UPN UPN , or the United Paramount Network , was a US television network owned by Viacom . It was the original broadcast network for and . Established by Paramount President Network Television , Lucie Salhany , UPN launched on with the two - hour series premiere of " Voyager " , . " Voyager " was right from the bat slated to serve as the first flagship of the new network . For her efforts , Salhany became the second highest CEO of the new network , only answerable to newly appointed President Paramount Network Television Garry Hart , who himself was the direct successor of John S . Pike , with whom Salhany had become directly responsible for the successful launch of in direct syndication previously , an industry first at that time . They broadcast a small number of other original shows , but the initial programming lineup was mostly syndicated shows drawn from the vast body of programs available to Paramount Pictures . " Voyager " was the only original program from the network ' s launch to last into its second season . When " Voyager " ended its television run in , " Enterprise " replaced it . The idea of a Paramount Pictures television network was not new to the 1990s ; in the late 1940s and early 1950s Paramount was partner in the failed DuMont Television Network , and in 1977 there were plans for a Paramount Television Service to compete as a 4th network alongside CBS , NBC and ABC . " " was intended to be one of the lead shows of the new network . The plans fell apart though , and " Phase II " ultimately became . Eventually the market niche of " 4th network " would be filled by FOX in the 1980s , ironically under the auspices of the same CEO who had tried to do so for Paramount earlier , Barry Diller . Even more ironic was that Diller had enticed Salhany to leave Paramount in 1991 to head his Fox Broadcasting Company , but she returned to Paramount to succeed for the studio where her former boss had failed , back in 1977 . On Friday , , Kate Mulgrew had an official UPN photo shoot at 2 : 00 pm . The call sheet for this day , the first day of filming on , features her timetable . In , the network officially changed its name to just the initials " UPN " . In the early 2000s the network began to change its focus by targeting an African - American audience and produced urban - themed situation comedies with African - American casts , as well as professional wrestling and reality shows . This change in targeted demographics and programming is considered to be highly influential in the cancellation of " Enterprise " after only four seasons of a projected seven season run . Yet , with the 2013 - 2014 releases of the sets , former " Enterprise " staffers , from producers to performers , have come forward with tales which also pointed at studio politics detrimental to " Star Trek " in general , and serious mismanagement of " Enterprise " in particular , especially where ratings and demographics interpretation , as well as air time scheduling were concerned . In this respect , it had disturbing similarities with what had befallen between and NBC back in the 1960s . Executive Producer Rick Berman has divulged that the relationship between UPN and " Star Trek " , which had been a warm one during the production of " Voyager " had taken a turn for the worse , " " Our relationship with the network was distant . And it wasn ' t embracing and warm and . . . a sense of working together that had existed in all the years before . " " ( ENT Season 3 Blu - ray - special feature , " In a Time of War " ) Another example was , according to Brannon Braga , their decree , if the series was to be renewed for a fourth season – the network actually already of a mind not to do so – , to get rid off Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer , which Berman fought tooth and nail , successfully as it turned out ( though he had not been able to resist their decree to add " Star Trek " to the series title which was originally just " Enterprise " , explicitly intended as such ) . That the series was renewed for a last season , was in no small part due to the fact that strong backing was received from an unexpected corner ; Scott Bakula has unequivocally cited Garry Hart , a " Star Trek " supporter , who had just been promoted to another position within the conglomerate , as the driving force behind the renewal , thereby thwarting the cancellation intents of his successor ( s ) at UPN for the time being , conceivably an instance of " studio politics " . ( ENT Season 4 Blu - ray - special feature , " Before Her Time : Decommissioning Enterprise " ) Jason Bonet visited the set of on to let the cast sign pictures . He worked for the section " affiliate relations " regarding " Star Trek " . UPN , then owned by the CBS Corporation , the former Viacom , ceased to exist on when it combined with Time Warner ' s " The WB " network to become a new network called " The CW " .