The WB and UPN will cease to exist soon.

[dposse]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/cbs_warner/index.htm?cnn=yes

CW Network to combine WB, UPN in CBS-Warner venture beginning in September.
By Jessica Seid, CNNMoney.com staff writer
January 24, 2006: 1:50 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Warner Brothers and CBS Corp. announced plans Tuesday for the creation of a new broadcast television network, called CW, that would replace the WB and UPN networks in the fall of this year.

The new broadcast network will draw on programming from both WB and UPN, and will be a joint venture between Warner Bros. and CBS (Research), with each company owning 50 percent, officials of both companies said. (The "C" stands for CBS, the "W" is for Warner.)

"This new network will serve the public with high-quality programming and maintain our ongoing commitment to our diverse audience," said Les Moonves, the chairman of CBS, in a statement (see video).

Prime time programming will target the profitable 18-34 age group, officials of Warner and CBS said.

The new network will broadcast such UPN shows as "America's Next Top Model" and "Veronica Mars," as well as WB programs "Beauty and the Geek" and "Smallville."

In addition, World Wrestling Entertainment's "Smackdown," which has been a mainstay at UPN, is expected to play a role in the schedule. The new fall line up is expected to be announced in May.

UPN and the WB have struggled to attract viewers from the four established networks since they were launched in the mid-1990s. But each has its strengths.

The WB has had some hits throughout its history, particularly with younger audiences, having done well lately with shows such as "Smallville" and "Gilmore Girls."

UPN has recently gained some critical acclaim and strong ratings for its sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris," which airs on Thursday nights and fared well against shows such as NBC's "Joey" and Fox's "The O.C."

Both networks will cease operations in September, broadcasting their respective network schedules independently until then.

Dawn Ostroff, currently president of UPN, will become president of entertainment, and John Maatta, currently chief operating officer of the WB, will become chief operating officer of the CW.

The new network will employ a lot of the same people, "but there will be one person where there used to be two," said James Goss, an analyst with Barrington Research, suggesting that there may be more executive jumbling throughout CW in the works.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! this blows. This has to be the worse idea ever. There are going to have crap like The Gilmore Girls and Smackdown together. Also, whats gonna happen to things like The Kids WB?? I dont care what you people say, i like the anime they have on there. Also, they better not cancel Charmed...

What do you think? Is this merger a good combonation, or is it doomed for failure?

[Mondt]

Also, they better not cancel Charmed...Comepletely agree. Charmed must not be canceled. Especially not after this season. That will screw things way over.

[meb955]

i refer you to my response dealing with kids wb to your exact same thread on another board made before you posted on this one. and, as i wrote there, as long as "everybody hates chris" is safe, i have little interest.

[Nique]

'Crap network' + 'Crap network' = ?

I'll expect your answers on my desk by tommorow.

[Sky Warrior Bob]

CW? But is UPN & WB! There's no CBS in the mix! (Well except for ownership.) Why?

Personally, it could be good, especially for me (I don't get the WB, except on my FOX channel - and that's only what they feel like playing at ungodly hours early in the morning & late at night). I mean, I don't care much for UPN too much, but a mix of their stuff & WB could come out nice. I'd think WB kids is safe, as UPN doesn't even have a Saturday morning lineup. I mean, just because it isn't mentioned, doesn't mean it won't be carried over into the new fusion channel.

Besides the dice have already been cast, all we can do is wait & see...

SWB

[PsychicKid]

I predict doom and failure. The WB has been going downhill fast in my eyes since mid 2002. Quite honestly, I hate the WB since mid 2002. They really, really screwed up for me.

I hope this dents the company and sends it spiralling into oblivion.

[Green_Ogre]

Oh yeah. I remember reading that a few days ago.

In other unrealated news, Pixar and Disney are gonna merge.

But yeah, you'll see Gilmore Girls with Smackdown and CSI. Ain't that fun?

Also, the UPN and WB near my house, WRBW UPN 65 and WKCF WB 18 respectively, are actually in the same building. So I think that the two are already a part of one another. Of course, they were together a long time before this merge was even thought of.

[Fifthfiend]

"You got your teen melodrama in my urban comedy!"

"You got your urban comedy in my teen melodrama!"

Coming soon - Moesha's Creek!

Two great tastes that taste great together!

[Green_Ogre]

Hmm, you know a scary thought?


A Wrestling drama. If that is made, I'm movin to canada.

[Fifthfiend]

Now after Moesha's Creek - Smallville Smackdown!

Super-Boy brings the Super-PAIN!!

And then cries about it afterwards!

[Sky Warrior Bob]

I don't care what you people say, the more shows you guys pitch, the better & better this move sounds.

SWB
- I wonder if Superman will be brought into the Star Trek continuity? That'll be a few nails in Gene's grave.

[Donomni]

Wow. I can forsee a more generic Spike TV. Run like hell. Hell, I say!

[Fifthfiend]

I don't care what you people say, the more shows you guys pitch, the better & better this move sounds.

SWB
- I wonder if Superman will be brought into the Star Trek continuity? That'll be a few nails in Gene's grave.

Dude, you never caught that 'Lieutenant Spock' is actually an anagram of 'Kal-El of Krypton'?

[Green_Ogre]

Hmm, an unrealated, but sweet crossover would be Star Trek and Halo.

[ZERO.]

'Crap network' + 'Crap network' = ?

I'll expect your answers on my desk by tommorow.



Crap network +Crap network= FOX
Fox may not be two crappy networks put together but it is crap².

[P-Sleazy]

Fifth...how you come up with some of this stuff...and get away with it...I dont know but however you're doing it, KEEP DOING IT! I especially like it when you and DFM start ragging on eachother, which reminds me, Where has DFM been the past few days?

Anyway, back on topic, I don't think this will be a good move. The WB has always been a very family friendly network, providing the most family watched programing than any network I remember, and this is daily primetime, not just one random night devoted to family. Putting in some of the CSI and Smackdown into the mix might not bode well for this offspring of a station.

Oh and the answer to

'Crap network' + 'Crap network' = ?

I'll expect your answers on my desk by tommorow.

The answer is Anti-Fox. Using the logic of "Two wrongs make a right", flawed logic as it may be, clearly states that this network is going to be the HUBBA HUBBA of our wildest dreams and we will refuse to turn it off. REFUSE I SAY!

[Fifthfiend]

Where has DFM been the past few days?

Chained up in the basement where he belongs.

Fifth...how you come up with some of this stuff...and get away with it...

You take something stupid, mix it with something just as stupid, throw in a dash of makes no sense whatsoever, then you kidnap Mashirosen's cat and hold it for ransom so can't nobody touch you.

...

You know what I really want to know in all this is will they bring back Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and if so, will it be cool, hip, killin'-evil-with-an-attitude WB Buffy, or Godawful We're-on-UPN-now-so-who-gives-a-shit-anymore Bufy?

[Nique]

I just don't know if any network can take another show whose premise is 'culturally diverse group of strong young women' or 'We're like the "black" version of 'Friends'!'. After ONE season of UPN's lineup, they've turned it into old-hat.

Hey, maybe with the WB+UPN deal, we could have a show based on 'Underworld', only the vampires would be street-savy sistas with attitude.

[POS Industries]

You know what I really want to know in all this is will they bring back Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and if so, will it be cool, hip, killin'-evil-with-an-attitude WB Buffy, or Godawful We're-on-UPN-now-so-who-gives-a-shit-anymore Bufy?

Well, as I understood it, nobody at the WB really gave a shit about Buffy either. Hence the move. On a related note, the WB blew it entirely for me when they cancelled Angel. I looked at the ratings, and it's not like that crapgasm of a network had any other shows that were doing any better. "Well, we've got a show with a fairly large cult following, that brings some of our network's highest ratings, and has garnered a fair amount of critical acclaim... drop the hammer, boys."

Bah.

[P-Sleazy]

I too was sad to find out Angel was leaving. I didnt watch all that often, but I liked knowing it was still there. But the network might've dropped Angel for other reasons like the actors were skiddy and wanted a new job or something. Not everything is "well...this shows doing good, its hammer time!"

[Lockeownzj00]

The WB has always been a sad, sad network of culturally important but horribly made melodramas, to me.

I shed not a tear.

[Fifthfiend]

The WB has always been a sad, sad network of culturally important but horribly made melodramas, to me.

I shed not a tear.

You're not supposed to be sad because it is dying.

You're supposed to be sad because the awfulest bits of its corpse are being stitched together with that of an even fouler beast, thereby to create a Frankenstein which shall be loosed to devour what little good is left in this world.

[POS Industries]

I too was sad to find out Angel was leaving. I didnt watch all that often, but I liked knowing it was still there. But the network might've dropped Angel for other reasons like the actors were skiddy and wanted a new job or something. Not everything is "well...this shows doing good, its hammer time!"

Nah, I saw the interviews... everybody was pretty pissed off that the show was killed just as they were getting rolling with something. WB's problem was that it didn't know what to do with a show that wasn't a crappy teen melodrama or hackneyed garbage with some boobs thrown in (I'm looking at you, Charmed). The reason these networks ultimately failed is poor decision making. Kids WB has a good example of this. A few years back, anime was becoming exponentially popular in the American mainstream, so Kids WB grabs a popular anime from Japan without actually looking at any of its content. That anime was "Cardcaptor Sakura". Once they got the footage stateside and took a look, the WB network executives suddenly became terrified of showing it, but were locked into it due to the money they'd spent. The result: most of the episodes were cut out, and the ones that weren't were aired completely out of order. The fact that the show still had some success with their target audience is simply proof that kids will watch just about anything you put in front of them.

Like "Ed, Edd, and Eddy".

But I digress. The CW will probably survice because there's still enough of an audience left to scrounge together from the cream of the combined crap that UPN and the WB churned out over their several year run. They may have to take another hit, possibly finding a niche in basic cable. That's at least my prediction. Woohoo.

[Buddha Fett]

This is gonna be the scariest thing I've ever seen. And I've seen some scary things, mind you. things that would make your brain piss itself were it physically possible.

[Nique]

things that would make your brain piss itself were it physically possible.

I'm not sure that's even theoretically possible.

But then again, neither is the potential success of two mediocre-at-best networks merging.

[Jastiv]

I havn't even watched TV since 2002, except once in a hotel. I don't bother subscribing to cable and the reception is too fuzzy for the antenia. I don't miss TV one bit. The internet takes care of all my entertainment needs. I think we are seeing the begining of the end of TV.

[Donomni]

I've been thinking. This might work if you think about it.

UPN = Greater focus on African-Americans
WB = Owned by Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers = Owns Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network = Owns Adult Swim
Adult Swim = Owns Boondocks (The series)
CW = Boondocks on national televison

They might have a chance at this if they keep what good shows they have and add the Boondocks.

My hope is small, but it is hope.