Was the WB/UPN merger planned from Day One?

[BettyNewbie]

This is a crazy discovery.

As we all know, the two networks first launched in 1995 and were shut down 11 years later to form the merged CW Network.

But, did you know that there were talks of a WB/UPN merger all the way back in 1995?

FLEDGLING NETWORKS UPN, WB ALREADY PONDERING MERGER

By Thomas Tyrer. Published on September 18, 1995.


Chris-Craft, Viacom and Time Warner officials met recently to discuss merging the year-old UPN and WB broadcast TV networks, sources told Electronic Media.

Chris-Craft Industries Senior VP Bill Siegel and Evan Thompson, president of Chris-Craft unit United Television, visited Warner Bros.' West Coast lot Aug. 30 to broach the subject in a 30-minute meeting with Warner Co-Chairman and CEO Bob Daly and his top lieutenant Barry Meyer, sources say.

A top official of Viacom, owner of Paramount Communications, one of the original UPN partners, followed up with a phone call to Time Warner Chairman-CEO Gerald Levin about the idea, sources say.

Mr. Daly and Chris-Craft Industries Chairman-President Herb Siegel initiated what remain very preliminary conversations in July when they met informally at Allen & Co.'s entertainment conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

All discussions thus far have broken down quickly over how to mesh the interests of Chris-Craft and Tribune Broadcasting Co., a WB equity partner with stations in New York and Los Angeles that compete with Chris-Craft stations.

Warner Bros. executives have said no deal is possible unless it meets with Tribune's approval, sources say.

"The stumbling block in putting these together is not so much between Warner Bros. and Paramount. The stumbling block has always been between Chris-Craft and Tribune," said one source.

"Now it gets that much more complicated, because Paramount has been out buying stations. In theory, everyone agrees, but as a practical matter, it is just not easy to pull off."

Chris-Craft's Mr. Thompson did not return calls.

UPN President and Chief Executive Officer Lucie Salhany said, "We do not respond to stupid rumors."

One UPN/WB merger scenario said to have been broached would see Chris-Craft assume half of Warner Bros.' equity in WB for assuming half the costs, sources say. That's very similar to the deal that Viacom now enjoys with respect to UPN, after revising its original partnership agreement with Chris-Craft last year.

WB Managing Partner Jamie Kellner originally proposed during the earliest stages of WB that Tribune and Chris-Craft both join the new network and that they split affiliations in New York and Los Angeles or carry split schedules in both markets. That plan was rejected by Chris-Craft, said one source close to those talks.

If talks proceed, Viacom, which holds an option to acquire half of UPN that must be exercised by January 1997, will have a strong say.

With a merger between Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System nearing, Mr. Daly says the studio is more firmly committed to WB and its Kids WB programing.

WB is focused on the success of its new Saturday morning and weekday Kids' WB service, which Warner sees as the first step in a vertically-integrated revenues plan.

"This is a real positive for our network because with all those cable channels, there are so many ways to cross-promote," Mr. Daly says.

UPN's programing strategy is rooted heavily in prime-time and based upon Viacom's "Star Trek: Voyager's" ability to generate top ratings, advertising revenues and a promotional base to help funnel viewers into other UPN shows.

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While UPN got off to a decent start with Voyager, the WB pretty much floundered in its first season. Its original lineup didn't have anything besides a few forgettable sitcoms (one of them, Muscle, flopped after only one season), and the 1995-96 season brought an entire laundry list of forgotten 1-2 season flops (Kirk, Simon, Cleghorne, Brotherly Love, First Time Out, Savannah).

It wasn't until the 1996-97 season that the network scored its first two major hits (7th Heaven and Buffy) and found a calling in youth-oriented dramas. Once that happened, the UPN merger idea was shelved and wouldn't be revisited again until the mid 00s (when the WB started struggling again).

[Tim]

While UPN got off to a decent start with Voyager

That's true.  Of all the shows that came out for UPN's first season, Voyager was the only one that didn't get cancelled!

On the other hand, I think that the sitcom, Unhappily Ever After, was the only WB show that was even close to successful, until the youth-oriented dramas started in 1997.

Still, I never knew about this.  Of course, the merger did happen, when the WB collapsed in 2006.  Or perhaps I should say the takeover happened, since all the main staff of the CW were from UPN.  All they did was change the name.

[BettyNewbie]

Jan 14, 2019 0:22:21 GMT -5 Tim said:

That's true.  Of all the shows that came out for UPN's first season, Voyager was the only one that didn't get cancelled!

On the other hand, I think that the sitcom, Unhappily Ever After, was the only WB show that was even close to successful, until the youth-oriented dramas started in 1997.

Still, I never knew about this.  Of course, the merger did happen, when the WB collapsed in 2006.  Or perhaps I should say the takeover happened, since all the main staff of the CW were from UPN.  All they did was change the name.

It seems like the WB wanted to focus on sitcoms (especially "urban" sitcoms, ala. Wayans Bros, Sister Sister, etc) when it first started out, but that strategy never ended up going far for them, especially since UPN also wanted to aim for that demographic, and FOX was still doing strong with the black audience.  It was a wise move for the WB to abandon that direction in favor of teen dramas.  Outside of a handful of shows (90210, Party of Five, My So-Called Life), that was pretty much an untapped audience before the late 90s.

But, unfortunately, the WB didn't have a plan beyond that point, and that's where things started to fall apart in the mid 00s.  Young audiences started flocking to alternative sources to watch their favorite TV shows, and the network struggled to produce new hits and branch out from teen dramas.

[Tim]

But, unfortunately, the WB didn't have a plan beyond that point, and that's where things started to fall apart in the mid 00s. Young audiences started flocking to alternative sources to watch their favorite TV shows, and the network struggled to produce new hits and branch out from teen dramas.

And it flopped every time. One of the biggest failures was Birds Of Prey, a DC based show. I guess, at that point, super heroes were not a big thing (the Marvel Cinematic universe was still a few years away, as was the Arrowverse).

Of course, all these failures led to the collapse of the WB in 2006.

The WB only had two shows you could call hits, in the 00's, Supernatural and One Tree Hill. Of course, now SPN is the last remaining WB era show.

[BettyNewbie]

Jan 14, 2019 13:05:24 GMT -5 Tim said:

One of the biggest failures was Birds Of Prey, a DC based show. I guess, at that point, super heroes were not a big thing (the Marvel Cinematic universe was still a few years away, as was the Arrowverse).

YMMV. Birds of Prey was actually greenlit to cash in on the success of Smallville from a year earlier, and while the MCU was still several years away, the first X-Men and Spider-Man movies were pretty big hits at the time.

There was definitely an appetite for superheroes at the time, but the genre was in an awkward middle stage. Nobody wanted to repeat the failures of the gaudy 90s Batman movies, but the Dark Knight Trilogy and early MCU movies had yet to come out and codify the genre for the 21st century. While this era did produce hits with the first two X-Men and Spider-Man movies, it also produced a ton of crappy movies (Daredevil, Elektra, Ang Lee's Hulk, Catwoman, both Fantastic Fours) that were nearly as bad as Batman & Robin, yet weren't bad in an interesting enough way to at least be remembered for it like that movie.

On the small screen, Smallville was unquestionably helped by its teen drama setting, which appealed to people who weren't necessarily comics fans. Coming out shortly after 9/11 probably also helped it hook audiences who were looking for an escapist hero in the wake of the tragedy. The WB thought they could recapture the magic a second time with Birds of Prey, but it didn't pan out, and the show was quickly swept under the rug.

[Tim]

So if they'd waited a few more years, BOP might have been a hit.  Of course, the WB didn't have "a few more years".

[Katie]

Yeah, if they waited BOP could have been a hit.

Smallville was a huge show that lasted 10 years. In fact, it had the highest series premiere ratings on the WB with 8 million viewers, and nothing ever broke that record. It was the biggest show in the 00s for the WB and the last biggest hit. The first few seasons pulled 6-8 million viewers I think.

[Tim]

Smallville was a huge show that lasted 10 years. In fact, it had the highest series premiere ratings on the WB with 8 million viewers, and nothing ever broke that record. It was the biggest show in the 00s for the WB and the last biggest hit. The first few seasons pulled 6-8 million viewers I think.

And it was one of the spoils of war that UPN, uh, CW, scooped up. 

[Trinity]

I found this so interesting, I never knew they were thinking of merging as far back as then. Betty, this was a very good read.

I liked the programming The WB had, The CW has struck gold with the DC shows, but I do miss the old days. I wonder what would have happened, if they didn't merge, and got an extension for another five years if they did survive.

I read somewhere Pretty Little Liars was originally in development at The WB in 2006, but with the merger, it was canned for a few years more when ABC Family picked it up.

One of The WB's worst decisions was not renewing Angel for a Season 6 and not picking up that Faith spin-off.

[BettyNewbie]

Mar 29, 2020 0:54:57 GMT -5 Trinity said:

I read somewhere Pretty Little Liars was originally in development at The WB in 2006, but with the merger, it was canned for a few years more when ABC Family picked it up.

Now, this is definitely news to me. I wonder why the CW ended up passing on the idea? It seemed to be the exact kind of teen girl show that Dawn Ostroff wanted to gear the network around.

[Tim]

One of The WB's worst decisions was not renewing Angel for a Season 6 and not picking up that Faith spin-off.

Not to mention renewing Charmed for an eighth season.  A season that nobody wanted.

[Dark Avenger]

Mar 29, 2020 1:29:06 GMT -5 BettyNewbie said:

Mar 29, 2020 0:54:57 GMT -5 Trinity said:

I read somewhere Pretty Little Liars was originally in development at The WB in 2006, but with the merger, it was canned for a few years more when ABC Family picked it up.

Now, this is definitely news to me. I wonder why the CW ended up passing on the idea? It seemed to be the exact kind of teen girl show that Dawn Ostroff wanted to gear the network around.

I ran across that once before. I'm very surprised it wasn't picked up by Dawn.

I wonder, if they just went with Gossip Girl instead, but still surprised the project didn't carry into the CW. It is that kind of show they wanted at that point.


www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i7d72e67f57c98169ba0d1ff67dbb4492

www.webcitation.org/5n6DlpTyM?url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i7d72e67f57c98169ba0d1ff67dbb4492

ABC Family nears 'Little Liars' pickup

Lucy Hale closing deal to star in Warner Horizon, Alloy drama

By Nellie Andreeva



Oct 19, 2009, 11:00 PM ET



hr/photos/stylus/110377-hale_lucy_341.jpg

Lucy Hale (Getty)



ABC Family is close to giving a pilot order to the drama "Pretty Little Liars."



"Privileged" star Lucy Hale is finalizing a deal to topline the project based on Alloy Entertainment's series of young-adult novels by Sara Shepard.



Adapted for TV by Marlene King, "Liars" is set three years after the disappearance of the manipulative and vindictive "Queen Bee" Alison. It revolves around her four 16-year-old girlfriends, Aria (Hale), Emily, Spencer and Hanna, who have lost touch with one another until each of them begins to receive mysterious messages suggesting that Alison is watching them and knows every secret they're desperate to keep. The messages don't stop even after Alison's body finally is discovered.



Warner Horizon and Alloy Entertainment are producing "Liars"; Bob Levy, Leslie Morgenstein and King are executive producing.



Alloy and Warners have been looking to turn "Liars" into a TV series for several years. In 2005, it was set up at WB Network with a different writer on board. Until the network shut down in early 2006 and reestablished as The CW later that year.


Hale, who recently appeared in the Lifetime original movie "Sorority Wars," also appeared in another Alloy screen adaptation, the 2008 feature "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2."

[BettyNewbie]

It's also possible that the CW might've felt that a PLL adaptation would've been redundant with Veronica Mars, especially given the way that show struggled in the ratings. Of course, that show, along with over half the network's lineup, ended up getting canned in 2007 after just one year on the merged network. The CW literally didn't have any breakout hits in its first 5-6 years besides Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries.

[Tim]

And then, years later, they launch Riverdale.  Which seems like PLL with the Archie characters slapped into it.

And Riverdale now has a spin off, Katy Keene, starring former PLL star Lucy Hale.

[Trinity]

Mar 29, 2020 1:29:06 GMT -5 BettyNewbie said:

Mar 29, 2020 0:54:57 GMT -5 Trinity said:

I read somewhere Pretty Little Liars was originally in development at The WB in 2006, but with the merger, it was canned for a few years more when ABC Family picked it up.

Now, this is definitely news to me. I wonder why the CW ended up passing on the idea? It seemed to be the exact kind of teen girl show that Dawn Ostroff wanted to gear the network around.

Me too. I've always wondered why.

Mar 30, 2020 10:30:59 GMT -5 BettyNewbie said:

It's also possible that the CW might've felt that a PLL adaptation would've been redundant with Veronica Mars, especially given the way that show struggled in the ratings. Of course, that show, along with over half the network's lineup, ended up getting canned in 2007 after just one year on the merged network. The CW literally didn't have any breakout hits in its first 5-6 years besides Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries.

That's a good point. They really didn't have many break-out hits didn't they. Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries were in the early days, and then Arrow really kick started the hype with DC again with big ratings and we know were they are now.