WB and UPN to merge into one network (1 Viewer)

[teapot2001]

Smackdown will definately not be on Sundays because WWE has PPVs on that day.

~T

 

[CherylJ]

Les Moonves apparently said on the press conference call that pairing Gilmore Girls with Veronica Mars would be a "dream come true" for Dawn Ostroff, current president of UPN and new head of the CW network.

So that bodes well for a GG/VM pairing, probably on Tuesday nights, with VM back at the Tuesday at 9pm slot it was in during its first season.

Smallville and Supernatural are also sure bets to return. Of course America's Next Top Model and Beauty and the Geek are going strong, so maybe they will be paired up for a reality night or they will switch out as each one starts a "new cycle."

Chris will also certainly be coming back, but I haven't heard much about the UPN Monday comedies.

I also haven't heard anything about Everwood, so that's up in the air. But it really sounds as if Charmed is a goner. It was already rumored to be over, but this seems to make it certain because there is bound to be less room for it on the CW (man, what a bad name - it makes me think of C&W music, which is not going to bring in the hip youth demo).

 

[Greg_S_H]

Cool, thanks. Now, if they just move VM away from Lost, this move can't help but help my TV watching. Never have to worry about VM against Supernatural or Smallville.

 

[Citizen87645]

Wow, didn't see this coming. Was any of this in the rumor mill?

EDIT: Nevermind. I guess I should have read the article first :b.

 

[Daniel-M]

As long as Veronica Mars and Smallville stays i am happy

 

[Chip_HT]

hmm...this just means that I've never been able to see a show on WB more than five years.

Buffy went to UPN, Angel was cancelled, Roswell was sent to UPN before being cancelled, and now Smallville technically won't finish its run on WB

 

[MatthewA]

I would kill to see one of my local stations (which ever one goes independent, which would be either WLFL-22 or WRDC-28) to adopt the format of Me-TV in Chicago and show nothing but old TV shows.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

And was largely killed by the formation - of The WB and UPN. With them snapping up owned stations and affiliates, there weren't enough indies left to support original programming. (In some cities the one and only indy ended up buying programming from both netlets.) Between those two and the emergence of Fox a few years earlier, the field became very crowded.

The irony is that all the upstart networks, beginning with Fox, were an attempt by the Hollywood studios to secure a captive market for their TV product. Changes to the rules governing network ownership of both TV stations and programming (which dated back to the quiz show scandals of the 50s) were finally being re-evaluated, and the studios know that if the networks could make and own their own shows (and the ancillary revenue they generated in the overseas and syndication - and later home video - markets) they'd want to do so, and stop buying from the studios.

So Fox, The WB and UPN were created to provide homes for Fox, WB and Paramont series. The irony that the fragmentation of the audience by the new choices and the different demographics that each network attracted led to everybody selling to everybody else anyway, and a decade of mergers and acquisitions and asset sales has changed all the players and their relationships too. (Because deregulatoin went further than anyone anticipated, and it became legal for networks to own movie studios and vice versa.)

Ain't TV grand?

Regards,

Joe

 

[Ray H]

I guess it doesn't affect me much, but I don't think I like the idea. The WB was a pretty catchy name for a network. CW sounds idiotic.

 

[Malcolm R]

Hate the "CW" name. Love the fact that I will now probably be able to watch WB shows in their actual timeslots rather than timeshifted into the late night hours on the local FOX station, as I do now.

Assuming of course that the local UPN affiliate becomes a "CW" station. With my luck, it will somehow get shafted and I won't have either UPN or WB of any kind. :rolleyes

Perhaps they should have called it "The WU", or "WUPN" (whuppin')

 

[Gary_E]

A SMALLVILLE/SUPERNATURAL night sounds like a good combination. It reminds me of the old SMALLVILLE/ANGEL Wednesday nights. A pair of HD shows, one bright and colorful; the other dark and moody. I hope it happens.

-Gary

 

[Malcolm R]

Since they're both WB shows, it could have happened already if they'd wanted to. It always seemed like a better match for me, too, than with Giggle Girls (or whatever it is).

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

The CW? Groan. SpaceFrog would have been better (remember UPN's backbone was always Trek until last year,) and it's really bad, too.

I will be the first to join a save Everwood campaign, but I think right now we need to vote with our remotes. It better not be killed, but it sure looks that way from the press releases. Please watch Everwood. Thank you.

In a business sense, this is a damn good merger, which makes two for the day, IMO.

 

[Scott_J]

Chris Craft, which is now owned by FOX parent News Corp, will be shut out. Tribune will not. Although Trib will have no ownership stake in the new network (they currently own part of WB), all but 3 of the current Trib-owned WB affiliates will make the switch to CW. And all but 4 of CBS' owned UPN stations will become CW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CW_affiliates

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

So WB 11 in New York becomes CW 11, WB 56 in Boston becomes CW 56, and WB 45 in Albany becomes CW 45. Those are the only ones that affect me. I never got the UPN affiliate out of New York and never watched the UPN affiliate in Albany. I did watch UPN-38 in both Albany before it got its own and Boston since I've been here. It surprising that one didn't carry the day, to be honest. The scary thing is that two companies will control approximately half of the CW's reach.
I also worry about Everwood. I notice that David Janollari, the current president of the WB, isn't mentioned anywhere in the press release. Since the WB's ratings have plummeted while UPN's have surged under his reign, it's not really a surprise. He was no Jordan Levin.
The main effect of this merger is that the new network line-up will be trimmed of most of the fat.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

That would be Gilmore Girls, one of the smartest, best-written and most under-watched TV shows on the air today. Too many guys dimiss it as a "chick show" and thereby deny themselves many hours of snappy dialogue, quirky characters and quick-hit pop-culture riffs that match anything on The Simpsons or Family Guy. Not to mention denying themselves the hotness that is Lauren Graham.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Hugh Jackes]

Better "CW" than "WC". Although that may be a more accurate description of some of the programming

 

[Walter C]

Plus I'm sure the new network will be picking up at 3 new shows.

 

[Eddy-C]

Whats WC stand for? I've heard that joke all over but don't get it.

 

[TheLongshot]

In europe, it is a bathroom. (Wash Closet, I think)

Jason