Interesting. I knew this was supposed to be the year of corporate
mergers, didn't know it'd be the year of TV mergers as well.
Interesting, given that so much of UPN's programming is aimed at the
"urban" market, while the WB is Young White Central. Wonder how that
will wash out? Will "Girlfriends" be aired right after "The O.C."?
UPN, WB networks combine
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK - Television viewers will have one fewer broadcast network to
pick from this fall. CBS and Time Warner (TWX) said Tuesday that they
will dissolve UPN and WB, and combine many of their programs and
stations to create The CW Television Network, which they will own
jointly.
The WB's Gilmore Girls, left, and UPN's Veronica Mars will now be on the
same network known as The CW. The WB's Gilmore Girls, left,
and UPN's Veronica Mars will now be on the same network known as The CW.
WB/UPN
Executives say they will broadcast every evening except Saturday,
blending the most popular programs that UPN and WB now offer.
Top shows include WB's Smallville, 7th Heaven, Beauty and the Geek,
Reba, and Gilmore Girls, and UPN's Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris
and Girlfriends.
CW also will air WWE Smackdown wrestling, now on UPN.
The new network will target young adults, particularly women. "This is a
tough to reach demographic," says Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Barry
Meyer. "It's a pretty appealing (ad) buy for a movie company."
In addition to the 13 hours of primetime, CW will broadcast shows
weekdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Sunday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. From 7
a.m. to noon on Saturday it will air kids' shows.
Programming will run on 12 CBS-owned stations and 16 stations owned by
Tribune (TRB). These stations reach about 48% of viewers; they will sign
new affiliates to reach the rest.
Tribune, which now has a 24% stake in WB, will not hold equity in the
new venture, but will sign a 10-year deal to carry it on its stations,
including the three largest markets: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
"It's a good economic model," says Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons. "We
invested in the network to get access to programming. At this point we
felt that being an affiliate was the best option."
Among cities where CBS and Tribune both own stations carrying WB or UPN,
Tribune will air CW in Dallas, Miami, Boston and New Orleans while CBS
will air it in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
But the combination of UPN and WB will leave some stations elsewhere,
including several owned by Fox, without a network this fall. CBS chief
Leslie Moonves says the CW partners haven't decided yet how they'll
decide winners and losers, and whether the new network will look for
cash payments.
"There are a lot of factors that go into affiliation deals," Moonves
says. "Economics will be a part of this."
Although executives were eager to tout the strengths of the new venture,
they also say that WB and UPN have struggled against much bigger
networks and a plethora of options on cable.
Moonves says that UPN was "approaching the point where we were hoping to
break even."
Warner Bros. was prepared to keep WB afloat, but "it wasn't going to
serve the strategic purpose we started it for," Meyer says. "It's a
challenge for a small network to generate the kinds of ratings and
revenues" it needs.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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