INSP Just Made a Major Change
The independent cable network INSP announced a major change this week. The network released a new logo, featuring a cowboy hat on top of its name, as well as a new slogan. The rebranding better reflects the network's schedule, which is now dominated by Western and Western-adjacent movies and television shows. The change went into effect immediately on Tuesday.
INSP's new tagline is "Heroes Live Here." Dale Ardizzone, Chief Operating Officer for INSP, said it was "high time" for the network to rebrand itself again, just 11 years after the last rebranding. The new logo was designed by Hayes Tauber, INSP's EVP of marketing, and his marketing team, alongside designer Paula Scher.
"Over the last decade, the network has experienced explosive rating growth and attracted loyal viewership, particularly from viewers who deeply embrace Western content," Ardizzone said in a statement. "We needed a logo that made a statement, with one glance, about the current look and feel of our programming. Something bold, with quiet confidence. An icon that says, 'This is INSP.'"
Scher was the major force in the rebranding concept, Tauber said. "Her conceptualization and guidance were invaluable. The cowboy hat is an enduring symbol," Tauber explained. "It's an important and revered icon in American culture, both past, and present. The textured hat represents salt-of-the-earth people with heart and soul, who have put in a hard day's work. We've got some dirt under our fingernails, and our weathered hat reflects that. The hat is positioned on the text with a swagger, quietly communicating that we are a network to be reckoned with! I'm very proud of the finished product, and the message it conveys."
INSP was born as the original PTL Television Network in 1978 and was founded by televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker. In 1990, it became the Inspiration Network after Bakker resigned. Two decades later, the network rebranded again as INSP. Although the network is rebranding again, Ardizzone told Variety there were no plans to change the name to better reflect its new programming direction. He believes the new logo and tagline can do the "heavy lifting."
"It's intentional that it sits over the name and that it sort of rests like it's on a fence post on the first two letters," Ardizzone told Variety. "For those who know the content and the network, it obviously makes complete sense. And those who wonder why we have a Western on, it tells the story almost immediately. That was part of the goal."
INSP's programming is mostly acquired Western content, but the South Carolina-based network does produce Ultimate Cowboy Showdown, a reality series hosted by country star Trace Adkins, and the original series Wild West Chronicles. The network is available in 62 million households.