidiary of Endemol Shine North America and is run by Emmy award-winning producers Glenda Hersh and Steven Weinstock. Producing hundreds of hours of programming across unscripted and scripted television, digital media and feature film, Original Media has built a strong reputation for cutting-edge content and quality production. Hit series include Ink Master and Ink Master: Redemption for Spike; Swamp People for History; Dual Survival for Discovery; Comic Book Men for AMC; and I Love You... But I Lied for LMN.

About Spike TV:

Spike TV is available in 98.7 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.