The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network, or more casually
The CW, is a new
television network in the
United States set to launch for the
2006-
07 television season. It will feature a mixture of programming from both
UPN and
The WB television networks, which will both cease independent operations. The network, which will target younger viewers, is a joint venture between
CBS Corporation, owner of UPN, and
Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of
Time Warner, majority owner of The WB.
The network will begin operations, with repeats and/or a launch special, on Monday,
September 18,
2006. However, the network is marketing its formal launch date as Wednesday, September 20, with the season premiere of
America's Next Top Model. [
1]
The WB and UPN both launched in January
1995 just as the
Fox network had begun to secure a foothold in the American viewing lineup. Both launched to limited fanfare and generally poor results. In the eleven-and-a-half seasons since, despite a number of minor-hit or cult-hit series, neither network was able to attain the stature Fox had gained in its first decade, much less that of the longstanding
Big Three of
ABC,
CBS, and
NBC. Both networks were losing money, although The WB had been profitable a few seasons earlier. Reports indicated that the prospects for both networks were fading quickly. Nonetheless, the January 24, 2006 announcement that CBS and Warner Bros. would effectively combine the two networks' operations came as a surprise to most in the industry.
|
The original CW logo introduced at the announcement of launch |
Like both UPN and The WB, The CW will air programming targeted to younger audiences. CBS and Warner Bros. hope that by combining their networks' schedules and station lineups, The CW will strengthen into a fifth "major" broadcast network. Unlike the "Big Four" broadcast networks, The CW does not seem to have any current plans to offer
news or
sports programming to their affiliates, however, many stations may broadcast local news and/or sports.
CBS chairman
Les Moonves explained that the name of the new network is an amalgamation of the first initials of CBS and Warner Bros. Moonves joked "we couldn't call it the
WC for obvious reasons." Although some executives reportedly
disliked the new name, that March, Moonves
stated that there was "zero chance" the name would change, citing research claiming 48% of the target demographic is already aware of the "CW" name. At the network's first upfront presentation —
May 18,
2006 — a new logo was unveiled to replace the provisional blue-rectangle logo used in January. The logo is a green-white insignia which has drawn comparisons to the
CNN (another Time Warner subsidiary) logo.
The WB will close their network on Sunday, September 17 with a five-hour block of
pilot episodes of their past signature series, including
Felicity,
Angel,
Buffy (which was a two-hour episode) and
Dawson's Creek, and during commercial breaks, re-airings of past image campaigns and network promotions. This plan will involve promo spots given to the cable networks currently carrying these shows in off-network syndication, along with ads for each series' TV-on-DVD box set [
2].
It is expected that UPN will close the preceding Friday, September 15, likely with its usual airing of
Friday Night SmackDown!; whether the network will air its usual (optional) repeat block that weekend is unknown. The low-key closure is not surprising given that in some of the largest cities, where the local affiliate is owned by Fox and is joining
My Network TV, UPN
will not be available, at least on those stations, once MNTV launches on September 5. It is unclear what will happen to UPN or The WB programming on the applicable MNTV affiliates in other markets, i.e. if it will be dropped or aired in overnight hours. [
3]
The network will likely launch with a premiere special on September 18 [
4], and air season finales from the previous season for the first week, except for
America's Next Top Model and
Friday Night Smackdown, which will launch their new seasons on September 20 and 22 respectively, with full-night premieres. The network's second week will consist of all season/series premieres for all other series from September 25-October 1, with the exception of
Veronica Mars, which will debut their third season on October 3 [
5].
|
A picture from the end frame of a CW promo. Note the "Free to be _____" branding. |
Following the network announcement, The CW immediately announced ten-year affiliation agreements with the
Tribune Company and CBS. Tribune has committed 16 stations (including its flagship broadcast stations
WGN-TV in
Chicago,
KTLA in
Los Angeles and
WPIX in
New York) that were previously affiliated with The WB, while CBS committed 11 of its UPN stations (including
WPSG in
Philadelphia). These stations combine to reach 48 percent of the United States. Both groups will also own several UPN/WB stations not joining The CW in overlapping markets. As part of its agreement, Tribune agreed to divest its interest in The WB and will not take an ownership interest in The CW.
The network stated that it would eventually reach 95 percent of the United States. In markets where both UPN and The WB affiliates operate, only one station will become a CW affiliate. Executives are on record as preferring the "strongest" stations among existing The WB and UPN affiliates. However, as the "merger" is structured not as a merger in the legal sense but as a new network launching at the same time as two others shut down, The CW was not obligated by existing affiliations with The WB and UPN. It had to negotiate from scratch with individual stations.
As a result, in some markets, the CW affiliate will be a different station than either the existing The WB and UPN stations. In
Helena, Montana,
i affiliate KMTF will become a CW station. In
Las Vegas, Nevada, independent station
KFBT (now
KVCW) has signed for CW affiliation. And in
Idaho Falls, Idaho,
America One station
KPIF-TV will switch affiliations. The network has also affiliated with some digital channels, usually newly-launched subchannels of a local Big Four affiliate, in several markets.
Under the new network, a new service titled
The CW Plus [
6] will serve Nielsen
DMAs with rankings of 100 and lower. It will be similar to
The WB 100+ Station Group, which supplied locally-branded WB-affiliated cable channels. In most cases, distribution for The CW Plus will cover not only cable but broadcast as well, including the digital subchannels discussed above.
On
March 1, five affiliates - four WB, one UPN - were the first outside the CBS/Tribune core to sign CW affiliate deals. [
7]. Through
May 18,
2006, 174 stations have become affiliates of the CW, reaching 105 million households and covering 95.3% of the country (the latter two figures excluding the future CW stations in
Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands). The largest market without a signed affiliate as of May 18 is
Honolulu, Hawaii (ranked #72), with a handful of markets in the 90s and several further down also lacking an affiliate.
Station groups with a large number of affiliates include
Pappas Telecasting,
ACME Communications, and
Sinclair Broadcast Group, although many other large groups, including
Hearst-Argyle,
Clear Channel, and
Belo have signed up selected stations. Sinclair signed on in early May despite reservations with The CW's reported demands for
reverse compensation ([
8]).
While
WGN-TV in
Chicago will be part of the new network, its out-of-market
Superstation WGN feed, which does not currently air WB programming, will similarly not air programs from The CW Network.
Several affiliates have changed their call letters to reflect their new affiliation with the CW (ie; WNPA-TV to
WPCW-TV, WJWB to
WCWJ, WHCP to
WQCW,
WEWB to
WCWN,
KWCV to
KSCW,
WBDC to
WDCW,
KBHK to
KBCW, and
KHWB to
KHCW). In August, CBS Corporation's soon-to-be CW stations dropped all references to UPN from their branding.
Due to the availability of "instant duopoly" digital subchannels, that will likely be easily available on cable and satellite, and the overall lack of a need to settle for a secondary affiliation with shows aired in problematic timeslots, both the CW and MNTV will be launching with far greater national coverage than that enjoyed by UPN and the WB when they started in 1995. UPN for several years had gaps in the top 30 markets, and by 2005 managed to reach only 85% of the population. This resulted in secondary affiliations with other networks and the resulting diluted ratings when programs were shown out of their intended timeslots, or the lack of the program airing at all (experienced by several
Star Trek fans with
Star Trek: Voyager and
Star Trek: Enterprise).
Repercussions
The launch of The CW has caused the largest single shakeup of U.S. broadcast television since the Fox/
New World Communications alliance of
1994 and the subsequent launch of UPN and The WB themselves the following year. While it affects more markets, it is unlikely to cause the same degree of viewer confusion as, it appears, no affiliates of the four major networks will be dropping those affiliations. The disappearance of The WB and UPN will be the first time a major television network has closed since the collapse of the
DuMont Television Network in
1955, although other small broadcast television networks have also ceased operations over the years.
In those media markets where there were separate The WB and UPN stations, one local station was left out in the merger; most of those stations have signed (or may sign) with
My Network TV while others will elect to become
independent stations.
It became clear that the
Fox Television Stations Group, which purchased several UPN affiliates from former UPN co-owner
Chris-Craft Industries in
2002, was impacted. Its UPN affiliates in five major markets would not be affiliated with The CW, due to the agreement with Tribune, and Fox made it clear it would not even seek the affiliation for its four UPN stations elsewhere. All UPN logos and network references were quickly removed from their stations. Shortly thereafter, Fox announced that it was starting
My Network TV, a programming service meant to fill the two nightly prime time hours that will open on its UPN-affiliated stations after the start of The CW. Fox has also offered the service to other stations. [
9]
Tribune indicated following the network announcement they would be interested in Fox-developed programming blocks such as My Network TV for its three stations not taking the CW affiliation â€"
WPHL,
WATL and
KTWB (now
KMYQ) â€" and on
May 15, Tribune announced that those stations would become My Network TV affiliates. [
10] In contrast, CBS-owned UPN station
WSBK in
Boston will revert to independent status and will not attempt to affiliate with MNTV.
KTXA in
Dallas was already slated to become an independent station, as Fox-owned
KDFI has taken the My Network TV affiliation. CBS, after initially announcing that
WBFS in
Miami would not take the MNTV affiliation, eventually changed its mind and announced that it would affiliate WBFS and its other UPN station (
WUPL in
New Orleans, Louisiana, which is awaiting sale to Belo), and its WB affiliate,
WTCN-CA in
West Palm Beach, Florida, with MNTV.
Meanwhile, three former UPN affiliates will join older networks.
WLQP-LP in
Lima, Ohio will become the local
ABC affiliate, while
WJKT in
Jackson, Tennessee and the digital subchannel of
WBOC in
Salisbury, Maryland will join Fox.
Other repercussions include the following:
*Prior to the MNTV announcement, several stations had reportedly begun to search for new programming to fill empty timeslots, likely to further boost the fortunes of the syndication industry.
*On
January 27,
2006,
La Crosse, Wisconsin UPN affiliate
KQEG dropped its UPN affiliation, becoming the first known station to drop an affiliation due, presumably, to the merger. It has since joined
FamilyNet.
*
Granite Broadcasting had previously reached an agreement to sell their WB-affiliated stations in
San Francisco and
Detroit â€"
KBWB and
WMYD (the former WDWB), respectively â€" to
AM Media, a unit of private equity firm
Acon Investments. With the dissolution of The WB, and with CBS owning UPN stations in both cities already announced as joining The CW, the deal between Granite and AM Media eventually fell apart, and Granite announced its intentions to sell the stations to
DS Audible, LLC instead for a lesser price. Granite is now suing CBS and Time Warner over the failed deal. [
11] On
July 18,
2006, the DS Audible deal also fell apart. [
12]
The imaging and presentation, along with the schedules of both networks have also changed as both networks have started to shut down:
*After the end of May
sweeps as both networks have started shutting down, stations have begun to pre-empt UPN and WB programming en masse for various reasons. UPN affiliate
WACY in
Appleton-
Green Bay (that market's future My Network TV station) as of
June 5 began to replace all of the network's second hour of programming whenever possible (except for
Veronica Mars) with airings of
infomercials [
13].
*
Cincinnati's
WBQC (which will not be affiliating with the CW, or My Network TV) has continued to air UPN, but as of
July 4 moved the network to a deep late night slot, from 2am-4am early Tuesday morning-early Saturday morning. The July 4 date was used to promote the station's "
Independence Day" programming. [
14].
*
Salt Lake City's
KPNZ, which will also not be affiliating with either network, removed UPN programming entirely in June, and the network has not found a replacement since then.
*Possibly because of station pre-emptions, UPN has stopped customizing
closing credits to their graphics scheme, instead showing studio credits full-screen with theme music and no promo (except for
America's Next Top Model, which has a preview of the next episode on the left of the screen, and credits to the right). Meanwhile, The WB's closing credits remain in the standard 'bottom 1/3rd credits, top 2/3rds promo' format.
*UPN has also made Wednesday night a movie night with low-grossing or
direct-to-video releases filling the two hour slot to keep costs low most weeks, or else airing reruns of sitcoms already cancelled.
*The last week of May sweeps on the WB featured an uncompetitive all-movie schedule, as the network had shown season finales for most shows a week or two weeks earlier.
*The WB brought back reruns of the sketch comedy series
Blue Collar TV to Wednesday nights, though that program has long since been cancelled. The network's Friday night, long a trouble spot for the network, has also featured low-cost movies on some weeks.
The CW network will adopt The WB's present 30-hour programming schedule. It will provide 13 hours of
prime time programming to affiliated stations, 8â€"10pm Monday to Friday (all times ET/PT) and 7â€"10pm on Sunday. Programming will also be provided between 5â€"7pm Sundays (the
Easy View repeat block), 3â€"5pm weekday afternoons (currently off-network repeats under the
Daytime WB banner will soon be changed to
The CW Daytime), and a five-hour Saturday morning animation block (currently known as
Kids' WB!, to be rebranded as
Kids' WB on The CW at the network's launch in September [
15]).
The lead-up to The CW's initial fall schedule announcement was accompanied by a number of vocal pleas by viewers and critics to pick up what they considered the best shows from the two networks. These were met with varying degrees of success; the critically-acclaimed
Everwood was not picked up, while critical favorite with even lower ratings,
Veronica Mars, was, along with surprise pick-up
One Tree Hill. Meanwhile,
Reba, The WB's top sitcom but outside The CW's target demographic, was only picked up at the last minute.
Fall 2006 lineup
Shows carried over from
The WB are in
red; shows carried over from
UPN are in
green. New network shows are in
yellow.
Times given are ET/PT
*Subtract one hour for
Central and
Mountain time.
*Scheduled premiere dates shown in parentheses
*
(NT) - New Time (versus time of programming on The WB or UPN)
*
(NN) - New Night (versus time of programming on The WB or UPN)
*
(E) - Encore Presentation
Notes about the fall lineup
*The fate of
Reba, one of the more popular programs on the WB, was in question because its audience didn't fit the demographic the new network is targeting. At the eleventh hour on May 17, The CW renewed the series with a 13 episode order [
16], but the show will not return until midseason. The pickup was reportedly done to fulfill a syndication contract worth a reported $20 million.
*The CW was reportedly interested in picking up
Invasion after
ABC decided not to renew the series. However, despite the fact that the series was produced by
Warner Bros. Television, which owns 50% of the CW, it did not end up on the CW's schedule.
Aquaman, one of The WB's highest-profile development projects, was not picked up.
*A page announcing
Everwood's return for a fifth season in the Sunday 8/7c time slot was found on the CWTV.com on May 18,
2006, but was quickly deleted after fans found the link to it. Other shows whose pages were found on the CWTV.com site before deletion were
Aquaman,
Split Decision,
Flirt and
She Said, He Said.
7th Heaven, which had ceased production after ten seasons on The WB, was given a last-minute 13 episode renewal and its traditional Monday timeslot on The CW.
*The '"EasyView" repeat block from The WB, which airs before Sunday primetime from 5pm-7pm Eastern, will be retained under The CW, showing repeats of the previous week's episodes of the comedies running from 7pm-9pm [
17]. UPN also had a second encore run of
America's Next Top Model and
Veronica Mars that could be aired by a station on either Saturday or Sunday (or not at all, as this second run was optional for a station to take), but it is expected that this will be discontinued.
Midseason
Reba (sitcom)
(WB)Beauty and the Geek (reality)
(WB)Hidden Palms (drama)
(New)The Search for the Next Pussycat Doll (reality)
(New)[
18]
Aliens in America (sitcom)
(New)*
Dawn Ostroff, President of Entertainment (from UPN)
*
John Maatta, Chief Operating Officer (from The WB)
*
Michael Roberts, Executive VP of Current Programming (from The WB) [
19]
*
Betsy McGowen Senior VP and General Manager of
Kids WB! on The CW (from The WB) [
20]
*
Rick Mater, Senior VP, Broadcast Standards (from The WB) [
21]
*
Eric Cardinal, Senior VP, Research (from UPN) [
22]
*
Elizabeth Tumulty, Senior VP, Network Distribution (from The WB) [
23]
*
List of CW affiliates*
List of programs broadcast by The CW*
Daytime CW*
The WB*
UPN*
My Network TV*
Media consolidation*
Official Site*
CBS*
Time Warner*
Tribune Company
