SPEED Picks up 4th Season of Popular PINKS
′All Out′ Special to Air Thanksgiving Weekend
Cars racing for ownership "pink slips" on the popular SPEED channel show PINKS.
PINKS, drawing more than two million viewers a week and being called "the hottest car show on television," will come back for a fourth season on SPEED, with new episodes scheduled to debut in February.
"PINKS started as a cool little show on Wednesday nights and has grown into a series of explosive events," said Hunter Nickell, SPEED EVP & General Manager. "When we go to race tracks to tape episodes, we are getting thousands of spectators ...they are wearing PINKS gear, waiting in line for autographs and dialing in on their cell phones to listen to driver negotiations. There has been a real emotional connection to this program and it′s continuing to take on a life of its own."
The show, which airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET, pits amateur racers against each other in a best-three-out-of-five, winner-take-all format. To compete, each racer must sign over the title of his or her car with full knowledge that if he or she loses the race, they lose their ride, making it the first reality show to ensure contestants lose something other than their dignity.
A multi-platform hit, scoring the top numbers of any SPEED cable VOD offering, PINKS will air Season Four episodes on multiple VOD outlets. In addition, episodes of the new season will be made available through electronic download services iTunes and Amazon, and show clips will be available on wireless systems Amp′d Mobile, Cingular Wireless and MobiTV. On the Internet, additional PINKS content will be available on SPEEDtv.com, MSN.com and other free video players.
"The show has grown from three cameras, a few shifter carts, and no spectators to 6,000 people showing up to watch a taping and more than 800 applicants trying to be a part of the show," said Rich Christensen, PINKS host and creator. "There has been tremendous growth. I knew from the first day that I had lightning in a bottle."
In addition to regular episodes of PINKS, SPEED also has commissioned several PINKS - All Out specials, where 16 racers are selected from a field of as many as 350 cars to compete in a one-day, single-elimination drag racing battle for a $10,000 grand prize. The first special is scheduled to air Thanksgiving weekend.
"The All Out concept is PINKS taken to the ninth degree; it′s the natural progression of what is proving to be a very powerful franchise," said SPEED Programming VP Robert Ecker. "For All Out, the near-primal drama of man and machine gets played out on a much larger and even more demanding stage, one that requires peak performance and great stamina over the course of many hours and multiple runs down the quarter-mile track. It′s grueling, it′s unpredictable, and it′s absolutely electric."
