What Killed UPN and The WB TV Networks?

[TMC]

I wish that these two networks were still around because in all honesty, the CW has been floundering from the very get so. This is odd because when I first heard about the creation of the CW, I assumed that it would be a stronger version of two seperate networks. Meanwhile MyNetworkTV has been a non-entity.

There's a book called Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of The WB and UPN, which I really want to read if I can find it.

This is what Wikipedia says about the WB's decline:

2003-2006: Decline

Despite some early success, the network struggled to shift its focus from the female 12-24 demographic to the more broad 12-34 range. In 2005, The WB abandoned its trademark mascot, Michigan J. Frog, as the network's iconic emblem. David Janollari, The WB's President of Entertainment, explained in July 2005 at the network's summer 2005 press tour that the animated character "perpetuated the young-teen feel of the network, and that is not the image we want to put to our audience."

Still, the move did not seem to help the network. The period from 2003 to 2005 produced only three viable new series, One Tree Hill, Beauty and the Geek, and Supernatural (all of which have since moved to successor network The CW), and even still their ratings paled in comparison to the ratings peaks of Dawson's Creek, which had signed off in 2003. Ratings dropped for shows like Angel (which was canceled in 2004), and the network failed to launch new hit shows to take their places.

Although The WB's well-known inability to launch successful comedy series was nothing new (Reba being the sole exception), this period saw the network struggling to establish new dramas as well. High-profile failures included Birds of Prey (inspired by the Batman mythos), Tarzan, Jack & Bobby, The Mountain, Jerry Bruckheimer's Just Legal, Marta Kauffman's Related, and the Rebecca Romijn vehicle Pepper Dennis.

During the 2004-2005 season, The WB finished behind rival UPN for the first time in several years, and fell even further behind in the fall of 2005. Both networks fell behind the Spanish language network Univision in the overall 18-34 demographic.

It was estimated in 2005 that The WB was viewable by 91.66% of all households, reaching 90,282,480 houses in the United States. The WB was carried by 177 VHF and UHF stations in the U.S., counting both owned and operated and affiliated stations (the owned and operated stations were not actually operated by Warner Bros. or Time Warner; instead, Tribune owned and operated these stations, thus its stake in the network). The WB could also be seen in smaller markets on cable-only stations, many of these through The WB 100+ Station Group - available to TV markets below the number 100 in viewership as determined by Nielsen in a packaged format, with a master schedule; the addition of local advertisements and news were at the discretion of the local distributor, often a local television station or cable television provider.

[browneyes106]

That article explained things pretty well. I think UPN also struggled with ratings at the time of the merger I thought Veronica Mars was the best show they had at time. That book does sound interesting.

[R.jsheedy]

I should rely consider geting that book. Sounds like a good book.

[70s show watcher]

i have the book its a very interesting read

[TMC]

Like I said, I haven't read the Season Finale book, but here's an idea of what may have happened to the WB:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08011/848291-42.stm

"Season Finale" suggests many reasons for the demise of The WB: Kellner's departure, the lack of owned and operated stations, a failure to develop many new hits after 2002, the failure of vertical integration between the network and its studio, Time-Warner's decision to merge with America Online and allowing "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to move from The WB to UPN for its last two seasons.

Daniels, now entertainment president at Lifetime, said in a phone interview this week the primary cause for the network's death was a lack of fervency within Time-Warner to build it into a long-lasting entity. She recalled her job in comedy development at Fox prior to the launch of The WB and the investments Fox impresario Rupert Murdoch made (buying stations, landing the rights to the NFL).

"He made some huge investments in programming, and he said, I'm going to spend money, and I'm going to do this, I'm going to build this network," Daniels said. "Nobody did that at Warner Bros., and it's why I left the network [in 2001]. I didn't see that happening. After [executives] Bob Daly and Terry Semel left Warner Bros., it just wasn't the same. Nobody was saying, 'We're going to make this network work.' If you don't have that, forget it. That's what killed it."

[TMC]

Meanwhile, here's perhaps a vague idea on Wikipedia about what happened to UPN:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPN#2001-2006

During the later years of the network's life, UPN's desired demographic was a not-too-profitable demographic; young women and African Americans thanks to the success of Buffy, Veronica Mars, America's Next Top Model and Everybody Hates Chris, unlike the earlier years in which its audience was largely young adult males. This was seen as a contributing factor in the network's decision to drop the Star Trek franchise, and also why it contemplated not renewing its contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, though Friday Night SmackDown! was renewed in 2006 for another two seasons.

[TMC]

I also brought this subject up over on toonzone.net and here's an interesting theory that I was given:

I don't need a book I know what killed The WB.

Indifference. Warner Bros. was growing tired of running a broadcast network,Their lineup was lackluster with only a few highlights, Smallville, Reba, 7th Heaven, and Gillmore Girls. Only Supernatural had the kind of feedback that could justify its existence. Warner Bros. was having more success on cable television and other networks. They're content makers, and they're pretty good at making content. Instead of giving up or continuing to trek on, they aligned with a competing network, UPN, which had carriage problems of its own and was also on the brink of extinction. So, during the fall of 2005 all the way to the January 2006 announcement, the two networks held secret meetings and forged a partnership that would have the structure and format of The WB with UPN's management, which was more committed to the network than the management of The WB, who really didn't care.

What killed UPN?

Fox.

Fox owned the flagship UPN networks in the major markets of the country and they largely bought them so they could kill the network. When they bought the networks, they could have killed UPN like that, but Fox signed an agreement to keep those channels UPN affiliates until August 31, 2006. Fox had no intention of renewing the contract and began shopping a daily strip of American versions of Spanish telenovellas in the summer of 2005 to launch in fall 2006.

Now, obviously the general media saw no reason to pay any attention to that little detail because, let's face it, the syndication market is dead in this country. Why would a major company like Fox commit to a nightly two-hour strip of first-run dramas unless they had a slot for them in the first place, namely the slots that would have in the soon-to-be former UPN affiliates in the major markets?

The executives at UPN were wondering about their options, including shutting down the network altogether, but they found solace in The WB, who were growing indifferent with the network's lagging direction and wanted to be more of a content-provider. And they kept those meetings private until the public announcement of the merger between the two networks.

Fox feigned surprise and shock to the mainstream media (which they own a significant chunk of) and claimed that UPN was taken from under them when in fact Fox were going to get rid of UPN first. They just never got the chance. They wanted a Fox 2-like channel, but instead launched My Network TV which has a lineup originally comprised of . . . those telenovellas that were going to launch anyway that fall.

[James]

I'll say failure to either:

1. acquire The Wonder Years (remember, the networks launched in 1995, two years after the show was canceled) and continue it where ABC left off

2. work closely with the Parents Television Council and keep shows clean and family friendly

[JT]

Originally Posted by James

I'll say failure to either:

1. acquire The Wonder Years (remember, the networks launched in 1995, two years after the show was canceled) and continue it where ABC left off

2. work closely with the Parents Television Council and keep shows clean and family friendly

No.

[DSfan]

Originally Posted by James

I'll say failure to either:

1. acquire The Wonder Years (remember, the networks launched in 1995, two years after the show was canceled) and continue it where ABC left off

2. work closely with the Parents Television Council and keep shows clean and family friendly

Didn't Wonder Years finish in 1994 and was there actually talk of continuing it after the 6th season? Anyways, this wasn't really the type of show for UPN.

[DSfan]

Originally Posted by James

I'll say failure to either:

1. acquire The Wonder Years (remember, the networks launched in 1995, two years after the show was canceled) and continue it where ABC left off

2. work closely with the Parents Television Council and keep shows clean and family friendly

Didn't Wonder Years finish in 1993 and was there actually talk of continuing it after the 6th season? Anyways, this wasn't really the type of show for UPN.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by DSfan

Didn't Wonder Years finish in 1993 and was there actually talk of continuing it after the 6th season? Anyways, this wasn't really the type of show for UPN.

Lets stay on topic please! I don't want to to turn into a Wonder Years discussion!

[TVgeek14]

what i think killed The WB was the fact that they lacked making new hits.They moved to family friendly shows from teen shows.If they stayed with Teen audience then The WB may still be around.

UPN...UPN was doomed to fail.

What should have happened was The WB buying UPN and merging them together and keeping The WB.Also hiring a new president that goes back to teen audience.If they did that,The WB may have lived...UPN won`t.

Oh and before the arguements spew.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel MADE THE WB.Dawson`s Creek did nothing but made Holmes and Jackson stars.

[factsoflife]

I actually have that book and it's well worth a read. i bought it about a year ago at Christmas. It should be available at most chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble or Borders... It's a great book.

Basically my take on WB and UPN is this---they were both competing for very small, fragmented audiences and neither one was having much success---they had never turned a profit ever and by the end whatever had made WB special was gone---they got lazy and stopped taking risks on new ideas and people moved on... I think that it's sad because the WB was a great network and i miss it to this day. I even used to watch some UPN shows in the day, Moesha is one of my all time favorite shows.

[TVgeek14]

Moesha wasn`t a well knowed show.It was just a good comedy.

Yes both networks had small audiences...but made big impacts on US Television.

The WB changed many genres in TV.The vampire genre was brought to life by Buffy And Angel,the two shows that carried The WB.Dawson`s Creek and Felicity brought new life into the teen genre and Charmed as well.

Yes The WB comedies were just dumb and unfunny(Bar What I Like About You)but The WB`s dramas were some of the best in Television History.