Editing BattleBots (section)

==History==

=== Early competitions ===
''BattleBots'' is an offshoot of the original Robot Wars tournaments, the brainchild of Marc Thorpe. Robot Wars had financial backing from Sm:)e communications, a New York record company. The Thorpe partnership broke up in 1997, starting many years of legal wrangling between Thorpe and [[Profile Records]] (the former Sm:)e Communications). Profile licensed ''Robot Wars'' to a UK production company''. [[Robot Wars (TV series)|Robot Wars]]'' ran from 1998 to 2004 as a popular television program in the UK, with a short-lived revival from 2016 to 2017.

The robot builders left behind in San Francisco formed BattleBots, Inc. and began a series of larger competitions. The first was held in [[Long Beach, California]] in August 1999 and [[webcast|streamed online]], attracting 40,000 streams. Lenny Stucker, a television producer known for his work on telecasts of [[professional boxing]], was in attendance and showed interest in being involved with ''BattleBots''—believing the concept of [[robot combat]] was "hip" and have shown an interest in technology. Stucker made changes to the competition's format and presentation to make it more suitable for television, including elements reminiscent of boxing (such as a red and blue corner) and shifting to a single-elimination format. The creators tried selling the competition as a television series to networks such as [[CBS]], [[NBC]], [[HBO]], and [[Showtime (TV channel)|Showtime]], but none picked it up. A second event was held as a [[pay-per-view]] in [[Las Vegas]] in 1999, the PPV was in turn, used as a [[Television pilot|pilot]] to pitch the show again, with a higher rate of success.<ref name="sbnation-oralhistory">{{cite web|title=Robot Wars: An oral history of the birth and death of BattleBots|url=https://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/6/18/4438250/battlebots-robot-wars-combat-oral-history|website=SBNation|date=18 June 2013 |access-date=29 June 2015}}</ref>

=== Comedy Central seasons (2000–2002) ===
Among the networks interested was [[Comedy Central]], who ultimately picked up the program. [[Debbie Liebling]], the network's Senior Vice President of original programming and development, felt that the concept would appeal to the network's young adult demographic, explaining that "it was really funny and really nerdy. The Internet was not a big thing yet, so the nerd culture wasn't so celebrated. It was sports for the nerdy person, I guess."<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> Co-creator Greg Munson viewed the deal as a double-edged sword; it gave ''BattleBots'' an outlet and a larger budget, but the network insisted on the addition of comedic aspects to ''BattleBots'' as a program, such as [[Sketch comedy|sketches]] involving contestants. However, the competition itself was not affected by this mandate; Liebling described the final product as being "a parody of a sports show without being a parody". Munson lamented that the network had also ignored his suggestion for the co-host role to be filled by "attractive geek girls" with sufficient knowledge to speak with builders, having elected to "[keep] throwing bigger and better hot babes at it", such as [[Carmen Electra]].<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/>

Despite this, viewership and awareness of ''BattleBots'' grew progressively over time; contestants Christian Carlberg and [[Lisa Winter]] were invited to appear on ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'', ''BattleBots'' beat ''[[South Park]]'' as Comedy Central's highest-rated program for a period during Season 3, competitor interest grew and licensing deals also emerged.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> The success of ''BattleBots'', however, resulted in competition from other broadcasters; [[TLC (TV network)|TLC]] introduced a competing program, ''[[Robotica (TV series)|Robotica]]'', while other channels imported episodes of the British ''Robot Wars'' series.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> By 2002, the program had begun to face further difficulties; Munson felt that the bouts had become "homogenized" because the participants had "perfected" the sport of robot fighting, leading to a lack of innovation in robot designs and strategies.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/> Furthermore, ''BattleBots'' had sued [[Anheuser-Busch]] and its advertising agency for producing and airing a [[Super Bowl commercial|commercial during Super Bowl XXXVII]] that parodied the program and featured a robot greatly resembling one from ''BattleBots'' (this lawsuit, however, was dismissed in 2004, after a judge ruled that the ad was a [[parody]] protected by [[fair use]]).<ref name=lat-battlebotslawsuit>{{cite news|title=Lawsuit Over Bud Light Ad Dismissed|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-13-fi-bots13-story.html|access-date=29 June 2015|agency=Bloomberg News}}</ref> In September 2002, Comedy Central cancelled ''BattleBots'' after its fifth season, ''BattleBots 5.0''. [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] acquired full control of the network in April 2003;<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/><ref name=cnnmoney-viacombuyscc>{{cite web|title=Viacom buys Comedy Central|url=https://money.cnn.com/2003/04/22/news/companies/viacom/|website=CNNMoney|publisher=CNN|access-date=29 June 2015}}</ref> Stucker believed that Comedy Central had become "tired" of the program, and Roski stated that Viacom had wanted to shift Comedy Central back towards traditional comedy programming.<ref name=sbnation-oralhistory/>

Between August 21 and 26, 2009 a BattleBots-branded event was held and filmed in California.<ref>{{cite web |title=The BattleBots Season That Never Was |url=http://thirdlawsports.com/2016/07/14/battlebots-season-that-never-was/ |website=Third Law Sports |publisher=thirdlawsports.com |access-date=13 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719213420/http://thirdlawsports.com/2016/07/14/battlebots-season-that-never-was/ |archive-date=19 July 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Three competitions were held: The High School Championship, Collegiate Championship and Pro Championship. Competitors included a mix of Comedy Central stars and newcomers who would return to the reboot. CBS sport originally agreed to air the Collegiate Championship before dropping out due to lack of commercial interest. A deal with Fox was later signed before also falling apart for unknown reasons.<ref>{{cite web |title= CBS Drop BattleBots College Series |url=https://battlebots.com/college-show.html |website=BattleBots |publisher=BattleBots.com |access-date=13 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707214334/https://battlebots.com/college-show.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The pilot episode of the Collegiate Championship was released onto the official BattleBots YouTube Channel on the 17th of September 2010.

=== ABC/Discovery Channel revival (2015–present) ===
In December 2014, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] announced that it had picked up a six-episode revival of ''BattleBots'', produced by [[Whalerock Industries]], to premiere in June 2015. Roski and Munson served as executive producers, joined by [[Lloyd Braun]].<ref name="fastco-bb2015">{{cite web|title=At The "Intersection Of Design And Destruction," ABC Reignites "BattleBots" With Creative Combat|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3047032/at-the-intersection-of-design-and-destruction-abc-re-ignites-battlebots-with-creative-combat|website=Fast Company|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> The 2015 revival drew an average viewership of 5.4 million in its Sunday-night timeslot, with a 1.9 share in the 18-49 demographic. In November 2015, ABC announced that it had renewed the ''BattleBots'' revival for the seventh overall season of the series. The 2016 competition expanded to a 56-team field.<ref name="thewrap-renewed">{{cite web|title=ABC Renews 'BattleBots' for Season 2|url=http://www.thewrap.com/abc-renews-battlebots-for-season-2/|website=TheWrap|date=5 November 2015 |access-date=6 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="verge-renewed">{{cite news|title=BattleBots is coming back for a second season on ABC|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/6/9680466/battlebots-season-2-abc-summer-2016|access-date=6 November 2015|work=The Verge}}</ref>

After ABC declined to renew the revival for a subsequent season, the series was picked up by [[Discovery Channel]] and sister network [[Science (TV channel)|Science]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/battlebots-revived-discovery-science-channels-1081917|title='BattleBots' Revived on Discovery and Science Channels (Exclusive)|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-05-14}}</ref> In April 2018, the networks announced that a new season would premiere that year: May 11 on Discovery and May 16 on Science Channel.<ref name="DiscoveryRevival2018">{{Cite web|url=https://press.discovery.com/us/dsc/press-releases/2018/discovery-and-science-channel-announce-season-4330/|title=Discovery And Science Channel Announce the Season Premiere of 'Battlebots'|date=April 18, 2018|website=Discovery|publisher=Discovery Communications, Inc.|access-date=October 17, 2018|quote=Hit Series to Launch Friday, May 11 at 8 PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel and Wednesday, May 16 at 9 PM ET/PT on Science Channel}}</ref> The announcement reported that among the returning bots would be favorites Tombstone, Minotaur, Chomp, Witch Doctor, Bronco, Bombshell, Bite Force, and Yeti. [[Chris Rose]] and [[Kenny Florian]] return to call the action, provide background information about the bots and teams, and offer commentary. [[Jessica Chobot]] served again as the sideline reporter. Faruq Tauheed returned as the ring announcer.

BattleBots returned for another season on June 5, 2019, on Discovery and Science Channel. Chris Rose and Kenny Florian returned as hosts with a new sideline reporter, [[Jenny Taft]], interviewing all of the BattleBots competitors in the workshop. The [[COVID-19]] pandemic delayed the tenth season premiere on Discovery, planned for May 2020. Filming finally occurred October 10–21 for the season 10 premiere on December 3, 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Discovery Ramps Up 'BattleBots' With 50 Hours of Programming (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/discovery-ramps-up-battlebots-50-hours-programming-1280035 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=20 February 2020 |access-date=20 February 2020}}</ref> An eleventh season ran from January 6 to April 7, 2022, establishing a permanent base for production at Caesars Entertainment Studios in Las Vegas. A twelfth season—marketed as "World Championship VII"—ran from January 5 to May 25, 2023.

Apart from the televised competitions, BattleBots has hosted several untelevised shows in Las Vegas. In 2019 and 2022, minor tournaments were hosted in collaboration with re:MARS, a technology conference run by [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]. The re:MARS competition on June 6, 2019 was won by Witch Doctor (out of ten competitors), while the competition on June 23, 2022 was won by HyperShock (out of eight competitors). A live show, 'BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon', was presented four days a week from February to May 2023. 'Destruct-A-Thon' exhibited unscripted fights between replicas of classic and reboot BattleBots competitors. The replica bots, or 'ShowBots', were built and driven by a production crew with guidance from the original teams who designed them. Starting May 2023, the production space was utilized for another live show, 'BattleBots Proving Ground', which involved fights between newly designed or untested bots from newcomers or unproven teams.