The CW Television Network

The CW Television Network
Type	Broadcast television network
Country	United States
Availability	United States  Canada  Puerto Rico  Mexico
Slogan	Get Into The CW
Owner	CBS Corporation - 50% Warner Bros. Entertainment - 50%
Key people	Dawn Ostroff John Maatta
Launch date	September 18 2006
Past names	UPN, The WB
Website	www.cwtv.com

The CW Television Network, referred to as The CW (also known as The New CW in its inaugural season) is a television network in the United States launched during the 2006 television season. It features a mixture of programming from both UPN and The WB television networks, which ceased independent operations on September 15 and 17, 2006 respectively. According to The CW's President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff, the network's "shows are going to appeal to the 18- to 34-year-olds."^[1] The CW is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, owner of UPN, and Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Time Warner, majority owner of The WB. Its name derives from the first letter of the names of these two corporations (CBS and Warner Bros.). The network began operations on Monday, September 18, 2006 with two nights of reruns and launch-related specials; however, The CW marketed its formal launch date as Wednesday, September 20, 2006 with the 2-hour season premiere of America's Next Top Model. In trade magazines like Variety, The CW is referred to as The Green Network, most likely since its first logos and campaign were (and still are to this day) in green, or in reference to it as the newest broadcast network (in terms of finding its footing). Other media sources have also referred the network as "The C-Dub".

History

See also: 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment

The CW is a successor to The WB and UPN, both of which launched in January 1995. However, both networks can be seen as descendants of the Prime Time Entertainment Network, a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Chris-Craft Industries, which launched in 1993. The two companies later became partners in The WB and UPN, respectively, and PTEN continued as a separate syndication service until folding in 1997. Both UPN and The WB started just as the Fox network had begun to secure a foothold in the American viewing lineup. Both launched to limited fanfare and generally poor results. However, in the subsequent eleven-and-a-half seasons, both networks were able to air several series that became quite popular, such as 7th Heaven and Smallville. However, towards the end of their opening decade, the networks were in decline, unable to reach the audience or have the effect that Fox had gained within its first 10 years, much less that of the Big Three of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Nonetheless, the January 24, 2006 announcement that CBS and Warner Bros. would effectively combine the two networks' operations came as a surprise to most in the industry. Like both UPN and The WB, The CW targeted its programming to younger audiences. CBS and Warner Bros. hoped that combining their networks' schedules and station lineups would strengthen The CW into a fifth "major" broadcast network. Unlike the "Big Four" broadcast networks, The CW vaunted no plans to offer national news or sports programming to their affiliates; however, some stations do broadcast local news and/or sports, and many air the nationally syndicated Orlando-based morning show, The Daily Buzz. CBS chairman Les Moonves explained that the name of the new network was formed from the first letters of CBS and Warner Bros, joking, "we couldn't call it the WC for obvious reasons." Although some executives reportedly disliked the new name,^[2] Moonves stated in March^[3] that there was "zero chance" the name would change, citing research claiming 48% of the target demographic was already aware of the CW name. At the network's first upfront presentation — May 18, 2006 — a new logo was unveiled to replace the provisional blue-rectangle logo used in January. The logo is a green-and-white insignia which has drawn comparisons to the logo of CNN, another company with Time Warner ownership interest. On September 11, 2006, a new, full version of the network website, www.cwtv.com, was launched. The website now contains links to Kids WB and now features more in-depth information of CW shows. The network launched with a premiere special/launch party from CBS-produced Entertainment Tonight at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank on September 18, 2006, after a repeat of the 7th Heaven 10th-season finale;^[4] the same schedule was repeated on September 19, 2006 with Gilmore Girls' 6th-season finale.^[5] The network continued to air season finales from the previous season through the rest of the first week, except for America's Next Top Model and SmackDown!, which launched their new seasons on September 20-September 22 respectively, with full-night premieres. The network's second week consisted of all season/series premieres for all other series from September 25-October 1, with the exception of Veronica Mars, which debuted its third season on October 3.^[6]

Affiliates

Main article: List of CW affiliates

Following the network announcement, The CW immediately announced ten-year affiliation agreements with the Tribune Company and CBS Television Stations Group. Tribune committed 16 stations (including its flagship broadcast stations WGN-TV in Chicago, KTLA in Los Angeles and WPIX in New York) that were previously affiliated with The WB, while CBS committed 11 of its UPN stations (including WKBD in Detroit, WPSG in Philadelphia, KBHK-TV in San Francisco [now KBCW] and WUPA in Atlanta). These stations combine to reach 48 percent of the United States. Both groups also own several UPN/WB stations that did not join The CW in overlapping markets. As part of its agreement, Tribune agreed to divest its interest in The WB and did not take an ownership interest in The CW. The network stated that it would eventually reach 95 percent of the United States. In markets where both UPN and The WB affiliates operate, only one station became a CW affiliate. Executives were on record as preferring the "strongest" stations among existing The WB and UPN affiliates. For example, the new network's first affiliate outside the core group of Tribune and CBS-owned stations, WJZY in Charlotte, was tied with Atlanta's WUPA as UPN's fifth-strongest station. In most cases, it was obvious where the new network would affiliate; there were only a few markets (for example, Philadelphia, Boston and Charlotte) where the WB and UPN affiliates were both relatively strong. Although it was generally understood that The CW was a merger of UPN and The WB, the new network's creation was not structured as a merger in the legal sense. Rather, it was a new network launching at the same time as two others shut down. As such, The CW was not obligated by existing affiliations with The WB and UPN. It had to negotiate from scratch with individual stations. As a result, in several markets, the CW affiliate is a different station than either the former The WB and UPN stations. In Helena, Montana, ION affiliate KMTF became a CW station. In Honolulu, Hawaii, The CW did not appear until early December 2006 where it is carried on a digital subchannel of local FOX affiliate KHON-TV. In Las Vegas, Nevada, independent station KVCW signed for CW affiliation. The network has also affiliated with some digital channels, usually newly-launched subchannels of a local Big Four affiliate, in several other markets. Due to the availability of "instant duopoly" digital subchannels that will likely be easily available on cable and satellite, and the overall lack of a need to settle for a secondary affiliation with shows aired in problematic timeslots, both The CW and MyNetworkTV launched with far greater national coverage than that enjoyed by UPN and The WB when they started in 1995. UPN for several years had gaps in the top 30 markets, and by 2005 managed to cover only 86% of the country. This resulted in secondary affiliations with other networks and the resulting diluted ratings when programs were shown out of their intended timeslots, or the lack of the program airing at all (a problem experienced by many Star Trek fans with Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise).

Launching repercussions

The announcement of The CW caused the largest single shakeup of U.S. broadcast television since the Fox/New World Communications alliance of 1994 and the subsequent launches of UPN and The WB the following year. While The CW debut affected more markets, it was unlikely to cause the same degree of viewer confusion, as no affiliates of the four major networks dropped those affiliations to join The CW. (Some "big four" affiliations did change at this time, but for unrelated reasons.) The WB and UPN were the first major television networks to close since the collapse of the DuMont Television Network in 1955, although other small broadcast television networks have also ceased operations over the years. It became clear that the Fox Television Stations, which purchased several UPN affiliates from former UPN co-owner Chris-Craft Industries in 2002, was impacted. Its UPN affiliates in five major markets would not be affiliated with The CW, due to the agreement with Tribune, and Fox made it clear it would not even seek the affiliation for its four UPN stations elsewhere. All UPN logos and network references were quickly removed from their stations. Shortly thereafter, Fox announced that it was starting MyNetworkTV, a programming service meant to fill the two nightly prime time hours that opened up on its UPN-affiliated stations after the start of The CW. Fox also offered the service to other stations.^[7] In those media markets where there were separate The WB and UPN stations, one local station was left out in the merger; most of those stations have signed with MyNetworkTV while others elected to become independent stations. Some stations (mainly digital subchannels, some WB 100+ cable channels, and struggling low-power stations) which received neither network's affiliation opted instead to sign off permanently and cease to exist.

Problems with Time Warner Cable

A number of households around the country were not able to see the new network when it premiered on September 18, due to stations in several markets not being able to strike a deal with Time Warner Cable (TWC). In markets like Charleston, South Carolina; El Paso, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; Palm Springs, California; Beaumont, Texas; and Corpus Christi, Texas, where the CW is broadcast on a digital subchannel of the station's primary affiliate, there have been unsuccessful attempts in getting Time Warner Cable to carry The CW on their basic cable lineups.^[8] The CW is 50% owned by TWC's parent company, Time Warner. Some affiliates have since signed deals with TWC, but not all stations have landed within the analog listings. For example, WSTQ in Syracuse, New York can only be viewed on channel 266.^[9] Currently, the largest market without a known affiliate is the Johnstown / Altoona market, Nielsen's DMA #99. WPCW channel 19, in Pittsburgh, is the closest affiliate and is carried on both Johnstown and Altoona's cable systems. The largest market without a broadcast or cable CW channel is the Fort Smith / Fayetteville / Rogers market (#102). (See the affiliates article for more on that subject.) On Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 12:01AM, KCWQ-LP made its broadcast debut on channel 5 on Time Warner Cable in the Palm Springs area.^[10] On Friday, April 20, 2007 at 11:00AM, KVIA-TV, began broadcasting the CW on Time Warner cable channel 13. The signal is also available on digital television 7.2.^[11]

Marketing

"Free to Be"

A screenshot from a CW promo featuring a special CW remix version of "Here I Come", a song by Fergie and will.i.am. Note the "Free to be" branding.

The network's original full marketing campaign, "Free to Be", was created internally and by the Troika Design Group brand agency.^[12] The campaign included advertisements in bus stops, on billboards, on the Internet, in magazines, and on television. It contained stars of the CW shows such as Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, Supernatural, America's Next Top Model, Smallville and One Tree Hill with their signature green background. The "Free to Be" was followed by a word unique to the character, show, or scene. Such descriptives have included "witty" (to describe Gilmore Girls), "super" (Smallville), "scary" (Supernatural), "fierce" (America's Next Top Model), "cool" (One Tree Hill), "funny" (Everybody Hates Chris), "fearless" (Veronica Mars), "fabulous" (Girlfriends), "family" (7th Heaven) and "tough" (WWE Friday Night SmackDown!). Some additional spots are themed for other purposes without CW stars, for example "Free to be tricky" for Halloween and "Free to be famous" for The CW Daytime. The ads normally include one more descriptive—"together"—used to unify the network and its programming with the viewer.

"Get Into It"

On August 6, 2007, The CW launched their second marketing campaign, "Get Into It". The lead singer of Pussycat Dolls, Nicole Scherzinger^[13]. The original title for the song is Puakenikeni which is the third single from Nicole's debut album Her Name Is Nicole.

Imaging and presentation

• The CW displays the program credits on the bottom 1/3 of the screen along with The CW logo and website address. The top 2/3 displays previews of upcoming programming from The CW, local newscasts, or other local programming.
• Most affiliates added their city or region to their new bugs. For example: WPSG is "The CW Philly", WLVI-TV was "Boston's CW" at launch but has since rebranded as "CW56" under new ownership, WUPA is now "CW Atlanta", KWTX DT 2 is now "CW Waco", and KVCW (formerly KFBT) is now "CW Las Vegas". However, some stations opted to use their channel number: WNAB in Nashville is now "CW58", and WPIX in New York and KSTW in Seattle are now "CW11". Some stations will still use the call sign in either the station logo, on-air identification or both. Some examples include WGN in Chicago, KTLA in Los Angeles, WNLO in Buffalo, New York, WWHO in Columbus, Ohio, and WBNX in Cleveland. In Omaha, Nebraska, KXVO uses "CW15" and "Omaha's CW". In Honolulu, Hawaii, KHON-DT2 is branded as "Hawaii's CW 93" (the "93" refers to the subchannel's cable channel position). The branding used by WKRC-DT in Cincinnati, Ohio is "CinCW", a portmanteau with "Cincy", a common nickname for the city.

"Content Wraps"

• From time to time, The CW airs short programming breaks called "Content Wraps," — a play on the network's name, to advertise one company's product during an entire commercial break.
• CW Now was inspired in part by the success of the Content Wraps as it will be a series with product placement.^[14]

Online media and music

• On January 18, 2007, The CW began streaming full-length episodes of several programs.
• The CW's official website includes more features than either UPN's or The WB's combined. The site features ringtones, wallpapers, an online store, games, a message board, promotional pictures, an episode guide, advertisements for the next episode, cast information, and, in some cases, an online poll that discusses upcoming show story lines.
• On December 15, 2006, CBS Corporation revived its record label, CBS Records, whose artists' music will be available to programs on The CW.^[15]

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by The CW

The CW Network airs a 13-hour primetime lineup including Monday through Friday nights from 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET; Sundays from 7:00-10:00 p.m. ET; Sunday from 5:00-7:00 p.m. ET outside of prime time as well as a Monday-Friday afternoon block from 3:00-5:00 p.m. ET and a five-hour Saturday morning animation block. Altogether, the new network programs 30 hours a week over seven days.

Current schedule

Returning comedies are in red; new comedies are in pink; returning dramas are in green; new dramas are in blue; returning reality shows are in yellow; new reality shows are in gold; news programming is in brown; sports entertainment programming is in purple. All times are Eastern and Pacific (subtract one hour for Central and Mountain time).

Midseason Changes

According a press release from The Futon Critic ^[16], The CW will shuffle it's schedule to make room for returning reality shows. Beginning dates are in parenthesizes.

See also: 2007-08 United States network television schedule

Second season premiere performance

^[17]

Potential effects of 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike on The CW

• One Tree Hill — may only have 12 out of a planned 22 episodes.
• Smallville — 15th episode could be the season finale if the strike lasts through January. Because of this, Smallville will take a hiatus from December 13, 2007 until January 31, 2008.
• Girlfriends — may have 13 out of a planned 22 episodes.
• The Game — may have 13 out of a planned 22 episodes.
• Aliens In America — may have 18 out of a planned 22 episodes.
• Everybody Hates Chris — Unaffected. Series is currently awaiting decision on either cancellation or renewal.
• Eight Days a Week - was removed from the CW website sometime in December. It is not know whether or not the show was put on hold or canceled because of the strike.

Schedule notes

For shows in developments see List of programs broadcast by The CW

The CW daytime schedule

See: The CW Daytime

Childrens programming

The CW has signed a five-year deal with 4Kids Entertainment for the network's Kids' WB Saturday morning programming block, beginning with the 2008-2009 season.^[18]

Network executives

• Dawn Ostroff, President of Entertainment
• John Maatta, Chief Operating Officer
• Kim Fleary, Executive VP, Comedy Development
• Rick Haskins, Executive VP, Marketing and Brand Strategy
• Paul McGuire, Executive VP, Network Communications
• Bill Morningstar, Executive VP, National Sales
• Michael Roberts, Executive VP of Current Programming
• Thom Sherman, Executive VP, Drama Development
• Jennifer Bresnan, Senior VP, Alternative Programming
• Eric Cardinal, Senior VP, Research
• Rick Mater, Senior VP, Broadcast Standards
• Betsy McGowen, Senior VP and General Manager of Kids WB! on The CW
• Lori Openden, Senior VP, Talent and Casting
• Elizabeth Tumulty, Senior VP, Network Distribution

See also

• Kids' WB
• The CW Daytime
• The CW Plus
• CW Now
• List of CW affiliates
• Media consolidation
• 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment

Footnotes

External links

• Official Site
• Official CW MySpace
• Official Message Boards

Press releases

• The CW Press Express via CBS Corporation
• Time Warner
• Tribune Company

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