UPN vs. The WB, Who Really Won… MyNetworkTV

Its 1995, television is about to change forever. You have a production company, Warner Bros. that wants more of their shows on television. Also, you have Tribune (of Chicago) who owns many independent television stations. It just so happens that Warner Bros. and Tribune are associates. So, do you see what I see. I think you do. These two companies go half on a new television network entitled The WB Television Network. After watching FOX become a major contender to NBC, ABC, and CBS. Warner Bros. thinks that they can do the same thing with their production company. Guess who else is at work, Paramount. Back in 1978, they had plans for launching a television network, but those plans were scrapped as FOX was formed shortly thereafter. Paramount links up with Chris-Craft Industries, and they form UPN. So, in order to save money, these networks decide to produce all of their shows to get double profit (if any). That makes it easier for one of these channels to become the “fifth” network. Many saw The WB as more equipped as they had a better financial plan, and developed the idea of finding a target audience. Guess who they chose, the African-American audience. UPN, on the other hand decided to court the male market. The WB quickly began to gain ratings due to their black sitcoms that they developed and produced (no orders needed). After a year of bad luck, UPN developed their first sitcom (which happened to be black). It, “Moesha,” came mid-season and was a ratings smash. So, for that fall, UPN came with more black sitcoms. This proved somewhat successful, but they still had a ways to go. By 2000, The WB found themselves to “classy” to court the black market, so they decided to aim at the young female audience. When this first occurred, their viewership went way down, and UPN became a viable contender for the “fifth” network even though they were having financial troubles. From that point on, UPN would begin to win the annual ratings war with The WB even though it would be close. Still, UPN was losing money, and Viacom had plans to merge UPN with BET (what they should have done) as UPN would only be on cable as a programming block. Soon, The WB also began losing money, and this continued until the 2005-2006 season. By this time, UPN was almost competing for a top four spot and The WB was far behind while losing ratings. Both of these networks had the choice of shutting down or getting it together. The thing was, they couln’t get it together alone, and their programming was too popular to just shut down entirely. Then, exactly 11 years after their launches, The WB and UPN made the shocking announcement to merge together to become The CW Television Network. So, all bets were made on The CW possibly becoming the top-rated network due to the combination of UPN’s hits with The WB’s hits. But, one thing was counted out. The reason UPN continually lost money was because when they pushed Chris-Craft (the TV stations) out of the network, they sold them to FOX. So, FOX had become somewhat a partner in the UPN deal, but UPN had to pay them for using their stations. This happened for about six years and was what helped FOX become the network it was. So, The CW was not about to make the same mistake UPN did, so in many areas, they took over The WB’s stations instead of continuing to lose money to FOX. Little did they know what was set to happen next. When this first happened, many people expected FOX to just put their programming on both channels, but News Corp. had other plans. So, only days after The CW announcement, News Corp. announced MyNetworkTV. This network hit airwaves two weeks before The CW, but their programming was sub-par. They debuted with telenovelas for their entire primetime hoping to go “outside of the box” for ratings. This plan backfired as MyNet aired all of the shows they had ordered, then they decided to change their programming. News Corp. borrowed programming from their other network, Fox Reality, and placed it on MNT. Soon, MNT developed their own reality shows and the ratings improved a bit. Still, The CW was easily winning. In April, MyNetworkTV began their first sitcom, “Under One Roof,” with Flavor Flav, as The CW cancelled their popular sitcom, “Girlfriends.” Many wondered why The CW would cancel one of their highest-rated shows and then faced a backlash. Because of that, some viewers embraced MyNetworkTV’s sitcom (even though its sorry, at best) and it anchored their new target audience. The CW continued to shed UPN from their schedule as they announced that they weren’t giving the high-rated WWE Smackdown another chance. Guess who picked it up, MyNetworkTV. Given the fact that MyNet is available in more areas than The CW, they gave up their Friday nights. So, MyNet is a “Big Five” channel on Fridays. Also, MyNetworkTV re-designed their Wednesday lineup as they ex-ed of “In Living Color” in favor of Tony Rock, and his sometimes sitcom/sometimes sketch comedy. They also announced plans to make Arsenio Hall the host of their “Funniest Moments” program. Gave Eddie Griffin a sitcom for midseason, and gave Damon Wayans a midseason back up. So, now MyNet is a contender on Wednesdays. Their lineup will eventually consist of Tony Rock, Flavor Flav, Kelly Perine, Damon Wayans, and Eddie Griffin. An evening of stars, compared to The CW’s lineup of “America’s Next Top Model (which is slipping in ratings),” and “Stylista.” Tony Rock has been advertising all over the place since July, so I expect him to win the 8:00-8:30 period. We all know that Flavor Flav’s sitcom needs some work, but people tune in just to see what he’ll say next. So, the 8:30-9:00 period is a tie at best for The CW. Plus, when Eddie Griffin arrives (he’s the sure thing, Damon Wayans is not), that means that Arsenio Hall moves to Mondays. That could possibly put a dent in “Gossip Girl,” but The CW still should win. But, MyNet has found out where the ratings are, and its only a matter of time before they expand their comedy night into other nights, and that’s when The CW will be in trouble due to the same audience they abandoned. When MyNetworkTV first arrived, they laughed, when they debuted their schedule, they laughed harder. Now, MyNet’s schedule is almost as good as The CW’s and the ratings race is getting closer, who’s laughing now.