Re: WB, UPN networks to merge!
- From: evwill@xxxxxxx
- Date: 24 Jan 2006 09:08:08 -0800
The official press release:
----
CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment Form New 5th Broadcast
Network
Each Company to Hold 50% Interest In The CW Television Network
Tribune Broadcasting and CBS Corporation Stations Agree to 10-Year
Affiliation Agreements Covering 48% of the Country
New Television Network to Utilize the Best Programming from CBS
Corporation and Warner Bros.
Dawn Ostroff Is Tapped as President of Entertainment at The New
Network; John Maatta Will Be Chief Operating Officer
The WB and UPN to Cease Operations in September 2006
NEW YORK, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CBS Corporation and Warner
Bros. Entertainment today announced their intent to form a new 5th
network, The CW, to be launched in the fall of 2006. The new
broadcasting network will be a joint venture between Warner Bros.
Entertainment and CBS Corporation, with each company owning 50%. In an
important strategic move that secures major market distribution for The
CW, it was announced that Tribune Broadcasting and the CBS
Corporation's UPN affiliates have agreed separately to sign 10-year
affiliation agreements with the new network.
The announcement for the new network was made today in New York by
Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer of CBS
Corporation and Barry Meyer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Warner Bros. Entertainment. The Tribune Broadcasting affiliation
agreements were announced by Dennis FitzSimons, Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Tribune Company.
At the same time, it was announced that CBS Corporation and Warner
Bros. Entertainment will cease operations of their respective networks
-- UPN and The WB. The WB and UPN will continue to broadcast their
respective network schedules independently until the fall.
The combination of Tribune's 16 major market stations and the 12
CBS-owned UPN major market affiliates give The CW instant coverage in
48% of the country. The remainder of the network's distribution system
will be a combination of selected current UPN and The WB stations. The
full distribution of the new network is expected to exceed 95% of the
country.
Dawn Ostroff, currently President of UPN, will become President of
Entertainment and John Maatta, currently Chief Operating Officer of The
WB, will become Chief Operating Officer of The CW.
"This new network will serve the public with high-quality programming
and maintain our ongoing commitment to our diverse audience," said
Moonves. "It will clearly be greater than the sum of its parts,
delivering excellent demographics to advertisers, and building a strong
new affiliate body. Additionally, The CW will be able to draw from the
creative talent and production resources from the top two television
production studios in the business, while also seeking programming from
all sources -- independent producers or other studios. With this move,
we will be creating a viable entity, one well-equipped to compete,
thrive and serve all our many publics in this multi-channel media
universe. I'd like to thank Dawn Ostroff and all the talented people at
UPN who have worked so hard. For many years UPN had financial losses,
but under CBS's guidance, UPN has been able to effect a dramatic
creative turnaround in a short period of time."
"This new network makes sound business and creative sense at every
level -- for our viewers, advertisers, affiliates and for the
shareholders of our companies," said Meyer. "Every key constituency of
the network will now greatly benefit from this combination by being
part of a highly rated, competitive, 5th broadcast network that is
financially sound. As we form this new joint venture, we are also very
pleased that in Dawn and John we have a management team of great
creative vision and business acumen, one that will help to guide it
successfully forward."
"This is a very exciting day for Time Warner and its shareholders in
the creation of what we believe will be a very strong and viable 5th
broadcast television network," said Jeff Bewkes, President & Chief
Operating Officer of Time Warner. "This new network will have all the
strategic asset value as an outlet for our programming that The WB
presented us, but with a much firmer and more secure financial present
and future. The credit goes to Barry Meyer, who continues to have
tremendous vision and extraordinary business acumen as the long time
leader of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a company that we are proud to
say continues to be number one in its class."
"This is a great day for Tribune and its shareholders, and we are
pleased to be the lead affiliate group of what will be a strong
network," said FitzSimons. "We could not have had a better partner than
Warner Bros. and Barry Meyer since we together launched The WB 11 years
ago. Now, with the ownership role of CBS Corporation and the leadership
of Leslie Moonves added to the mix, Tribune's viewers and advertisers
will benefit from an even stronger programming lineup."
The 16 Tribune affiliated stations will include New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Houston, Miami, Denver, St.
Louis, Portland, Indianapolis, San Diego, Hartford, New Orleans and
Albany. The 12 CBS Station Group television markets will include
Philadelphia, San Francisco, Atlanta, Detroit, Tampa, Seattle,
Sacramento, Pittsburgh, West Palm Beach, Norfolk, Oklahoma City and
Providence. Together, these top two station groups cover the top 13
television markets, 20 of the top 25 television markets and have a
total coverage area of more than 48% of the country.
The CW will incorporate The WB's current scheduling model, which
consists of a 6 night-13 hour primetime lineup including Monday through
Friday nights from 8-10 (EST/PST); Sundays from 7-10 (EST/PST); Sunday
from 5-7 (EST/PST) outside of primetime as well as a Monday thru Friday
afternoon block from 3-5 (EST/PST) and a 5-hour Saturday morning
animation block. Together, the network will program 30 hours a week
over seven days for its affiliated stations.
As the top creative executive, Ostroff will have available a line-up of
some of the most popular programming that appeals to young adults in
the media business. These programming assets range from hit reality
series such as "America's Next Top Model" and The WB's "Beauty and the
Geek," to hit dramas like The WB's "Smallville," "Gilmore Girls,"
"Supernatural," and UPN's "Veronica Mars" as well as UPN's hit comedies
"Everybody Hates Chris" and "Girlfriends" and The WB's hit comedy
"Reba." In addition the WWE's "Smackdown," which has been a mainstay at
UPN, is expected to play a role in the schedule.
In addition, The CW will also broadcast the schedule of children's
programming now known as Kids' WB!, a 5-hour original programming block
on Saturday mornings from 7:00 a.m.-Noon, considered primetime for
kids. Kids' WB! has been the broadcast network ratings champion since
Fall 2000, capturing 16 consecutive sweep victories as the Number One
Saturday morning kids' broadcaster.
All programming, marketing, scheduling, publicity and research
functions will report to Ostroff.
Maatta will be responsible for the network's business operations. Bill
Morningstar, The WB's Executive Vice President of Advertising Sales
will become the head of sales reporting to Maatta. Other
responsibilities that will report to Maatta include business affairs,
network distribution, legal, finance and human resources.
Meyer added: "This could not have happened without the tremendous
energy and talent of Bruce Rosenblum, President of Warner Bros.
Television Group and Nancy Tellem at CBS who worked tirelessly and
cohesively together to make this new network a reality. I would also
like to thank Dennis FitzSimons, who saw the great opportunity this new
network presents for the Tribune Company and who continues to be one of
the great professionals and broadcasters in the business today."
Moonves added: "This idea becomes a reality only when a great station
group like Tribune comes on board with us and delivers the powerful
reach a new network requires. With formidable flagship Tribune stations
in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, a great CBS line-up of owned and
operated UPN stations, and strong affiliates from every available
market, The CW launches as a strong competitor to the Big Four, and
that's good for our business, for the viewing audience, and for free,
over the air broadcasting. It is also good news for our shareholders,
who will benefit from a much stronger business model, improved
economics for our stations and new opportunities for our production
businesses."
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with
constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast
industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge
of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied
operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses,
all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which
it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key
international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of
media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and UPN),
cable television (Showtime), local television (CBS Television
Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount
Television and King World), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on
out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), theme
parks (Paramount Parks), digital media (CBS Digital Media Group and
CSTV Networks) and consumer products (CBS Consumer Products). For more
information, log on to http://www.cbscorporation.com.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, a fully-integrated, broad-based
entertainment company, is a global leader in the creation, production,
distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment and
their related businesses. Warner Bros. Entertainment, a Time Warner
Company, stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment
industry, from feature films to television, home video/DVD, animation,
comic books, interactive entertainment and games, product and brand
licensing, international cinemas and broadcasting.
TRIBUNE (NYSE: TRB) is one of the country's top media companies,
operating businesses in publishing and broadcasting. It reaches more
than 80 percent of U.S. households and is the only media organization
with newspapers, television stations and websites in the nation's top
three markets. In publishing, Tribune operates 11 leading daily
newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and
Newsday, plus a wide range of targeted publications such as
Spanish-language Hoy. The company's broadcasting group operates 26
television stations, Superstation WGN on national cable, Chicago's
WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information
websites complement Tribune's print and broadcast properties and extend
the company's nationwide audience.
.
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