, 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.
[http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060124/nytu143.html?.v=43
Much like its competitor '', 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 teen drama 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.
The WB added the "Kids' WB" programming block, following its launch, which mixed Warners' biggest hit shows ('''', 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.
When The WB was launched during the mid-1990s, the network began having most of its stations branded as "WB" or "The WB", then the channel number, with the call signs nearby. The call signs were minimized to the smallest FCC-approved size by the end of the decade. This meant that, for example,
WPIX in
New York and
KPLR in
St. Louis were now both referred to as "WB11". Fox originated such naming schemes, and CBS uses the CBS Mandate on all of their O&O stations. NBC and ABC utilize similar, but less extreme, naming schemes.
While Fox and UPN mandate their respective naming schemes on all stations, The WB does not.
Thus, not all WB affiliates follow the naming scheme.
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 affiliates only use the network logo in their station's logo or use "The WB" name after the calls. An example is
Los Angeles affiliate
KTLA , whose station ID is "KTLA, The WB".
