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January 24, 2006
UPN+WB=CW
Bad algebra? Nope.We're reminded tonight of a scene from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. James Van Der Beek, better known as Dawson from the teen hit Dawson's Creek, portrays Chronic/Jay. He is mistaken for a trespasser and arrested. His attempt at getting out of his situation:
"I'm a teen idol, dammit! Doesn't anyone watch The WB?"
We found out today that, despite my sister's obsession with Gilmore Girls, the answer to that question is an emphatic "No."
UPN and WB will shut down this fall to make room a new network, CW. UPN, owned by Viacom ex-pat CBS, and WB, owned by Time Warner (Tribune also has a stake), will be shut down by their parent companies, who will each own 50% of the new offering. Some of the shows from UPN and WB will migrate to CW.
So far, only the owned and operated stations will move to CW, which means 20 of the top 25 markets -- which have about 48% of the population of the U.S. -- will get CW. I'm sure some of the other WB and UPN affiliates will start signing up, and pronto.
It will be interesting to see if affiliates do sign up, and if they can draw viewers. UPN and WB have consistently been a distant fifth and sixth among broadcasters in the ratings, and it's unlikely that CW will break the top four too often in the early going. I wonder if that will be all right with its parents, or if they'll expect more out of the new kid.
Posted by josh at January 24, 2006 08:18 PM
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