Time Warner Cable, Texas Corrections Working On âGladiator TVâ Network
If Time Warner Cable gets their way, death row inmates in the State of Texas might soon get a second chance at life, but only if they manage to defeat âÂ or even kill â their fellow inmates in a brutal televised fighting match on a new network tentatively titled âGladiator TV.â The premise of the network is quite simple: Texas State Corrections would allow death row inmates, and possibly even prisoners with life sentences, to fight each other with various types of weapons in a gladiatorial arena. If an inmate manages to win 25 fights, theyâll win $1,000,000 and their freedom, on the condition that they leave the United States and never return. Fights on the network might end in death, though inmates can âyieldâ to stop a fight. Fights are also stopped if an inmate is knocked unconscious, or if a referee determines they cannot continue fighting. However, if a fighter loses a bout, they also lose all of their previous saved-up wins and must start everything over from scratch in order to continue. Gladiator TV would be a 24-hour television network focused entirely on the fighters and their battles. It would feature the fights, which would take place in a proposed $170 millionÂ stadium built outside of Dallas called âThe Coliseum,â the first of which would begin to air one year after the TV network goes live. In the meantime, the network would show reality shows about all of the different fighters, and would include âMost Wantedâ- style shows, fitness programs, and news programs focused on the network. Gladiator TVâs brainchild is Mike West, a Time Warner executive with a penchant for what he calls âwarrior entertainment.â He first came up with the concept of the network in 2003, after watching a boxing match featuring Roy Jones Jr. vs. John Ruiz, which he helped develop for Pay-Per-View. Since then, West has been heavily involved in HBO boxing and, more recently, UFC, where heâs become Time Warnerâs point-man for ultimate fighting. âI think of Gladiator TV as the `final frontierâ of warrior entertainment,â West says. âHumans of every culture have always enjoyed watching brave men battle it out. In contemporary times, it was boxing for many decades, and now itâs UFC. Gladiator TV is the next step in this evolution, and brings us back to Roman times, when gladiator fighting was the most popular form of entertaining the masses.â West says the Roman gladiators inspired Gladiator TV. âWeâre hoping to stylize the network after Roman gladiator fights, but with a few modern twists. Fighters will face off in an arena, on sand. Theyâll use Greco-Roman weaponry, including swords, shields, nets, tridents, and spears. But the stadium will have world-class medical facilities and an experienced team of paramedics, doctors, and surgeons. These fights might end in death, but they donât necessarily have to.â Officials in the State of Texas havenât publicly acknowledged the network yet, despite West and other Time Warner executives discussing the network publicly. Texas Governor Rick Perry is expected to make a major announcement involving the network once both sides officially sign a deal, which West says he expects âimminently.â