Story Published:
Oct 4, 2007 at 3:18 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Oct 4, 2007 at 3:18 PM CDT
The parent companies of UPN and The WB said Tuesday that those television networks will cease to exist in September and, in their place, a new merged network will debut. The
companies say The CW and will target audiences 18 to 34 years old.
The CW will provide about 30 hours of programming per week in prime time, late afternoon and Saturday morning. The companies say The CW will take the best programming from UPN and The WB.
A three-way deal between CBS Corporation, Warner Bros. Entertainment (part of Time-Warner), and Tribune Company of Chicago has already determined that 12 CBS Corporation-owned and 16 Tribune-owned stations will carry The CW. Those 28 stations reach nearly half of the country's population because they're in the largest television markets. CBS owns UPN.
Warner Bros. and Tribune own The WB. The procedure for determining the stations that will carry The CW in the other approximately 175 TV markets has not been announced.
About 145 stations carry all UPN programming and approximately 65 stations air some UPN shows as secondary affiliates. About 177 stations carry The WB, including Tribune's 26 stations. Viewers in some smaller markets can see The WB on cable-only stations. UPN
provides about 10 hours of network programming a week. The WB provides about 20 hours of programming per week.
KY3's sister station, KDL/KCZ-TV
(Channel 15/17), is known as UPN15 because of its affiliation with UPN. KWBM (Channel 31), owned by Equity Broadcasting Corp. of Little Rock, Ark., and licensed to Harrison, Ark., and Springfield, carries The WB in this market.
"We see it as an opportunity for growth and ingenuity," said KY3/UPN15 President and General Manager Mike Scott. "We will certainly consider being an affiliate of The CW. Currently, however, we only get 10 hours of programming per week from the UPN Network, so we'll also consider programming
the time ourselves, hopefully in a way that more closely reflects the
surrounding community."
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