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The CW

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The CW Television Network
TypeBroadcast television network
Country
United States
AvailabilityNational
OwnerCBS Corporation (50%) / Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (Time Warner) (50%)
Key people
Dawn Ostroff
John Maatta
Launch date
September 4, 2006
Official website
www.cwtv.com

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 on Monday, September 4, 2006 (Labor Day). The network will be a joint venture between CBS Corporation, owner of UPN, and Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Time Warner, majority owner of The WB.

The CW will air programming targeted to younger audiences — a demographic that had been targeted by both The WB and UPN. CBS and Warner Bros. hope that by combining their networks' schedules and station lineups, The CW will strengthen into a fifth "major" broadcast network, competing at the same level as ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — a stature neither UPN nor The WB has been able to achieve. But unlike the "Big Four" broadcast networks, The CW does not appear to have any current plans to offer news or sports programming to their affiliates.

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." [1] However, an increasing number of network executives and other insiders have privately expressed displeasure with the "CW" name, and have said there is a possibility that the name will change before the planned September launch. [2] [3] [4] On March 15, 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. However, Moonves did reveal that a new logo was being created for CW,[5] one to replace the blue-white rectangular insignia first unveiled at the network's launch announcement. At the network's first upfront presentation--May 18, 2006--the new "cw" logo was unveiled, a green-white insignia with font not unsimilar to the CNN logo.

Stations

The original CW logo introduced at the announcement of launch

The CW will initially be based around 16 The WB stations owned by the Tribune Company (which will be relinquishing its investment in The WB) and 11 UPN stations owned by CBS. These stations combine to reach 48 percent of the United States. The initial 27 stations have signed 10 year affiliation agreements with The CW. It is estimated that the new network will 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, due to the structure of the deal, the new network must negotiate with individual stations. Hence it is conceivable that, in some markets, the CW affiliate may be a different station than either the existing The WB and UPN stations. In Helena, Montana, i affiliate KMTF will become a CW station. Also, the network has affiliated with some digital broadcast channels that do not yet exist in markets where there was no in-market The WB/UPN affiliate.

On March 1, five affiliates (four WB/one UPN) were the first outside the CBS/Tribune core to sign CW affiliate deals. [6] These were five separate stations from around the country which were expected to become CW affiliates because of strong ratings, though, and until KCWE in Kansas City signed up on March 7, no station whose chances of signing CW deals were contested were affiliated with the network. [7] [8] [9] As of May 18, 2006, 173 stations have become affiliates of the CW, reaching 104.2 million households and covering 94.6% of the country (the latter two figures excluding the future CW stations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). One of its biggest slate of announced affiliations in a single day was on March 28, 2006, which includes UPN affiliate KUVI-TV Bakersfield, California, the only English language television station owned and operated by Univision, the leading Spanish language broadcaster in the country.

Most smaller markets - i.e. Nielsen DMAs with rankings of 100 and lower - are served by a locally-branded WB-affiliated cable channel that is part of The WB 100+ Station Group, as well as a UPN affiliate which may be either an over-the-air television station (often at low-power), digital subchannel, or local cable channel, or some combination thereof. Under the new network, a new service titled The CW Plus [10] will serve a similar role to WB 100+. However, as with larger markets, the network's affiliations are determined by negotiation, and those announced so far have been a mixture of existing The WB and UPN affiliates, as well as some stations (or digital subchannels) not presently affiliated with either network.

Before May 2, 2006, the only top-30 markets that had remained without a signed affiliate were Minneapolis-St. Paul, Baltimore, Raleigh-Durham, and Nashville. In each of these markets, the local UPN affiliate is controlled by Fox Television Stations Group or Sinclair Broadcast Group and is already committed to My Network TV, while The WB affiliate is controlled by Sinclair. The CW has reportedly demanded reverse compensation ([11]), which Sinclair has hinted it is unwilling to provide. However, Sinclair announced their remaining WB and independent stations, including the stations in those markets, will officially become CW affiliates.

While WGN-TV in Chicago will be part of the new network, it is presently assumed that its out-of-market Superstation WGN feed, which does not currently air WB programming, will similarly not air programs from The CW Network.

Programming

The new network will adopt The WB's present 30-hour programming schedule. It will provide 13 hours of prime time programming to the newly affiliated stations, 8–10 p.m. Monday to Friday (all times ET/PT) and 7–10 p.m. on Sunday. Programming will also be provided between 5–7 p.m. Sundays (the Easy View repeat block), 3–5 p.m. weekday afternoons (currently off-network repeats under the Daytime WB banner), 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 [12]).

Fall 2006

(confirmed by USA TODAY [13])

New Episode (red) Rerun (white) (times given are ET/PT)*

2006-07 Season 7:00 PM 7:30 PM 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:30 PM
Sunday Everybody Hates Chris (U) (NT) All of Us (U) (NT) Girlfriends (U) (NN) The Game (N) America's Next Top Model (Encore) (U)
Monday Local Programming 7th Heaven (W) Runaway (N)
Tuesday Gilmore Girls (W) Veronica Mars (U)
Wednesday America's Next Top Model (U) One Tree Hill (W)
Thursday Smallville (W) Supernatural (W)
Friday WWE Friday Night SmackDown! (U)

* Subtract one hour for Central and Mountain time.

(U) - Aired on UPN during 2005-06 season.

(W) - Aired on The WB during 2005-06 Season.

(N) - New Show.

(NT) - New Time (versus time of programming on The WB or UPN)

(NN) - New Night

Midseason

Notes about the fall lineup

  • Despite arguably good ratings, it was speculated that Reba could possibly be canceled because its audience didn't fit the demographic the new network wants. However, cancelling the show would break a two-year contract that could cost the network more than $20 million dollars for lost syndication values. At the 11th hour on Wednesday, May 17, the CW decided to renew the series with a 13 episode order [14].
  • According to the TVGuide.com Entertainment News blog, The CW was reportedly interested in picking up Invasion if ABC decided not to renew the series. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television which owns 50% of The CW. Although, according to inside sources the CW executives passed on the series after viewing how expensive the show is to produce. It did not end up on the CW's fall schedule and was canceled by ABC as well.

CW Pilots

The following pilots are reportedly in development for The CW Network for possible midseason pickup or for a later date (Pilots already listed for the fall 2006 season are not listed):

Dramas

Comedies

Realities

Network Staff

On April 6, 2006, it was announced that Michael Roberts would transition from The WB to The CW[15]. He will keep his title as executive VP of current programming. The effect of this announcement on The CW's 2006 programming slate is currently unknown, though it might provide a boost for potential WB holdovers.

On April 21, 2006, it was announced that Betsy McGowen had joined network-to-be The CW as senior VP and general manager of Kids WB! on The CW[16].

On April 27 2006, it was announced that Rick Mater, senior VP, broadcast standards, for The WB, will assume the same post at The CW. Also, Eric Cardinal, senior VP, research, at UPN since 1999 will take that post at The CW[17].

On May 8, 2006, it was announced that Elizabeth Tumulty, who has been senior VP, affiliate relations and communications for The WB netlet has been named senior VP, network distribution, for the new CW Network[18].

Repercussions of the merger

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. However, some small-market "Big Four" affiliates have signed up to carry The CW via digital subchannels.

In those media markets where there were separate The WB and UPN stations, one local station was left out in the merger, and became an independent station, unless it has chosen to affiliate with My Network TV. In some of the smallest markets only one network is present, or both networks' programming are found on a single station, in which case the transition should be relatively straightforward, but results so far have shown this is not guaranteed. In other cases, excluding markets served by the Tribune and CBS stations, the affiliation is likely be determined by negotiation.

It became clear that the Fox Television Stations Group, which purchased several UPN affiliates from Chris-Craft Industries (ownership partner of UPN with Paramount Pictures/Viacom from 1995-2000) in 2002, were impacted. Its UPN affiliates in New York (WWOR), Los Angeles (KCOP), Chicago (WPWR), Houston (KTXA) and Washington, D.C. (WDCA) would not be affiliated with The CW, and Fox made it clear it would not even seek the affiliation for its other stations in markets such as Minneapolis (WFTC), Orlando (WRBW), and Phoenix (KUTP) as the existing The WB affiliates have signed on in those three markets. Fox removed all UPN logos and network references from their stations.

On February 22, 2006, 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 CW. Fox has also offered the service to other stations. [19] On May 1, CBS announced that in retaliation for NewsCorp to refuse to affiliate any Fox-owned UPN stations with CW, their owned-and-operated stations in Boston (WSBK) and Miami (WBFS) would revert to independent status. In the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas "metroplex", the owned-and-operated UPN station, KTXA, was already slated to become an independent station, as Fox-owned KDFI has taken the My Network TV affiliation.

Tribune will no longer have an ownership stake in the combined network, thus they are no longer responsible for any of the CW's losses. A company representative stated during a conference call the day of the merger announcement that they have no intention of selling their non-CW stations. Tribune also indicated they would be interested in Fox-developed programming blocks such as My Network TV, and on May 15, the three stations not taking the CW affiliation — WPHL, WATL and KTWB — announced that they would become My Network TV affiliates. [20]

Other stations, especially those already known to be disaffiliating, have reportedly already begun to search for new programming to fill empty timeslots, likely to further boost the fortunes of the syndication industry. On January 26, 2006, La Crosse, Wisconsin UPN affiliate KQEG announced that they would cease to be a network affiliate at the end of the programming week, becoming the first known station to drop an affiliation due to the merger.

The disappearance of The WB and UPN will be the first time a major television network has vanished since the collapse of the DuMont Television Network in 1955, but other small broadcast television networks have also ceased operations over the years.

Granite Broadcasting had previously reached an agreement to sell their WB-affiliated stations in San Francisco and Detroit — KBWB and WMYD (the former WDWB), respectively — 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 Granite-AM Media deal was put in jeopardy, and on February 15, Granite was freed to shop the stations to other interested parties; [21] however, the deal between Granite and AM Media eventually fell apart, and Granite has sold the stations to DS Audible, LLC instead.


See also


Sources

Press Releases

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