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Cars, gross-out jokes, T. and A.--not the most elevated definition of manhood, but Hecht says it's all delivered with a wink. "[Men] know we're buffoons," he says. "We know that we can be made fun of." This notion is of a piece with the have-your-cheesecake-and-eat-it-too approach of men's TV from The Man Show to Coors' "Twins" beer commercials: we'll ironically acknowledge that we're drooling idiots in exchange for getting to look at boobies. But TV marketing coups don't necessarily appeal to viewers' better angels. The women's network Lifetime is one of cable's great success stories, largely on the strength of an endless succession of movies that portray women as rape and abuse victims. Its rival Oxygen launched in 2000 with an idealistic plan to target ambitious, educated feminists--then found out that only about four of them felt the need to be empowered by a cable channel.
And while young men are not exactly underserved by TV (Comedy Central? Two ESPNs?), Spike may let them believe they are. "If we all worried about who was really underserved, we'd still have only ABC, CBS and NBC," says Charlie Rutman, president of the ad-buying firm Carat USA. Like any well-targeted niche channel, Spike TV needs men to say, "I wonder what's on Spike?" the way they say, "I wonder what's on ESPN?" In Hecht's marketing lingo, the idea is to build "an emotional connection to the brand."
O.K., but if you're targeting young guys, do you really want to throw around the phrase "emotional connection" like that? Hecht backpedals. "That's not an on-air term," he says. "Spike's a great name for a dog. Spike will be man's new best friend." Catchy slogan, but Spike will also need strong marquee programs--more like South Park than Gary the Rat--if this dog is going to hunt.