WB Television Network

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Template:Infobox Network The WB Television Network, casually referred to as The WB, or sometimes as The Frog (referring to the network's former mascot, the animated character Michigan J. Frog), is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. film studio and Tribune Company on January 11, 1995.

The WB has helped to launch the careers of a number of Hollywood stars, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie Holmes, Jessica Biel, Chad Michael Murray, James Van Der Beek, and Michelle Williams.

On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to launch The CW Television Network in the fall of 2006. This new joint venture network will feature programming from both The WB and UPN. CBS chairman Les Moonves and Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Barry Meyer announced that The WB and UPN will both cease independent operations on September 4, 2006. [1] [2]

1 History
2 Children's programming
3 Station Standardization
4 See also
5 External links

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History

Much like its competitor UPN, the WB was a reaction to the success of the upstart Fox Network and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s such as Baywatch, as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals. WB's first programs were mostly sitcoms targeted at an ethnicly diverse audience. Even though three of the inaugural four shows were renewed beyond the first year, none of them made a significant impact. The WB also added the "Kids' WB" programming block, which mixed Warners' biggest hit shows (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and later Batman: The Animated Series, all of which originated either on Fox, Fox Kids or in syndication) with new productions and original shows.

A few years after its launch, The WB intentionally shifted its programming to capture what it perceived to be a heavily fragmented market by marketing to the under-courted teen demographic. While the Fox Network was intentionally targeting older audiences with shows such as Ally McBeal, The WB's breakout hits during the late 1990s centered around pretty white kids with problems with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek in prime time. Just three years after their launch, they were ranked #1 among teenage audiences. Following the success of those shows, the network went on to produce the similarly positioned Felicity and Charmed.

It is sold to TV markets below the number 100 in viewership as determined by Nielsen in a packaged format, with a master schedule and no local advertisements.

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 are not actually operated by Warner Bros. or Time Warner; instead, Tribune owns and operates these stations, thus its stake in the network). The WB can also be seen in smaller markets on cable-only stations.

Outside of the aforementioned series, other large successes include Gilmore Girls, Smallville, and its only hit sitcom, Reba. Its most successful TV show to date is the religious family drama 7th Heaven, which is airing its tenth and final season during the 2005/2006 season. The network has suffered in the ratings of late after its peak in the 2001/2002 season as it struggles to launch and brand unique new series, something which it previously had no problem doing. 2003–2005 produced only one viable new series, One Tree Hill, and even that is a pale comparison to the ratings peaks of Dawson's Creek and the like. As a result, the network is shifting its focus from the female 18–24 demographic to the more broad 18–34 range. To this end, The WB has abandoned its trademark mascot, Michigan J. Frog, as the network's iconic emblem. WB Entertainment President David Janollari explained in July 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." During the 2004/2005 season, The WB finished behind rival UPN for the first time in several years, and fell even further behind the network in the fall of 2005.

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Children's programming

The WB added the "Kids' WB" programming block, following its launch, which mixed Warners' biggest hit shows (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and later Batman: The Animated Series, all of which originated either on Fox, Fox Kids or in syndication) with new productions and original shows.

After the Turner–Time Warner merger in 1996, Kids' WB formed an alliance with Cartoon Network, and over time, they have shared more and more programming. Because of this, in January 2006, the weekday afternoon block of Kids' WB was replaced by Daytime WB, which is composed of the syndication of ER and 8 Simple Rules. The Kids' WB block expanded by one hour on Saturdays from 7a.m. to noon.

In September 1998, The WB also launched the American version of Pokémon in the Kids' WB blocks, which they acquired from syndication (TV Tokyo) earlier that year and became a widespread pop-culture phenomenon. WB also acquired the English-language version of the second series Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in Japan. It is sold to TV markets below the number 100 in viewership as determined by Nielsen in a packaged format, with a master schedule and no local advertisements.

The "Kids' WB!" has aired mainly animated series but has aired some live-action programming. Kids' WB! aired a television version of R.L. Stine's The Nightmare Room in 2001, though it didn't make it past a season.

Kids' WB! will make the move to The CW in September, likely keeping the Kids' WB! name.

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Station Standardization

During the mid-1990s when it was launched, The WB began having most of its stations branded as "WB" or "The WB", then the channel number, with the call signs nearby. By the late 1990s, the call signs were minimized to be just barely readable to meet FCC requirements, and the stations that did "The WB" in its ID were simply known as "The WB" or "WB", then channel number or city. (e.g. WPIX in New York and KPLR in St. Louis are both referred to as "WB11") This would be a continuation of the trend for networks to do such naming schemes, originated at Fox, especially at CBS, who uses the CBS Mandate on all of their O&O stations. NBC and ABC also do similar naming schemes, but not to that extreme.

However, while the traditional "Big Three" don't require their affiliates to have such naming schemes (though some affiliates choose to adopt it anyway) and only on their O&O's are required, Fox and UPN mandate it on all stations, though The WB does not.

Not all WB affiliates use the aforementioned naming scheme, though. WGN-TV in Chicago (on the local feed only as the superstation feed has not carried WB programming since 1999) uses the name "WGN 9 Chicago" in its ID with The WB's logo next to the boxed "9". Most of Tribune's WB stations do not refer themselves as "The WB", then city or channel number, instead either opting only to use the network logo in their station's logo and/or using "The WB" name after the calls. An example is Los Angeles affiliate KTLA, whose station ID is "KTLA, The WB".

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