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The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot,
Michigan J. Frog Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character from the Warner Bros.' ''Merrie Melodies'' film series. Originally a one-shot character, his only appearance during the original run of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series was as the star of ''One Fro ...
) was an American
television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...
launched on
broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized b ...
on January 11, 1995, as a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between the
Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
division of
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
and the
Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United Sta ...
subsidiary of the
Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
, with the former acting as controlling partner. The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between 12 and 34, with its children's division,
Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The WB ...
, geared toward children 6 to 12. On January 24, 2006,
CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to merge its subsidiary networks, UPN and the WB, and launch
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
later that same year. The WB Television Network shut down on September 17, 2006, with some programs from both it and competitor
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
(which had shut down on September 15) moving to The CW when it launched the following day, September 18. Time Warner re-used the WB brand for an online network that launched on April 28, 2008. Until it was closed in December 2013, the website allowed users to watch shows aired on the former television network, as well as programming from the defunct
In2TV In2TV was a website offering ad-supported streaming video of classic TV shows in the USA only. It was operated by AOL Time Warner as an outlet for the company's archival television programming. History In2TV was announced in November 2005 as ...
service created prior to Time Warner's spinoff of
AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017 ...
. The website could only be accessed within the United States.


History


1993–1995: Origins

Much like its competitor
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
, the WB was summoned in reaction primarily to the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC)'s then-recent deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed the
Financial Interest and Syndication Rules The Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, widely known as the fin-syn rules, were a set of rules imposed by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States in 1970. The FCC sought to prevent the Big Three television networks from mon ...
, and partly due to the success of the
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
network (which debuted in October 1986, nine years before the WB launched) and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s (such as ''
Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...
'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and ''
War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
''), as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by
independent television stations An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
due to the growth of
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
and movie rentals. The network can also trace its beginnings to the
Prime Time Entertainment Network The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) was an American television network that was operated by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Domestic Television subsidiary of Time Warner and Chris-Craft Industries. Fi ...
(PTEN), a programming service operated as a joint venture between
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
and the
Chris-Craft Industries Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly held American corporation that was traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. In 1962, the company adopted the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris ...
group of stations, and launched in January 1993. On November 2, 1993, the
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
division of Time Warner announced the formation of the WB Television Network, with the
Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
holding a minority interest; as such,
Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United Sta ...
signed agreements to affiliate six of its seven television stations at the time – all of which were independent stations, including the television group's two largest stations,
WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
– 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 Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
independent
WGNX WGNX (96.7 FM) is an American radio station licensed to Colchester, Illinois, United States. The station is currently owned by Patricia Van Zandt. The station broadcasts a Christian format including some programming from the Moody Broadcasting N ...
would instead agree to affiliate with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
in September 1994, as a result of Fox's affiliation deal with
New World Communications New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...
, then-owner of longtime CBS station
WAGA-TV WAGA-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facili ...
; in contrast,
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
sister station
WGNO WGNO (channel 26) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station WNOL-TV (channel 38). Both stations share studios at The Galleria ...
did become a WB charter affiliate before joining
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
in January 1996 due to a similar affiliation deal between Fox and longtime ABC station
WVUE-TV WVUE-DT (channel 8) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains primary studios on Norman C. Francis Parkway in the city's Gert Town secti ...
). On December 3, 1993, the WB announced a separate affiliation agreement with Tribune for its
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...
WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...
(which originally planned to remain an independent station due to concerns about handling its sports programming commitments while maintaining a network affiliation); through this deal, WGN's superstation feed would 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. Although Tribune had a minority stake in the network, its stations were not technically considered
owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
s of the WB since Time Warner held
controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the majo ...
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
primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
programming 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. 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 (Later 4 then 5)-hour Saturday morning, one-hour weekday morning and two-hour weekday afternoon children's block. Warner Bros. appointed many former Fox executives to run the network, including the network's original chief executive
Jamie Kellner Jamie Kellner is an American former television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 ...
, who served as president of Fox from 1986 to 1993; and president of programming
Garth Ancier Garth Ancier (born September 3, 1957, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey) is an American television producer and media executive. Early life Ancier graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1975 and Princeton University in 1979. He began his broadca ...
, who was the programming chief of Fox from 1986 to 1989.


1995–1997: Beginnings

The WB Television Network launched on January 11, 1995, with the debut airing of the first episode of ''
The Wayans Bros. ''The Wayans Bros.'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 20, 1999. The series starred real life brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans. The series also starred John Witherspoon and Anna Maria Hors ...
'' (a sitcom starring comedians
Shawn Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peop ...
and
Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Wayans began his career portraying a pedestrian in ''I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988). He went on to regularly collaborate with his brother Shawn Wa ...
) as its first program. The classic Warner Bros. cartoon character
Michigan J. Frog Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character from the Warner Bros.' ''Merrie Melodies'' film series. Originally a one-shot character, his only appearance during the original run of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series was as the star of ''One Fro ...
appeared on-air as the network's official mascot (with animator
Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
, in person, drawing him out after
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
and
Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon fictional character, character created for Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American black duck, black ...
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. Additionally, WB affiliates introduced their station ID where the WB letters being projected on the Warner Bros. studio lot while moving, then, the WB letters light up before turning off and the logo for the station affiliated with the network zooms out shortly thereafter accompanied by an orchestral version of "Hello Ma Baby". 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 1998, and displayed at a titled angle thereafter) was based on the
typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...
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 A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...
, often involving large neon signs promoting the nights of programming and their component shows (at times including signs for Kids' WB and certain shows from that block); this approach was similar to one used for Fox's 1989–90 "This is the Year" fall campaign (likely thanks to Kellner and Ancier previously having worked at Fox). 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 Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...
and
Pacific Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00). ...
. 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 Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
audience. 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 ''Unhappily Ever After'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for 100 episodes on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 23, 1999, for a total of five seasons. The series was produced by Touchstone Television. Synopsis The series fo ...
'' (a dysfunctional family sitcom from '' Married... with Children'' co-creator
Ron Leavitt Ronald Leavitt (November 7, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American television writer and producer. He was the co-creator (with Michael G. Moye) of the American television show '' Married... with Children''. The show's 259 episodes over ...
), ''
The Parent 'Hood ''The Parent 'Hood'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 18, 1995, to July 25, 1999. The series starred Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. Originally to be titled ''Father Knows Nothing'' (a parody of th ...
'' (a family sitcom starring and co-created by Robert Townsend), and '' Sister, Sister'' (a teen/blended family sitcom starring
Tia TIA or Tia may refer to: Aviation * Tampa International Airport, US, IATA code TPA * Texas International Airlines, US, ICAO code * Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, Albania, IATA code * Trans International Airlines, former U.S. airl ...
and
Tamera Mowry Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite he ...
that was picked up by the network after its cancellation by ABC in the spring of 1995) – none of them made a significant impact. On August 17, 1995, the Tribune Company acquired a 12.5%
limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited ...
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; Tribune would eventually increase its ownership share in the WB to 22.5% on March 31, 1997. The WB expanded its programming to Sunday nights for the 1995–96 season, but none of the new shows (including the
Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor and evangelist. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1985–1992), a role for which he was nominated for two Golden Glob ...
vehicle ''
Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...
'' and night-time soap opera ''
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
'') managed to garner much viewing interest. The network also launched the
Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The WB ...
programming block in September 1995, which featured a mix of existing Warner Bros. animated series that originated either on
Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
or in syndication and originally aired on Monday through Saturday mornings. The WB continued to expand in the 1996–97 season, adding programming on Monday nights. This season gave the WB modest hits in the
Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...
-produced family drama '' 7th Heaven'' (centering on a
reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...
and his family) and comedies ''
The Steve Harvey Show ''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB from August 25, 1996, to February 17, 2002. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan. Synopsis Steve Hightower (Steve Harvey) is a 1970s funk ...
'' (starring
Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...
as a
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
musician working as a music teacher at an inner-city Chicago high school), and ''
The Jamie Foxx Show ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on The WB from August 28, 1996, to January 14, 2001. The series stars Jamie Foxx, Garcelle Beauvais, Christopher B. Duncan, Ellia English, and Garrett Morris. Although the show was not a m ...
'' (starring
Foxx Foxx is a surname. People with the surname Notable people with the surname include: * Foxx (rapper) (born 1984), American rapper * Anthony Foxx (born 1971), American politician * Dion Foxx (born 1971), American football player * Inez and Charlie ...
as an aspiring actor/singer working at a Los Angeles hotel owned by his aunt and uncle).


1997–2000: Courting the teen market

The WB first had success with ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' (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 American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a sh ...
in March 1997. The series was produced by
20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
and it debuted with the highest Monday night ratings in the network's history, attracting not only new teenage viewers, but new advertisers as well. 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 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
'', ''
Party of Five ''Party of Five'' is an American television teen and family drama created by Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman that originally aired on Fox for six seasons from September 12, 1994, to May 3, 2000. The series featured an ensemble cast led by Sc ...
'' and ''
Parker Lewis Can't Lose ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. During the last season, the se ...
''), 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 ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'', 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 James William Van Der Beek (; born March 8, 1977) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the WB series ''Dawson's Creek'' and Johnny "Mox" Moxon in '' Varsity Blues'' (1999). He played a fictionalized version of hi ...
, Michelle Williams,
Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is known for his starring role as Charlie Conway in '' Mighty Ducks'', as Pacey Witter in The WB teen drama series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the ...
, and
Katie Holmes Kate Noelle Holmes (born December 18, 1978) is an American actress. She first achieved fame as Joey Potter on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003). Holmes made her feature film debut in 1997 with a supporting role in Ang Lee ...
). The series was produced by
Columbia TriStar Television Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CTT) was an American television production and distribution company that was active from 1994 to 2002. It was operated as the third name of the early television studio Screen Gems and the fourth ...
and 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," 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 Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans), ...
) and the
wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...
-themed ''
Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...
'' (which was also produced by Aaron Spelling, and co-starred
Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'', Jennifer Mancini in ''Melrose Place'', Phoebe Halliwell in ''Charmed'', Billie Cunningham in ''My Name Is Earl'', Savan ...
,
Holly Marie Combs Holly Marie Combs Ryan (born December 3, 1973) is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles as Kimberly Brock in the CBS series ''Picket Fences'' (1992–1996), Piper Halliwell in The WB series ''Charmed'' (1998–2006) and El ...
and ''90210'' alumnus
Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...
), 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 ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...
'' 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. 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. New shows that season included '' Roswell'', ''
Popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...
'', and the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' spin-off ''
Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'', 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

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 Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
and
Pappas Telecasting Companies Pappas Telecasting Companies was a diversely organized broadcasting company headquartered in Visalia, California, United States. Founded in 1971, it was one of the largest privately held broadcasting companies in the country, with its stations r ...
), buoyed by the September 1998 launch of
the WB 100+ Station Group The WB 100+ Station Group (originally called The WeB from its developmental stages until March 1999) was a national programming service of The WB—owned by the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner, the Tribune Company, and group fo ...
, a national cable-only service that served most of the 110 smallest Nielsen
media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
s 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). Despite the slight downturn in the network's fortunes, there were a few bright spots during the era. ''
Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...
'', which debuted in 2000, netted meager ratings when it debuted in a tough Thursday timeslot (where it competed against
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's powerhouse
Must See TV Must See TV is an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series of ...
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 ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...
'' 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. over to its
Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
division in 2001. On November 12, 2002, chairman Jamie Kellner – who became chairman and
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the Turner Broadcasting System concurrent with that deal – sold his 11% stake in the WB to majority corporate parent
AOL Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
, leaving it and minority owner, the Tribune Company, as the only partners in the network. 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 Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
-inspired ''
Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...
'' 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 Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...
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 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
) 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 ''Everwood'' (known as ''Our New Life in Everwood'' in the United Kingdom) is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti. Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Rina Mimoun, Andrew A. Ackerman and Michael Green served as executive producer ...
'', and the short-lived but critically acclaimed soap satire ''
Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe *Grosse Pointe Farms *Grosse Poi ...
''.


2003–2006: Decline

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 " ichiganwas a symbol that perpetuated the young-teen feel of the network. That's not the image we owwant to put to our audience." 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 One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...
'', social experiment reality competition ''
Beauty and the Geek ''Beauty and the Geek'' is an American reality television series that premiered on The WB on June 1, 2005. It has been advertised as "The Ultimate Social Experiment" and is produced by Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg and J.D. Roth. The show's ti ...
'', and fantasy drama ''
Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
'' (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 In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
''; 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 a notable exception), this period saw the network struggling to establish new dramas as well. High-profile failures included ''
Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...
'' (a series inspired by the
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
mythos, which premiered in October 2002 with an impressive 8 share), ''
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
'', ''
Jack & Bobby ''Jack & Bobby'' is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti, Vanessa Taylor, Steven A. Cohen, and Brad Meltzer. It aired on The WB from September 12, 2004, to May 11, 2005. The series’ title is a reference to real-life pol ...
'', ''
The Mountain The Mountain (french: La Montagne) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. They were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. Th ...
'', the
Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...
-produced legal dramedy ''
Just Legal ''Just Legal'' is an American courtroom drama television series that stars Don Johnson and Jay Baruchel as two courtroom lawyers in Venice, California. The series premiered on The WB on September 19, 2005, and was canceled on October 3, 2005, aft ...
'', the
Marta Kauffman Marta Fran Kauffman (born September 21, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive pr ...
-created dramedy ''
Related ''Related'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from October 5, 2005, to March 20, 2006. It revolves around the lives of four close-knit sisters of Italian descent, raised in Brooklyn and living in Manhattan. The ...
'', and the
Rebecca Romijn Rebecca Alie O'Connell (née Romijn ; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress and former model (person), model. She is known for her role as Mystique (comics), Mystique in the original trilogy (2000–2006) of the X-Men (film series), ...
vehicle ''
Pepper Dennis ''Pepper Dennis'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from April 4 to July 4, 2006. It was announced on May 17, 2006 that ''Pepper Dennis'' would not be one of the WB shows transferred to The CW. ''Pepper Dennis'' w ...
''. 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 Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
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. The WB was programming six days and 13 hours per week at this time.


2006: Network closure

On January 24, 2006,
CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
and
Warner Bros. Entertainment Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
announced plans to shut down both
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
and the WB and partner to launch a new broadcast television network that would include series from both soon-to-be predecessor networks, known as
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. Over the next eight months, it was to be seen which shows from the two networks would cross over to The CW, as well as which stations aligned with either UPN or the WB would become future affiliates of the new network. In the end, ''7th Heaven'', ''Beauty and the Geek'', ''Gilmore Girls'', ''One Tree Hill'', ''Reba'', ''Smallville'', and ''Supernatural'' were chosen to move from the WB to The CW for its inaugural 2006–07 fall schedule. ''7th Heaven'' and ''Reba'' were originally canceled after the 2005–06 season, but were ultimately renewed at the last minute with 13-episode deals (the former show was later given a full-season order, while the latter served as a midseason replacement and, in spite of becoming The CW's highest-rated comedy of the 2006–07 season, ended rather abruptly). ''Supernatural'', which aired its final (15th) season in Fall 2020 was the last surviving series from the WB that remained on the CW network schedule.
Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United Sta ...
also committed 16 of its 19 WB-affiliated stations at the time to serve as the network's core affiliates (though it relinquished its stake in the WB shortly after the launch announcement for The CW, in order to avoid shouldering shutdown costs for the WB, and would not take on an ownership stake in The CW) – alongside 11 UPN O&Os that were named as CW charter stations by CBS Corporation. Starting on August 14, 2006, with the Daytime WB block, the WB stopped displaying its on-screen logo bug during the network's programming and replaced it with a countdown of days until The CW's premiere. Some stations that either affiliated with
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
(itself created in response to Tribune and CBS receiving affiliation deals with The CW, leaving UPN affiliates owned by
Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
, a subsidiary of MyNetworkTV's original parent company
News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
, with the prospect of ending up as independents), became independent stations or became CW charter affiliates received a logo-free feed of the network, while others took the main feed and overlaid the station's own logo bug over The CW's logo.


The Night of Favorites and Farewells

''The Night of Favorites and Farewells'' was a one-time special lineup that aired on the WB on September 17, 2006. It consisted of pilot episodes for some of the network's most popular and longest-running shows. The five-hour block was aired on most affiliates of The CW with the exception of those which had taken affiliation with
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
, unless they kept the WB as a secondary affiliation. It served as the WB's last nationally broadcast schedule, as the network, which had been on the air since January 11, 1995, officially shut down after the pilot of ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'' ended to make room for
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
.


=Schedule and format

= The night began with the announcer,
Hal Douglas Harold Douglas (born Harold Cohen; September 1, 1924 – March 7, 2014) was an American voice actor best known for performing thousands of voice-overs for movie trailers, television commercials, and stage plays over the course of a six-decade car ...
(who had become the "voice" of the WB for the majority of its history, and would not return as announcer for The CW, but instead moved to
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
), introducing the viewers to the night's schedule, and began with the premiere episode of '' Felicity''. The schedule of the night was: *5:00pm ET/4:00pm CT '' Felicity'' *6:00pm ET/5:00pm CT ''
Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'' *7:00pm ET/6:00pm CT ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' (2 hours) *9:00pm ET/8:00pm CT ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'' Before each show, there was an introduction to the show, followed by the ''Night'' logo displayed with the year the show premiered on the bottom. During commercial breaks and after shows during the credits, flashbacks would air that would feature actors and other memorable stars on the WB, usually from stock footage or from commercials and image campaigns the network had. The names and the year when they became big on the network would also appear. Commercials also included promo spots for each series' TV-on-DVD box sets as well as promo spots given to cable networks broadcasting the shows above in off-network syndication.


=Final moments

= After the final act of the pilot for ''Dawson's Creek'' (and a short commercial break) concludes a last 60-second clip montage aired featuring all of the network's previous stars, ending with this statement: ''
"For 11 years, you brought us into your homes. We made you smile and tugged at your heart. And now, we say goodbye. From all of us at The WB, thank you."
'' The last image on the WB was of their former mascot
Michigan J. Frog Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character from the Warner Bros.' ''Merrie Melodies'' film series. Originally a one-shot character, his only appearance during the original run of the ''Merrie Melodies'' series was as the star of ''One Fro ...
(who was shown as a white silhouette due to the animated character being retired as the network's mascot the year before), taking his hat off and bowing while the words "thank you" are on the screen, thanking the audience for watching the network for the last 11 years. As the image faded out, the WB officially left the airwaves. The clip montage officially ceased the network's operations, as the studio credits for ''Dawson's Creek'' were shown afterwards instead of the WB's standard credits scheme, which had been used on the other pilots that aired during the night. That evening, after the WB shut down, some affiliates that would join The CW when it launched the following night acknowledged the pending switchover within their newscasts, with most adopting their new CW station brands immediately. New York City affiliate
WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...
(channel 11) aired a montage of all of the logos used throughout the station's history leading up to the introduction of its new "CW11" logo before the start of its 10:00 p.m. newscast, while KHCW (channel 39) in Houston aired a retrospective of the station's history during its 9:00 p.m. news. In Dallas,
KDAF KDAF (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group (based in nearb ...
(channel 33) had retitled its primetime newscast to ''CW33 News at Nine'' immediately following the end of WB programming, and featured a video clip of the signage being changed outside the station's studios (however, the old ''WB33 News at Nine'' bumper aired upon returning from the first commercial break that night).


=Themes and marketing

= The WB had limited marketing for this one last program on their network. Commercials mainly aired on the network itself. Major themes for the show included "Faces you'll always remember", "Names you'll never forget", "The faces that touched our hearts", "The WB says goodbye", "A Network that defined a generation says goodbye." and "Join us one last time". The music playing in all the flashbacks and other promos for the event was "Crawl" by
Thisway Thisway was an American Indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York. They released their self-titled debut LP in early 1999. The band is most notable for their single "Crawl", which was used for The WB Television Network promos and television shows mos ...
(which was heard on the network's 1999-2000 campaign).


=Viewer reaction and ratings

= Over the next few days, there were many discussions about the night on
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
's forums, most of which expressed sadness. The actual
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
for the night were poor, as it rated a 0.9 household rating and 2 share. The main reason for this primarily lies in certain areas where former WB affiliates became
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliates, thus leaving the WB's last two weeks of programming unavailable in the markets whose WB affiliates switched to MyNetworkTV. Overall, the vast majority of WB affiliates moving onto The CW preferred to market their future network instead, leading to low promotion of the last night of the WB, while those stations which had taken neither network had long stopped promoting their network's programming outside of contractual obligations. The final night of WB programming netted relatively low ratings. The network scored a 1.0 household rating (amounting to 1% of all U.S. television households) and a share of 2, meaning just 2% of viewers were tuned into the WB on its final night of programming. This is mostly due to the fact that some WB affiliates in certain areas had recently joined MyNetworkTV, which debuted on September 5, two weeks before The CW's launch, leaving the WB's last two weeks of programming unavailable in those areas. After its closure, the network's URLs were redirected to The CW's website, cwtv.com. By March 30, 2008, the URLs redirected to the Warner Bros. Studios homepage, before being redirected to the TheWB.com beta website one month later on April 28. The CW maintained many operational and scheduling elements from the WB. When it launched on September 18, 2006, The CW initially maintained the WB's scheduling model; the WB had carried 30 hours of network programming each week (13 of which were devoted to primetime shows) in comparison to UPN's weekly programming total of 12 hours (10 hours of which were allocated to primetime shows). It also inherited the WB 100+ Station Group – which became
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national programming service feed of The CW that is fully controlled and 75% owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery each owning a 12.5% stake in the network. It is intended primar ...
– though the distribution model of The CW Plus started to differ from the WB 100+ by mixing
digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
affiliations, along with the cable-only affiliates and few conventional affiliate stations that were part of the predecessor group at the end of the WB's run. The CW continued the Daytime WB block – which became
The CW Daytime The CW Daytime is the former unofficial branding for an afternoon programming block that was broadcast on The CW. It was originally branded as Daytime WB, which aired on one of its predecessors, The WB, from January 2, 2006 to September 15, 2006. T ...
(and was reduced from two hours to one in 2010), although two blocks that moved to The CW from the WB would eventually be discontinued: Kids' WB continued on The CW until May 17, 2008, when it was replaced with
The CW4Kids Toonzai (formerly known as The CW4Kids from May 24, 2008 to August 7, 2010, or stylized as TOONZAi) was an American Saturday morning cartoon children's television block that aired on The CW from May 24, 2008 to August 18, 2012. The block was c ...
after
4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
began programming The CW's Saturday morning block through a time-lease agreement (Kids' WB was later relaunched as an online portal); The CW discontinued its Sunday primetime schedule in September 2009, effectively ending the EasyView block in the process.


2008–2013: Internet streaming

Warner Bros.' television arm planned on resurrecting the WB brand in the form of a website at TheWB.com, the website domain used for the official site of the broadcast network. The site streamed episodes of series that were broadcast during the WB's 1995–2006 run, including ''Gilmore Girls'', ''Smallville'', ''Everwood'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Dawson's Creek'', ''One Tree Hill'', ''Roswell'', and '' What I Like About You''. The new incarnation of the TheWB.com began in beta testing on April 28, 2008, and officially launched on August 27. The site – whose business model resembled that of free-to-stream services such as
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
– was ad-supported and geared primarily to women ages 15–39. In addition to older full-length series (among which also included ''
All of Us ''All of Us'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on the UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. On October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed by ...
'', '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', ''
Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...
'', ''Jack & Bobby'', and ''
Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...
''), the website featured original serialized web content including short series and vignettes from such well-known television producers as
Josh Schwartz Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
and
McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...
, including ''
Sorority Forever ''Sorority Forever'' is a streaming television series created and produced by web production company Big Fantastic, the creators of ''SamHas7Friends'' and ''Prom Queen''. Film director McG is an executive producer of the show. The first season of ...
'', ''Pushed'', ''Rockville, CA'', ''The Lake'', and ''
Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In certain special cases, they may also treat adults. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th ...
'' (the latter's popularity was sustained enough to receive a run and eventual move to
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
as a regular series on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
's
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
). Each of these 10-episode programs ran for five minutes. Many other well-known Warner Bros.-produced series that did not air on the WB, including ''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'' and ''
The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seaso ...
'', were also made available on the site. However, the website did not include episodes of two of the WB's most popular shows, ''Charmed'' and ''Felicity'', as the distribution rights to ''Charmed'' are owned by
CBS Television Distribution CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...
and ''Felicity''s rights are owned by Disney-ABC Domestic Television.
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
offers over 1,000 episodes from the
Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
library on its
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
service. While Warner Bros. Entertainment did not promote the site in any multimedia ads, it had drawn about 250,000 unique viewers a month, according to
Mindshare Mind share relates to the development of consumer awareness or popularity, and is one of the main objectives of advertising and promotion. When people think of examples of a product type or category, they usually think of a limited number of bra ...
's Mr. Chapman, who had been tracking the site. Some of its original material had been offered on partner sites such as MySpace and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
. Data compiled by ''comScore Video Metrix'' showed that 62% of visitors to the site were female. The McG-produced original series ''Sorority Forever'' premiered on the site on September 8, 2008. By 2012, it had accrued more than 7.3 million views from TheWB.com and partner sites. An original reality series, ''Rich Girl, Poor Girl'' from ''
Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
'' and '' Newport Harbor'' executive producer Gary Auerbach, in which two teenagers from different economic and social backgrounds swap lives (similar in format to '' Wife Swap'' and ''
A Walk In Your Shoes ''A Walk in Your Shoes'' is an American educational television series that aired on the Noggin channel. The show documents the experiences of two different people who switch places for a day and learn how the other person lives. The show started o ...
''), had ranked among the top 100 programs in the teenage category on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
since its October 20, 2008, debut. With the full replacement of the CW's original Internet programming efforts with their
CW Seed CW may stand for: Science and technology * centiwatt (cW), one hundredth of a watt * Cω, a programming language * CW complex, a type of topological space * Carrier wave, in radio communications * CodeWarrior, an integrated development environ ...
portal, the WB website was shut down in December 2013. The closure of the WB website ended, after more than eighteen years, the usage of the brand name "the WB". However, the legacy of the WB still lives on as of 2019. Various programs that aired on the network air reruns on various cable networks such as
MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...
and
TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
. Also, WMJF, a small student-run television station at
Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
just outside
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland, still uses the same call letters (WMJF – Michigan J. Frog) from when the station was a WB affiliate. A neon likeness of Michigan J. Frog also adorns the facade of former WB affiliate
WBNX-TV WBNX-TV (channel 55) is an independent station (North America), independent television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area. The station is owned by the Winston Broadcasting Network subsidiary of locally ba ...
's studio complex in
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Cuyahoga Falls ( or ) is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 51,114. The second-largest city in Summit County, it is located directly north of Akron and is a suburb of the Akron metropol ...
. Similarly, a large Hollywood lights-style sign of the network's logo that was used in the network's "backlot"-themed idents, promos, and bumpers is still located near storage facilities at the Warner Bros. Ranch Facilities in California.


Internet advertising

The clothing retailer H&M, not a traditional television advertiser in the United States, sponsored ''Sorority Forever'' and had some of its clothing worn by characters in the series.
Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...
's
Axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...
brand has sponsored ''Children's Hospital''.
Warner Horizon Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
executive vice president Craig Erwich, who oversaw TheWB.com, said in regards to these tie-ins "If an advertiser has an interest in a series we have in production, we can work in their products or even adjust our launch dates if they want to tie it in to a special promotion."


Programming

Many, though not all, of the WB's programming during its eleven-year run as a television network was produced by corporate cousin
Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
. The network's schedule during its first two seasons – the 1995 midseason (when it inaugurated its initial Wednesday lineup) and the first half of the 1995–96 season (when the network expanded its programming to Sundays) – consisted entirely of sitcoms; the first drama series to debut on the network was the primetime soap ''Savannah'', which debuted in February 1996 and ran for two seasons until its cancellation in February 1997. The WB's first
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
series was the U.S. adaptation of ''
Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...
'', which ran for two seasons from 2001 to 2003. In addition to live-action programs, the network has experimented with primetime animated series; ''
Pinky and the Brain ''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Surround and the fourth col ...
'' was the first such series, airing as part of the network's Sunday lineup from September 1995 to July 1996, before moving exclusively to the Kids' WB Saturday lineup due to low ratings in its prime time slot. Most of the animated projects that aired afterward were
adult animation Adult animation, also known as mature animation, and infrequently as adult-oriented animation, is any type of animation, animated motion work that is catered specifically to adult interests, and is mainly targeted and marketed towards adults and ...
series; the last such attempts being ''
The Oblongs ''The Oblongs'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB, and was removed on May 20th, leaving the las ...
'' (running for one season in 2001, and was later revived on corporate sister Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block) and ''
The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult animated stop-motion black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Cabrini–Green housing projects in Chicago. Th ...
'' (which moved to the network in 2000 following its cancellation by Fox, and ran for only one additional season on the WB). The WB also occasionally aired regularly scheduled repeat episodes of first-run series airing on other nights throughout the television season intermittently throughout its history; ''Sister, Sister'' was the first WB series to receive this treatment, with repeats of the sitcom's first two seasons (which originally aired on ABC) from August 1995 to August 1996, in addition to the first-run episodes it aired on Wednesday nights (this marked the first time that a network aired reruns as part of its regular schedule – outside of the summer months – since December 1993, when NBC removed repeats of ''
Classic Concentration ''Concentration'' is an American television game show based on the Concentration (game), children's memory game of the same name. It was created by Jack Barry (game show host), Jack Barry and Dan Enright. The show featured contestants matching pr ...
'' from its daytime lineup two years after that program's cancellation). From 1998 to 2000, the network also aired episode repeats from the first two seasons of ''7th Heaven'' during the first hour of its Sunday lineup under the title ''7th Heaven Beginnings''; this concept was revived during the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons with ''Smallville'' and ''Gilmore Girls'' (which aired repeats from their early seasons under the respective titles ''Smallville: Beginnings'' and ''Gilmore Girls: Beginnings''). Furthermore, from September 2002 until the WB ceased operations, the network ran a two-hour extension of its Sunday lineup (from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time), known as "EasyView", a block featuring week-behind episode rebroadcasts of select shows from the network's primetime schedule. Out of all the network's series, ''7th Heaven'' – which by the time it ended, had become the longest-running family drama in television history – was the longest-running series ever to have aired on the WB, having run on the network for ten seasons from 1996 to 2006. The program was beaten by ''Supernatural'' as the longest-running series to originate on the WB in the 2017–18 season, when the latter series began its thirteenth season (''7th Heaven'' ran for an additional season on The CW from 2006 to 2007; while ''Supernatural'' aired on the WB for one season from 2005 to 2006, before moving to The CW in September 2006, ending in 2020).


Children's programming

The WB debuted the
Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The WB ...
children's program block in September 1995; the lineup initially featured a mix of Warner Bros.' most popular children's shows (such as ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'', ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...
'', and later '' Batman: The Animated Series'', all of which originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication) and newer series (such as ''
Freakazoid! ''Freakazoid!'' is an American superhero comedy animated television series created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and developed by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of The WB. The series chronicles the adventures of the title characte ...
'', ''
Histeria! ''Histeria!'' is an American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, ''Histeria!'' was an explicitly educational program created to me ...
'', '' Superman: The Animated Series'', ''
Road Rovers ''Road Rovers'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that premiered on Kids' WB on September 7, 1996, and ended after one season on February 22, 1997. It was later shown on Cartoon Network from February 7, 1 ...
'', ''Pinky and the Brain'', and ''
Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration ...
''). After the Turner Broadcasting System was acquired by Time Warner in 1996, Kids' WB formed an alliance with
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
, resulting over time in an increasing number of programs being shared between the block and the cable channel. In February 1999, Kids' WB began airing the
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
dub of ''
Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...
''. The WB acquired the U.S. rights to the Japanese animated series from
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
earlier that year (from its U.S. premiere in the fall of 1998 up to that point, the show was syndicated); the series ultimately became a widespread
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
phenomenon with the added exposure on the network. Kids' WB also acquired the English-language dub of ''
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...
'', which also saw the type of viewer popularity experienced by ''Pokémon''. Between 2000 and 2005, Kids' WB experimented with some live-action programming, though the block continued to mainly run animated series. A television series adaptation of
R. L. Stine Robert Lawrence Stine (; born October 8, 1943), sometimes known as Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee, is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor. Stine has been referred to as the "St ...
's ''
The Nightmare Room ''The Nightmare Room'' is an American children's anthology horror series that aired on Kids' WB. The series was based on the short-lived children's book series that went by the same title created by ''Goosebumps'' author, R. L. Stine. ''The Nigh ...
'' debuted on the block in 2001, it was cancelled after one season. It also aired the live-action made-for-TV movie ''Zolar'', as well as the JammX Kids All-Star dance specials. With Cartoon Network now outrating Fox Kids, and the WB sharing more of its children's programming with the cable channel, the WB announced on May 31, 2005, that it would discontinue Kids' WB's weekday afternoon block as it became financially unattractive due to broadcast stations shifting their afternoon target audiences more exclusively to adults by filling the slot with
talk shows A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
and sitcom reruns, on the basis that children's viewing options in that time period had gravitated more towards
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
. Kids' WB's weekday programming continued, but with redundant programs and theme weeks until December 30, 2005 (the block began to increasingly promote Cartoon Network's afternoon
Miguzi This is a list of television programs currently or formerly broadcast by Cartoon Network in the United States. The network was launched on October 1, 1992, and airs mainly animated programming, ranging from action to animated comedy. In its ea ...
block and the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup during the transition). The weekday block was replaced on January 2, 2006, by "Daytime WB," a block that featured repeats of sitcoms and drama series formerly aired by the WB and other networks (such as '' ER'', ''
8 Simple Rules ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...
'', and '' What I Like About You''); five days later on January 7, the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup was expanded by one hour. The Daytime WB block continued on The CW, unofficially renamed
The CW Daytime The CW Daytime is the former unofficial branding for an afternoon programming block that was broadcast on The CW. It was originally branded as Daytime WB, which aired on one of its predecessors, The WB, from January 2, 2006 to September 15, 2006. T ...
(though occasional on-air promos for the block do not refer to this name); The CW also kept the Kids' WB name for the network's Saturday morning children's programming. However, on October 2, 2007, The CW announced that it would discontinue the Kids' WB block, due to competition with youth-oriented cable channels. Kids' WB aired for the last time on May 17, 2008, replaced with a new block programmed in conjunction with
4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
called
The CW4Kids Toonzai (formerly known as The CW4Kids from May 24, 2008 to August 7, 2010, or stylized as TOONZAi) was an American Saturday morning cartoon children's television block that aired on The CW from May 24, 2008 to August 18, 2012. The block was c ...
(which was replaced by
Vortexx Vortexx was a short-lived American Saturday morning children's television programming block that aired on The CW from August 25, 2012 to September 27, 2014. Programmed by Saban Brands, it replaced Toonzai, a block that was programmed by 4Kids Ent ...
on August 25, 2012, after
Saban Brands Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commun ...
and Kidsco Media Ventures took over programming the block as part of its acquisition of much of 4Kids's program library; Vortexx continued to run until September 27, 2014, before being replaced a week later by
One Magnificent Morning One Magnificent Morning (OMM) is an American programming block that is programmed by Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Entertainment) and distributed by CBS Media Ventures, and debuted on October 4, 2014, as a replacement for the ani ...
programmed by
Litton Entertainment The Hearst Media Production Group (formerly Litton Syndications and Litton Entertainment) is an American media and production company based in New York City, New York as a division of the Hearst Television subsidiary of Hearst Communications, with ...
). As a result of its distribution deal with The CW, 4Kids produced Saturday morning blocks for two networks during the 2008–09 season, as it already programmed Fox's
4Kids TV 4Kids TV (often stylized as 4K!DSTV and formerly known as FoxBox from September 14, 2002 to January 15, 2005) was an American block programming, television programming block and Internet-based video on demand children's network operated by 4Kid ...
block (which was discontinued by that network on December 27, 2008). Like its parent network, Kids' WB was revived as an online-only network in April 2008. In addition to carrying select previous Kids' WB programs, the site also features other archived programs to which Time Warner owns or holds distribution rights, and programs seen on Cartoon Network and
Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
.


Differences between the WB and the "Big Four" networks


Scheduling

At the time of its shutdown, the WB ran only two hours of primetime network programming on Monday through Fridays and five hours on Sundays, compared to the three Monday through Saturday and four Sunday primetime hours offered by the
Big Three networks In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) — that due to their longev ...
(unlike the WB, UPN never carried any weekend primetime programming, though it did offer a movie package to its affiliates on weekend afternoons until September 2000, when the latter was replaced with a two-hour repeat block of UPN programs). This primetime scheduling allowed for many of the network's affiliates to air local newscasts during the 10:00–11:00 p.m. (
Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...
and
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
) time period. The WB never ran network programming on Saturday nights – despite the fact that the network maintained a children's program block on Saturday mornings – allowing affiliates to run syndicated programs, sports, movies or network programs that were preempted from earlier in the week due to special programming, in the 8:00–10:00 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific) time period. The network's Sunday schedule was originally three hours when the WB began programming that night in September 1995, but expanded to five hours (from 5:00–10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time) in September 2002, with the creation of the "EasyView" repeat block (that block was retained by The CW, which initially adopted the WB's scheduling model until it turned Sunday programming over to its affiliates in September 2009). In comparison to ABC and CBS, the WB also had the fewest hours devoted to daytime programming on weekdays between September 2001 (when the network dropped the weekday morning block of Kids' WB programs) and September 2006, running only two hours of programming each weekday afternoon (compared to 4½ hours on CBS and four hours on ABC) – NBC in comparison ran only three hours of daytime programming each weekday (not counting its morning news program ''
Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'') until September 2000, when it scaled back its daytime programming block to two hours. Because of these reasons, the schedules of the WB's affiliates were largely composed of
syndicated programming Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
.


Affiliate distribution

The WB was the only
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
broadcast network that historically did not have any owned-and-operated stations. Although Tribune Broadcasting maintained an ownership stake in the WB, its stations in the three largest television markets of New York City (WPIX), Los Angeles (KTLA) and Chicago (WGN-TV) were actually ''
affiliates In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or al ...
'' of the network since Tribune did not have a controlling ownership interest in the network to allow its stations to be constituted as O&Os (by 2005, Tribune owned 22.5% of the network, while Time Warner held the controlling 77.5% interest). Time Warner did not have a station group of its own at the time (and still does not in the present day); although its
Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
division did own Atlanta independent station
WPCH-TV WPCH-TV (channel 17), branded on-air as Peachtree TV, is an independent television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is owned by locally based Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate and company flagship WANF (channel 46), and l ...
(then WTBS-TV, the local feed of then-
superstation ''Superstation'' (alternatively rendered as "super station" or informally as "SuperStation") is a term in North American broadcasting that has several meanings. Commonly, a "superstation" is a form of distant signal, a terrestrial television, br ...
TBS) at the time, but it never carried WB programming due to the network's affiliation with
WATL WATL (channel 36) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside NBC affiliate WXIA-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end ...
, which Tribune Broadcasting had owned from 1999 (when it acquired the station from Qwest Broadcasting, which was part-owned by Tribune) to 2006 (when it sold the station to the
Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Tegna, Inc. Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into tw ...
). Unlike the other major networks, the WB distributed its programming in markets that did not have enough commercial television stations to support a standalone WB affiliate to cable-only outlets: the superstation feed of WGN-TV (now known as
NewsNation NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consistin ...
and since converted into a general news cable channel) carried the network's programming from January 1995 to October 1999 to make the WB available primarily to areas where it did not yet have a full-time affiliate. While viewers in the Chicago area saw primetime and Kids' WB programming on separate stations until September 2004 (primetime shows on WGN-TV and children's programs on
WCIU-TV WCIU-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is the flagship television property of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is siste ...
), the WGN superstation feed carried the WB's entire schedule during the four-year period that it carried the network. On September 21, 1998, the WB launched
the WB 100+ Station Group The WB 100+ Station Group (originally called The WeB from its developmental stages until March 1999) was a national programming service of The WB—owned by the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner, the Tribune Company, and group fo ...
, an alternate national feed for small and certain mid-sized U.S. markets (generally those within the bottom 110 Nielsen media markets). The service – which transmitted its content via an IBM-developed data server network that digitally transmitted local and national advertisements, promos,
station identification Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...
s and customized logo bugs to each individual affiliate, with the programming feeds and accompanying data being relayed via
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
and stored to a wireless PC-based system (known as a "station in a box") – was primarily affiliated with cable-only television channels (which were mainly operated by area cable providers), though it was also carried on full-power or low-power stations in some markets. The WB 100+ offered its own master schedule with programs available on the syndication market that were acquired by the WB (including some feature films and
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
s) airing outside of network programming hours; the addition of local advertisements and newscasts were at the discretion of the local distributor. Most of the stations that were part of the WB 100+ Station Group joined
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national programming service feed of The CW that is fully controlled and 75% owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery each owning a 12.5% stake in the network. It is intended primar ...
after The CW's September 2006 launch, though most of the cable-only affiliates that became part of The CW Plus have since been replaced by or converted into
digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
s carried by major network affiliates. WT05 in
Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...
, was the only cable-exclusive WB affiliate that was not part of the WB 100+ Station Group; owner
Block Communications Block Communications Inc. (also known as Blade Communications) is an American privately held holding company of various assets, mainly in the print and broadcast media, based in Toledo, Ohio. The company was founded in 1900 in New York City when ...
(which operates area cable provider Buckeye CableSystem) handled programming for WT05, running its own schedule of syndicated programs during non-network hours – a model the channel maintained as a CW affiliate until its shutdown and replacement by WTVG-DT2 in October 2014. In certain mid-sized and smaller markets, some of the WB's stations held dual affiliations with another major network – most commonly, UPN (with the WB often serving as the primary affiliation) – if there were not enough television stations to allow both networks to maintain separate affiliates (though this was also the case in a few markets where enough stations were available for a standalone affiliate).


News programming

News programming on the WB's affiliates was similar to Fox stations at the time in that the quantity of newscasts varied from station to station. Roughly half of the WB's approximately 200 affiliates aired a local newscast in the 10:00–11:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific (9:00–10:00 p.m. Central/Mountain) time slot at some point during or throughout their affiliations with the network. Fundamentally, the newscast schedules on WB affiliates varied considerably between stations compared to those affiliated with ABC, CBS, NBC and especially Fox. Most WB affiliates generally ran a two-hour morning newscast on weekdays and/or a half-hour or hour-long 10:00 p.m. newscast on Monday through Fridays only or all seven nights of the week; although there were a few larger market stations that maintained in-house news departments that also produced midday newscasts and had morning newscasts that began in the then-traditional 5:00–7:00 a.m. timeslot; early evening newscasts were largely absent on most of these stations. The WB affiliate body had fewer news-producing stations in comparison to stations aligned with the
Big Three television networks In the United States, there are three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks — CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), NBC (National Broadcasting Company), and ABC (American Broadcasting Company) — that due to their longev ...
(NBC, ABC and CBS) and considerably fewer than Fox (which has only around 70 stations with in-house news departments, with most of its stations outsourcing their news programming to a competitor). When the network launched in January 1995, the WB automatically gained five affiliates with functioning news departments through the initial agreement with Tribune Broadcasting, all of whom founded their news operations as either independent stations or during early affiliations with other networks, such as the
DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
: WGN-TV in Chicago, WPIX in New York City, KTLA in Los Angeles,
KWGN-TV KWGN-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States, airing programming from The CW. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox Broadcasting ...
in
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
and
WLVI-TV WLVI (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside WHDH (channel 7), an independent station. WLVI and W ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
(a fifth news-producing station owned by Tribune at the time,
WGNX WGNX (96.7 FM) is an American radio station licensed to Colchester, Illinois, United States. The station is currently owned by Patricia Van Zandt. The station broadcasts a Christian format including some programming from the Moody Broadcasting N ...
in Atlanta, was to become a WB charter affiliate but instead affiliated with CBS after WAGA-TV dropped that network to join Fox in December 1994, through a groupwide affiliation deal between Fox and WAGA owner New World Communications).
KPLR-TV KPLR-TV (channel 11) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, airing programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KTVI (channel 2). Both stations sh ...
in
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
(which would not be acquired by Tribune until 2003, when it bought the station from
ACME Communications ACME Communications was a U.S.-based broadcasting company that was involved in operations of television stations and programming from the late 1990s to the year of 2013. Company profile ACME Communications was co-founded by Chairman and origina ...
) also continued to produce a 9:00 p.m. newscast as a WB affiliate; while
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
's
KTVK KTVK (channel 3) is an independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KPHO-TV (channel 5) and low-power LATV affiliate KPHE-LD (channel 44). KTVK and KPHO-TV share s ...
began running expanded newscasts shortly before joining the WB at the network's launch (it had earlier lost the ABC affiliation to
KNXV-TV KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate KASW (channel 61). Both stations share studios on 44th Street on the city's e ...
, the WB affiliation moved to
KASW KASW (channel 61) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside American Broadcasting Company, ABC affiliate KNXV-TV (channel 15). Both stations share studi ...
, which KTVK began managing under a
local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
upon its sign-on, in September 1995). In the late 1990s, Tribune asked the company's remaining WB-affiliated stations that did not run newscasts to develop their own news departments; the only stations to do this were
KDAF KDAF (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group (based in nearb ...
in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
, KHWB in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
KSWB-TV KSWB-TV (channel 69) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Engineer Road in the city's Kearny Mesa section, and its tran ...
in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
and
WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group and has studios in the Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia; it maintains a ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
– the first three debuted their newscasts in 1999, while WPHL had debuted a 10:00 p.m. newscast that was produced in conjunction with ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' in 1994, before WPHL took over production of the program in 1996. KSWB and WPHL would both shutter their news departments in 2005, outsourcing production of their 10:00 p.m. newscasts to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
owned-and-operated
stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...
in their respective markets (KSWB restored in-house newscasts after it switched from WB successor The CW to Fox in August 2008).
KNTV KNTV (channel 11), branded as NBC Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's NBC network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Sta ...
in San Jose became the largest news-producing WB affiliate by market size to be owned by a company other than Tribune (and the only other affiliate of the network to produce early evening newscasts, after KTVK) after it terminated its ABC affiliation, and began carrying WB programming (in a partial simulcast with then-
sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
KBWB-TV) in 2000, before affiliating with – and then ultimately being purchased by – NBC in 2002.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
also operated several WB affiliates with local news departments:
Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
's
WLFL WLFL (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Durham-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate W ...
was the only WB affiliate that the company owned which had an existing news operation at the time it joined the network (WLFL began producing a 10:00 p.m. newscast as a Fox affiliate in 1992, six years before it joined the WB); Sinclair's
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
, Buffalo,
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
,
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
WB affiliates began producing their own newscasts through Sinclair's local/national hybrid news format
News Central ''News Central'' is an American series of primetime newscast television programs on television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The programs mixed locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from S ...
in the early 2000s. The news departments of all seven of those stations were shut down in 2006 due to companywide cutbacks in Sinclair's news operations and the discontinuance of News Central. Of the former WB affiliates that produced newscasts during their affiliation with the network, only WGN-TV, WPIX, KTLA, KDAF and KIAH (all of whom became affiliates of The CW) continue to maintain self-supporting news departments (KPLR and KWGN respectively merged their news departments with those of Fox affiliates
KTVI KTVI (channel 2) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station KPLR-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios on B ...
and
KDVR KDVR (channel 31) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is simulcast full-time over satellite station KFCT (channel 22) in Fort Collins. The two stations are owned by Nexstar Media Gr ...
through a 2008 management agreement between Tribune and Local TV, while WLVI's news department was shut down after Tribune sold the station to
Sunbeam Television Sunbeam Television Corporation is a privately held broadcasting company based in Miami, Florida, that owns three television stations in the United States. History Sunbeam Television was formed on December 16, 1953, by Sidney Ansin, who inherite ...
in 2006, with production of its 10:00 p.m. newscast taken over by new
sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
WHDH). In most markets, the local WB affiliate either outsourced news programming to an NBC, ABC or CBS station in the market (either due to insufficient funds for production of their own newscasts or in later years after the FCC permitted duopolies in markets with at least eight unique station owners in 2000, the station being operated through a legal
duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...
or operational agreement with a major network affiliate) or opted to carry syndicated programming in the hour following the WB's primetime programming. As with Fox affiliates, WB-affiliated stations whose newscasts were produced by a same-market competitor tended to have fewer programming hours devoted to news than the station producing the broadcasts.


Affiliates

In 2005, the WB had an estimated audience reach of 91.66% of all U.S. households (equivalent to 90,282,480 households with at least one television set); the network was carried by 177
VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
and
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
stations in the United States. The WB was also available in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
and
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
providers through affiliates that are located within proximity to the Canada–US border (whose broadcasts of WB shows were subject to
simultaneous substitution Simultaneous substitution (also known as simsubbing or signal substitution) is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requiring broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) in Canada to dist ...
rules imposed by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
to protect program rights held by a domestically based network), and through two affiliates owned by Tribune Broadcasting (WPIX in New York City and KTLA in Los Angeles) that are classified in that country as superstations, as well as the superstation feed of Chicago affiliate WGN-TV.


Station standardization

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 St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
affiliate
KPLR-TV KPLR-TV (channel 11) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, airing programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KTVI (channel 2). Both stations sh ...
were both referred to as "the WB11" and "WB11" respectively (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 station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
s (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 in 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 Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...
, affiliate (serving
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
) acquired the WWWB call letters and branded on-air as "the WB 32" (it is now known as
WMOR-TV WMOR-TV (channel 32) is an independent television station licensed to Lakeland, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Hillsborough Avenue in east Tampa, and its transmitt ...
). Other stations would take on a 'by city' branding approach (for example, KHWB in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
was called "Houston's WB" and
WLVI-TV WLVI (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside WHDH (channel 7), an independent station. WLVI and W ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
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 in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, or "Hawaii's WB" for
KFVE KFVE (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of the Spanish-language Telemundo network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KGMB (channe ...
in
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, Hawaii), while others also incorporated the channel number (such as
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
affiliate
WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group and has studios in the Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia; it maintains a ...
as "Philadelphia's WB17", or
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, 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).


See also

* 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment *
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
*
DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
* E!, a similarly developed network in Canada, not related to the American cable network *
The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, the television network that replaced the WB and
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
, created by
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
and
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...


Footnotes


External links


''WB Network''
from The Encyclopedia of Television {{DEFAULTSORT:WB, The WB WB WB Nexstar Media Group WB WB WB UPN Joint ventures