And then there were five.
Two struggling mini-networks will merge into one medium-sized solution this fall with a slate of familiar programming. By one industry estimate, UPN and WB had combined losses of $900 million since their 1995 launches. The merger should make them solvent. But what will it do for viewers?
We may find there’s still nothing on, but it’s all in one place. With any luck, CW will do more for us than its name.
CW: the lamest handle in show business. (Don’t they package frozen peas and corn?) The only thing less memorable than the CW title is the logo.
In any case, CW means one thing: We won’t have the netlets to kick around any more.
When UPN and WB cease to be in September, one insta-outlet will take their place, complete with somewhat proven shows on six nights of primetime and a kids’ cartoon block on Saturday mornings.
In Denver, KWGN-Channel 2 is the The WB outlet and certain to be the new CW station. The fate of KTVD-Channel 20, the UPN affiliate, is up in the air, as is a recent deal by Gannett to buy the station.
Melding the meager audiences will be tricky but not as tough as building from scratch. Think of it this way: We’re so used to ignoring the netlets, with occasional exceptions like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Everybody Hates Chris,” that it will be more convenient to ignore them in one place.
Executives for The WB, which had flogged UPN in the ratings for years, were creatively bankrupt in January meetings with critics. One joked their network was considered a nonprofit organization. The WB still had a loyal following for “Smallville” and “The Gilmore Girls,” but UPN – on the strength of “Everybody Hates Chris,” “America’s Next Top Model” and “Veronica Mars” – was beating The WB in the battle for fifth place.
Executive Dawn Ostroff rides the UPN financial victory to the top programming spot at the new CW. WB execs Garth Ancier and David Janollari are among those left behind.
At first blush, advertisers and program producers are dejected (seeing fewer outlets for their ad spots and pilot pitches); broadcasters are encouraged (anticipating a better market for all networks with a new, financially solvent competitor). In some markets, such as Denver, a station is left with no network affiliation. Syndicated programming could fill the gap.
And viewers? We’re left wondering which series will make it to the new network and whether we will have any more reason to watch. The announcement notably made no mention of the WB’s “Everwood,” “Charmed” or “What I Like About You” nor the UPN’s “All of Us” or “Half and Half.”
When they began, the netlets chased the young demographics and pledged to serve the underserved (read: minority) audience. The African-American sitcoms on UPN continue to do so, although both netlets have drifted from their stated missions, seeking but not finding older viewers. (Don Johnson’s “Just Legal” came and went from the WB faster than you can say “out of the demo”).
For a time, the two netlets had distinct personalities. UPN sought young guys with “Smackdown,” while The WB catered to young female viewers with primetime soaps like “Felicity” and “Gilmore Girls.”
More recently, they have wandered into indistinct turf. “Related,” “The Mountain,” “Sex, Love & Secrets,” “South Beach.” Bury them all.
Making the announcement, the corporate bosses assured Wall Street and Madison Avenue that less is more, that the new CW will be more than the sum of its parts (note the reversion to old synergy language). This amalgamation swims against the tide in an age of ever-smaller niches, carving out more precise audiences.
So what’s in a name?
The components of the entity pegged as CW soon will be splintered into a handful of digital channels anyway – sports, kids, urban, family – located on different tiers and available on-demand. We’ll eventually think of them less as CBS or Time Warner properties than as shows with titles, flavors of channels or downloadable streams of bits vying for our iPods and cellphones.
As the adage goes, people don’t watch networks, they watch shows.
While CW figures out which shows will make the neo-net, we can continue to hope against hope that the fledgling fifth network (FFN?) will be rechristened by September.
