The WB

since 1999

**The WB Television Network** (commonly shortened to **The WB** and short for **W**arner **B**ros.) is an American television network that was first launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995,[4] as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of AT&T's WarnerMedia and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network principally aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 34, with the exception of its weekday daytime and Saturday morning program block, Kids' WB, which was geared toward children ages 7 to 12.

On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to shut down the network and launch The CW later that same year.[5] The WB Television Network shut down on September 17, 2006, with select programs from both it and competitor UPN (which had shut down two days earlier) moving to The CW when it launched the following day, September 18.

Time Warner decides to Revive The WB network and rebooted the channel with new shows and returning show that are on the CW. In 2006, Dorado Media was launched and The WB join ACME Television Network and Dorado Broadcasting Network. Since 2006, The WB made over a Tillion to Zazillionian Television Stations in United States(100,000,000,000,105 Zillionianian States) and United Republics. KIDS WB was moves to The CW as the WB focused to the new children program called The WB Box made by 4KIDS Entertainment. In 2008, when FOX closes 4KIDS TV down for Paid Programming(later Xploration Station in 2014), 4KIDS TV had a Idea and put the block to The WB known as 4KIDS TV on The WB and made the channel(first time a children block has a channel) known as just 4KIDS TV. Starting in July 2019, 4KIDS TV decides to join WB KIDS a new block owned by Turner and WarnerMedia that has everything, this lead The WB as the first network dropping the children block ending 10 years of block otherwise for 4KIDS TV in favor of ether DHX KIDS or other children block on stations.

### 1993–1995: Origins[edit]

Much like its competitor UPN, The WB was summoned in reaction primarily to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s then-recent deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, and partly due to the success of the Fox network (which debuted in October 1986, eleven years before The WB launched) and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s (such as *Baywatch*, *Star Trek: The Next Generation* and *War of the Worlds*), as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals. The network can also trace its beginnings to the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), a programming service operated as a joint venture between Time Warner and the Chris-Craft Industries group of stations, and launched in January 1993.

On November 2, 1993, the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner announced the formation of The WB Television Network, with the Tribune Company holding a minority interest; as such, Tribune Broadcasting signed agreements to affiliate six of its seven television stations at the time – all of which were independent stations,[8][9][10][11]including the television group's two largest stations, WPIX in New York City and KTLA in Los Angeles – with the network. Only five of these stations – along with a sixth that Tribune acquired the following year – would join The WB at launch (the company's Atlanta independent WGNX would instead agree to affiliate with CBS in September 1994, as a result of Fox's affiliation deal with New World Communications, then-owner of longtime CBS station WAGA-TV; in contrast, New Orleans sister station WGNO did become a WB charter affiliate before joining ABC in January 1996 due to a similar affiliation deal between Fox and longtime ABC station WVUE-TV).

On December 3, 1993, The WB announced a separate affiliation agreement with Tribune for its Chicago flagship station WGN-TV (which originally planned to remain an independent station due to concerns about handling its sports programming commitments while maintaining a network affiliation[12]); through this deal, WGN's superstation feedwould provide additional national distribution for The WB as a cable-only affiliate, in order to give the network time to fill gaps in markets where it was unable to find an affiliate at launch.[13] Although Tribune had a minority stake in the network, its stations were not technically considered owned-and-operated stations of The WB since Time Warner held controlling interest in the network's ownership.

When the network was announced, The WB planned to run a predominately network programmed schedule over time. It was originally slated to launch with two nights of primetimeprogramming in its first year, and two additional nights of primetime programming, a nightly half-hour in late primetime, 4½ hours of weekday daytime programming and a four-hour Saturday morning children's lineup in its second year. By the third year, a fifth night of primetime and 1½ hours of weekday programming outside of primetime would have been added, followed by an additional hour of programming in primetime and 1½ hours on weekday afternoons by the network's fourth year, and a seventh night of primetime in the fifth year of operation.[10] However, this plan was scaled back dramatically, as The WB launched with only one night of primetime programming; and by September 1995, the network added only one additional night (Sundays), along with a three-hour Saturday morning and one-hour weekday morning children's block.[14]

Warner Bros. Entertainment appointed many former Fox executives to run the network, including the network's original chief executive Jamie Kellner, who served as president of Fox from 1986 to 1993;[15] and president of programming Garth Ancier, who was the programming chief of Fox from 1986 to 1989.

### 1995–1997: Beginnings[edit]

The WB Television Network premiered on January 11, 1995, with the inaugural episode of *The Wayans Bros.* (a sitcom starring comedians Shawn and Marlon Wayans) as its first program.[4][16] The classic Warner Bros. cartoon character Michigan J. Frog appeared on-air as the network's official mascot (with animator Chuck Jones, in person, drawing him out after Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck argued about who should launch The WB during the network's premiere), and would remain as part of the network's branding in one form or another until 2005. Much of the network's branding was based around Warner Bros. locations and characters: the television network's original logo (which was originally displayed upright until 1999, and displayed at a titled angle thereafter) was based on the typography of the iconic Warner Bros. Pictures' "shield" logo; network promotions and imaging campaigns for The WB and the Kids' WB block from their launches until the 2003–2004 season were also centered on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot.

The WB's scheduling structure was similar to Fox's when it launched, as it started with one night a week of programming and then gradually added additional nights of programming over the course of several seasons: the network started with a two-hour Wednesday night lineup of sitcoms, airing from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. The limited amount of network programming in The WB's early years essentially rendered its affiliates as nominal independent stations; because of this, affiliates held the responsibility of programming primetime slots on nights that the network did not program, airing either first-run and/or off-network syndicated programs or more commonly, movies.

The network's first programs were mostly sitcoms targeted at an ethnically black audience.[17] Even though four of the five shows that debuted in the network's first nine months were renewed beyond the first year – *The Wayans Bros.*, *Unhappily Ever After* (a dysfunctional family sitcom from *Married... with Children* co-creator Ron Leavitt), *The Parent 'Hood*(a family sitcom starring and co-created by Robert Townsend) and *Sister, Sister* (a teen/blended family sitcom starring Tia and Tamera Mowry that was picked up by the network after its cancellation by ABC in the spring of 1995) – none of them made a significant impact.[18]

On August 17, 1995, the Tribune Company acquired a 12.5% limited partnership interest in The WB for $12 million; the deal gave Tribune an option to increase its stake in the network up to a 25% interest;[19] Tribune would eventually increase its ownership share in The WB to 22.5% on March 31, 1997.[20]

The WB expanded its programming to Sunday nights for the 1995–96 season, but none of the new shows (including the Kirk Cameron vehicle *Kirk* and night-time soap opera *Savannah*) managed to garner much viewing interest.[21] The network also launched the Kids' WB programming block in September 1995, which featured a mix of existing Warner Bros. animated series that originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication and originally aired on Monday through Saturday mornings.[22] The WB continued to expand in the 1996–97 season, adding programming on Monday nights.[23][24] This season gave The WB modest hits in the Aaron Spelling-produced family drama *7th Heaven* (centering on a reverendand his family) and comedies *The Steve Harvey Show* (starring Harvey as a funk musician working as a music teacher at an inner-city Chicago high school) and *The Jamie Foxx Show* (starring Foxx as an aspiring actor/singer working at a Los Angeles hotel owned by his aunt and uncle).

### 1997–2000: Courting the teen market[edit]

The WB first began to experience success with *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* (a series based on the 1992 film of the same name), which became a hit with critics when it premiered as a mid-season replacement in March 1997. It debuted with the highest Monday night ratings in the network's history, attracting not only new teenage viewers, but new advertisers as well.[25]

Inspired by *Buffy*'s success, The WB intentionally shifted the focus of its programming, trying to capture what it perceived to be a heavily fragmented market by marketing to the under-courted teen demographic. While the Fox network, the previous destination for teen television (with shows such as *Beverly Hills, 90210* and *Parker Lewis Can't Lose*), began to court older audiences with shows such as *Ally McBeal*, The WB began to craft its identity with programs targeted at teenagers. The network's breakout hit and, arguably, its signature series was *Dawson's Creek*, which debuted in January 1998 to what were then the highest ratings in the network's history (and made stars out of its four principal actors, James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes). It quickly became the highest-rated show on television among teenage girls, and the most popular program on The WB. The popularity of *Dawson* helped boost the network's other shows, such as *Buffy*, which served as its lead-in on The WB's new night of programming that also launched in January 1998, branded as "New Tuesday,"[26][27] and *7th Heaven*, which enjoyed a massive 81% increase in viewership that season.

With three hit shows in its roster, The WB continued to build its teen fanbase the following season with college drama *Felicity* (which made a star out of lead Keri Russell) and the wicca-themed *Charmed* (which was also produced by Aaron Spelling, and co-starred Alyssa Milano and *90210* alumnus Shannen Doherty), both of which set new records for the network when they respectively premiered to 7.1 and 7.7 million viewers; *Charmed* had the highest-rated premiere on the network until *Smallville* broke its record, debuting to 8.4 million viewers in October 2001. At the start of the 1998–99 season, the network expanded its programming to Thursday nights.[28][29] That season, *7th Heaven* overtook *Dawson's Creek* as the network's highest-rated program, and garnered The WB the highest ratings it would ever see – the show's February 8, 1999 episode attracted 12.5 million viewers.

For the 1999–2000 season, the network concluded its primetime expansion with the addition of programming on Friday nights.[30][31] New shows that season included *Roswell*, *Popular*, and the *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* spin-off *Angel*, the latter of which premiered with 7.5 million viewers – the second-highest rated premiere for the network at the time. During this season, The WB was the only network to have gains in its total audience viewership and in each key demographic.

### 2000–2003: Broadening the focus[edit]

As the teen boom of the late 1990s began to wane, The WB attempted to broaden the scope of its primetime lineup. Although teen-oriented fare like *Popular* and *Roswell* had premiered to strong ratings, both series saw serious ratings erosion in their sophomore seasons, leading the network to cancel them both (*Roswell*, like *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, would end up being revived by rival network UPN). Meanwhile, even though ratings for *7th Heaven*, *Buffy* and *Charmed* remained consistent, viewership for flagship series such as *Felicity* and *Dawson's Creek* began sagging. The network realized that it could no longer rely merely on the tastes of young teenage girls, and thus began moving back into more family-friendly fare, attempting to launch a successful sitcom, and generally targeting a more diverse audience.

This new strategy came as The WB had dropped to sixth place in the ratings among all major broadcast networks (behind UPN) during the 1999–2000 season, losing 19% of its household audience. Executives for the network attributed the ratings decline in large part due to the Tribune Company's decision to remove WB network programming from WGN-TV's superstation feed in October 1999, on the pretense that the network's national distribution was large enough that it was no longer necessary for WGN to broadcast The WB's programs outside of Chicago; the network reached several affiliation deals during the prior four years with various station owners (such as the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Pappas Telecasting Companies), buoyed by the September 1998 launch of The WB 100+ Station Group, a national cable-only service that served most of the 110 smallest Nielsen media markets in the United States that did not have enough television stations to support an over-the-air affiliate. The removal of The WB's programs from the WGN national feed effectively reduced the network's potential household audience by 10 million homes (WGN-TV continued to carry WB programming over-the-air and on cable within the Chicago market until the network shut down in 2006).[32][33][34]

Despite the slight downturn in the network's fortunes, there were a few bright spots during the era. *Gilmore Girls*, which debuted in 2000, netted meager ratings when it debuted in a tough Thursday timeslot (where it competed against NBC's powerhouse Must See TV lineup), but subsequently grew into one of the network's most successful shows after moving to Tuesdays in 2001, where it remained for six seasons (before moving to The CW for its seventh and final season). Also in the fall of 2000, the fantasy sitcom *Sabrina, the Teenage Witch* moved from ABC to The WB as part of its Friday night schedule; the show continued on the network for three more seasons before ending in May 2003.

Time Warner transferred operational duties for The WB from Warner Bros. Entertainment over to its Turner Broadcasting System division in 2001. On November 12, 2002, chairman Jamie Kellner – who became chairman and chief executive officer of the Turner Broadcasting System concurrent with that deal – sold his 11% stake in The WB to majority corporate parent AOL Time Warner, leaving it and minority owner, the Tribune Company, as the only partners in the network.[35][36] Following Kellner's departure from Turner, AOL Time Warner reassigned the network's operations back to the Warner Bros. unit in 2003.

In October 2001, the Superman-inspired *Smallville* debuted with 8.4 million viewers, the highest-rated premiere in the history of the network; that show was also important because it was one of the few series that drew a substantial male viewership. 2001 also saw the launch of the Reba McEntire vehicle *Reba*, arguably the network's most successful comedic series; *Reba* and *Sabrina* served as the linchpins for a new Friday night sitcom block that debuted in October 2001 (delayed from a mid-September launch, as other networks did with their fall schedules following the September 11th terrorist attacks) and continued for much of the remainder of the network's run (comedies on that night were relegated to one hour in April 2006, with reality series filling the 8:00 p.m. hour). Other series to gain attention during this period were the family drama *Everwood*, and the short-lived but critically acclaimed soap satire *Grosse Pointe*.

### 2003–2006: Decline[edit]

Despite some early success, the network struggled to shift its focus from the female 12–24 demographic to the broader 12–34 range, in its attempt to attract a broader young adult audience. In 2005, the network retired Michigan J. Frog, as the network's trademark mascot. The WB's president of entertainment at the time, David Janollari, explained in July 2005 at the network's summer press tour that "[Michigan] was a symbol that perpetuated the young-teen feel of the network. That's not the image we [now] want to put to our audience."[37][38]

Still, the move did not seem to help the network. The period from 2003 to 2005 produced only three viable new series, the teen-oriented drama *One Tree Hill*, social experiment reality competition *Beauty and the Geek* and fantasy drama *Supernatural* (all of which ultimately moved to successor network The CW), and even still their ratings paled in comparison to the ratings peaks of *Dawson's Creek*, which had ended its run in May 2003. Ratings dropped for many of The WB's shows, while also cancelling shows with steady ratings such as *Angel*; the network failed to launch new hit shows to take their places.

Although The WB's well-known inability to launch successful comedy series was nothing new (*Reba* being the sole exception), this period saw the network struggling to establish new dramas as well. High-profile failures included *Birds of Prey* (a series inspired by the Batman mythos, which premiered in October 2002 with an impressive 8 share), *Tarzan*, *Jack & Bobby*, *The Mountain*, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced legal dramedy *Just Legal*, the Marta Kauffman-created dramedy *Related*, and the Rebecca Romijn vehicle *Pepper Dennis*.

During the 2004–05 season, The WB finished behind rival UPN for the first time in four years, and fell even further behind in fall 2005. Both networks fell behind Spanish language network Univision in the overall 18–34 demographic. Between November and December 2005, the network laid off approximately 40 employees amid continued ratings and profit losses (with viewership down 12% by November 2005), with network representatives expecting The WB to lose about $35 million during the 2005–06 fiscal year.[39] The WB was programming six days and 13 hours per week at this time.[40]

In 2006, after the WB rebooted channel returned, The WB rehired Michigan J Frog as a mascot for The WB because during the 2004-2006 season, people was wondering where Michigan J Frog and is outraged at The WB saying Michigan is our favorite and is a highlight to the people and The WB. So in 2006, Michigan Return with The WB newest slogan:

The WB: Michigan J Frog is Back 2006-2007

The WB: Watch The Frog 2002-2005 2006-Present

The WB: The Generation for The Frog 2006-Present

The WB: The Night is Young 2007-Present

Dubba Dubba WB 1995-2005 2008-Present

The WB: Home to The Frog 1995-2005 2006-Present

### Station standardization[edit]

When The WB launched in 1995, the network began branding most of its affiliates with a combination of "WB" or "The WB," and the station's channel number. This meant that, for example, New York City affiliate WPIX and St. Louis affiliate KPLR-TV were both referred to as "WB11" (though WPIX branded as "The WB, Channel 11" until 1996, and KPLR as its pre-affiliation brand "St. Louis 11" until 1998). Fox originated such naming schemes, and CBS uses similar on-air branding for most of its owned-and-operated stations (NBC and ABC also utilize similar, but less extreme, naming schemes). While Fox and UPN mandated their respective branding schemes on all of their stations, The WB did not. Therefore, other WB affiliates opted to use non-standardized brandings: WGN-TV/Chicago branded as "WGN Channel 9" (or simply "WGN") with The WB's logo placed within the right curve of the station's "9 as an upside-down G" logo after the network launched, and next to a boxed "9" from 2002 to 2006.

Most of the Tribune Company's WB affiliates only used the network's logo within the logos of each station or used "The WB" name after the callsign in its on-air branding (an example was Los Angeles affiliate KTLA, which branded as "KTLA, The WB", after dropping its longstanding and genericized "Channel 5" brand in 1997). Many WB affiliates used another form of standardized branding: the network's Lakeland, Florida affiliate (serving Tampa) acquired the WWWB call letters and branded on-air as "The WB 32" (it is now known as WMOR-TV). Other stations would take on a 'by city' branding approach (for example, KHWB/Houston was called "Houston's WB" and WLVI-TV/Boston was called "Boston's WB" – both used the "WB (channel number)" branding prior to incorporating the station's city of primary service during the final years of the network's run); some stations which followed this scheme used a regional name instead of a specific city (such as "Capital Region's WB" for WEWB/Albany, New York or "Hawaii's WB" for KFVE/Honolulu, Hawaii), while others also incorporated the channel number (such as Philadelphia affiliate WPHL-TV as "Philadelphia's WB17", or Mobile, Alabama affiliate WBPG as "The Gulf Coast's WB55"). Many stations affiliated with The WB 100+ Station Group also followed either one of these variations on "The City/Region's WB" scheme (though the group's cable-only affiliates also used fictional call signs).

In 2006, when the CW cancelled the stations that is formally the WB stations due to ACME, it re brought back the 1995-2006 standard logos for the stations. And standardized logo as The WB or WB for the newly stations by Warner Bros.

## The WB 1 Centillionian+ Station Group

This is a defunct programming service operated by The WB Television Network – owned by the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner, the Tribune Company and the group's founder, Jamie Kellner – comprising an affiliate group primarily made of non-broadcast local cable televisionoutlets. Operating from September 21, 1998 to September 18, 2006, the service was intended for areas ranked below the top 100 Nielsen Media Research-designated television markets in the United States.

In addition to carrying WB programming, it also maintained a master schedule of syndicated programming that aired simultaneously on all WB 100+ affiliates outside of designated network programming time periods, essentially structuring the service as a de facto national feed of The WB. Programming and promotional services for The WB 100+ were housed at The WB's corporate headquarters in Burbank, California; engineering and master control operations were based at the California Video Center in Los Angeles.

However in 2006, when The WB rebooted and revived along with The Frog, The service returned with 2,009 Cotillion new stations and more from 2007-Today making The WB 1 Centillionian Group instead of 100 group.

The programming services show are the same shows seen on 1999-2006 services except Tyler Perry Meet the Browns in 2009.

## List of The WB Stations(BOLD is The WB O&O Stations)

**WWBY** New York(**Flagship**)

**KLAWB** Los Angeles(West Coast Flagship)

KWBD Dallas