WGN / Tribune Company in the news (WB, CBS, UPN too)

January 24, 2006 by diana

It looks like UPN and the WB networks are being retired later this year.

Since WGN is a WB affiliate and the Tribune company has been a 22.5% shareholder in the WB, I am curious what will happen with WGN, future Cubs games telecasts, etc.

The WB portion of WGN doesn't directly affect me, since I live outside of the Chicago area. I subscribe to WGN via c-band satellite and receive their non-WB programs.

Is WGN connected to Chicagoland-TV ? I wonder if WGN could air Chicagoland-TV news telecasts overnight for those of us who don't have access to that channel???

Anyway, here is an idea of what is going on with WGN, The WB, UPN, etc.

CBS, Warner Bros. forming new TV network

NEW YORK - Two small, struggling television networks, UPN and WB, will shut down this fall, and their parent companies plan to form a new network called The CW using programming and other assets from each of them.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11006886/

As two networks pair up, it's time to get real
Lots of UPN, WB shows and just one schedule: Who will make the cut?
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11007437/

CBS, Time Warner Plan
To Launch CW Network
By JOE FLINT
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 24, 2006 2:38 p.m.

The WB and UPN will cease broadcasting separately in September, to be replaced by a single network called CW, which will be owned 50-50 by CBS and Time Warner. Tribune Co., a big TV broadcaster that had been a 22.5% shareholder in the WB, has committed to air the CW network on its TV stations for at least 10 years but it won't have any ownership stake in the new outlet.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB11381197...

UPN, WB to Shut Down; New Network Formed
By SETH SUTEL AP Business Writer
Published January 24, 2006, 1:35 PM CST

Altogether, the 16 Tribune stations and the 12 UPN stations owned by CBS will give the new network coverage in almost half of the country, the executives said. The executives said they hoped to sign up new affiliates in the rest of the country by the time The CW launches.

Among the Tribune's TV stations that will join the new network are its flagship WGN in Chicago as well as WPIX in New York, and KTLA in Los Angeles. The Tribune Co. will relinquish its 22.5 percent stake in WB and will receive a 10-year affiliation agreement with the new network.

Barry Meyer, the head of Warner Bros., said the network would be run by the current executives of UPN and WB.

The CW will be run by Dawn Ostroff, who will be in charge of programming, and John Maatta will oversee the business side as chief operating officer. Maatta had been COO of WB, and Ostroff was president of UPN.

The new network gets its name from the first letters of its parent's names -- C for CBS and W for Warner Bros.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainm...

Comments?

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