SPIKE TV RENEWS "INK MASTER" FOR SEASON TEN AND GREENLIGHTS "INK MASTER ANGELS" SPECIAL

Network Inks Season 10 of "Ink Master" To Premiere in 2018

New York, NY, March 23, 2017 - Spike's hit original tattoo-competition series, "Ink Master," continues to grow, renewing for a tenth season and greenlighting a new special, "Ink Master Angels." The announcement was made today by Chachi Senior, Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Spike. "Ink Master" and "Ink Master Angels" are produced by Truly Original.

Season 10, which has been picked up for 16 one-hour episodes, will go into production later this year and air on the rebranded Paramount Network in 2018.

With the rise in popularity of female competitors on "Ink Master," Spike also has greenlit "Ink Master Angels." The one-hour special will feature four of Season 8's top female competitors - Ryan Ashley, Kelly Doty, Nikki Simpson and Gia Rose - as they travel the country and go head to head with some of America's most talented tattoo artists in a variety of challenges, to see who has what it takes to beat them. The special will debut later this year.

"I'm so pleased to see 'Ink Master' reach a milestone tenth season as it continues to be a great ratings driver for the network," said Senior. "The franchise has shown such amazing growth with our female audience that it is a natural progression to launch a female-fronted standalone competition, as well."

Season 9 of "Ink Master" debuts this June along with new episodes of spinoff series "Ink Master: Redemption."

Each week, "Ink Master" puts artists through a series of tattoo challenges that not only test the artists' technical skills, but also their on-the-spot creativity, as they must create and execute an original tattoo on a "human canvas." Each episode focuses on a different and distinct style of tattooing such as realism, black and gray, and American traditional. The masterpieces the artists create will last a lifetime - and so will their mistakes. After every challenge, the contestants face a tough panel made up of series host Dave Navarro and world renowned tattoo artists Chris Nunez ("Miami Ink") and Oliver Peck (Elm Street Tattoo).

"Ink Master," "Ink Master Angels" and "Ink Master: Redemption" are produced for Spike by Truly Original ("Swamp People," "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," "Vanity Fair Confidential") with Glenda Hersh, Steven Weinstock and Andrea Richter serving as executive producers. Truly Original is a subsidiary of Endemol Shine North America.

Chachi Senior is Spike's Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Chaz Gray, Executive Producer of Current, Original Series, Spike, oversees production of "Ink Master" for the network and Tori Socha Vice President, Development, Spike, oversees production of "Ink Master Angels" for the network.

Truly Original creates a broad range of scripted and unscripted programming for television and digital platforms. Run by Emmy award-winning producers Glenda Hersh and Steven Weinstock, who serve as Truly Original's co-presidents and CEOs, the company is a subsidiary of Endemol Shine North America. Truly Original's hit series include Ink Master and Ink Master: Redemption for Spike; The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of Potomac, Don't Be Tardy, Shahs of Sunset, Summer House and the upcoming Stripped, for Bravo; Vanity Fair Confidential for ID; Swamp People for History; Comic Book Men for AMC; Hack My Life for truTV; I Love You... But I Lied for Lifetime; The Horn for Red Bull TV, and many others. Truly Original is headquartered in New York City.

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.