NEW YORK, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- TNN Consumer Products, a newly created unit handling licensing for TNN: THE NATIONAL NETWORK, will offer its first property, TNN'S ROBOT WARS, at Licensing 2001. TNN can be found at Booth 1317 at the Licensing Show June 12-14 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

ROBOT WARS created the battlebots craze in California and is now a hit series in 16 countries, including England, where TNN's series is being produced. TNN is bringing ROBOT WARS for the first time to U.S. television, featuring U.S. teams that design and build radio-controlled fighting machines and battle it out to see whose robot is supreme. TNN'S ROBOT WARS will make its debut on TNN this summer. TNN'S ROBOT WARS is produced in London in the Robot War arena -- complete with mechanical hazards such as spikes, blades, hammers and explosions -- by Mentorn International.

Battling robots have been cited by Newsweek, as ``the first sport to break into popular culture in the new century.'' In TNN'S ROBOT WARS, the most powerful, combative robots made by amateur U.S. roboteers will battle gladiatorial style British robots -- with names like Sir Killalot, Sgt. Bash, Refbot and the metal diva, Matilda -- in a psychological as well as technological war.

``TNN'S ROBOT WARS is a hot property, strongly appealing to teens and young adults,'' says Leigh Anne Brodsky, Sr. Vice President, TNN Consumer Products. ``We're delighted to launch TNN Consumer Products with ROBOT WARS, a property with strong popular appeal. With TNN's goal of 50% original programming by 2005, and its success in its re-branding the network as America's first pop network, TNN Consumer Products looks to offering an attractive roster of properties in the near future.''

Coast to coast, TNN is connecting Adults 18-49 to the tops in pop culture such as the World Wrestling Federation's RAW IS WAR, cable's top-rated series. And it's connecting viewers to network decision-makers 24 hours a day through its toll-free number, 1-888-POP-1090. Under the banner of ``We've Got Pop,'' TNN invites its viewers to call and talk about what's pop on television, on movie screens and in their hometowns. Viewers' voices and faces show up on the network, talking about whatever's on their minds. Since TNN started 1-888-POP-1090, more than 100,000 calls monthly have come in from all over the country.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA; VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, NICKELODEON/NICK at NITE, TV LAND, TNN: THE NATIONAL NETWORK, CMT: COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of nine digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide. In addition, MTV Networks operates the MTVi Group and Nickelodeon Online, a portfolio of leading Internet properties built to address every interest of today's music fan and Internet-savvy kid.

SOURCE: TNN Consumer Products