The WB Television Network (known simply as The WB, and nicknamed "The Frog" after former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture amongst Warner Bros. Entertainment (the network's namesake and controlling owner), Tribune Broadcasting, and network president Jamie Kellner. It aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults aged 13 to 35, while its children's programming block, Kids' WB, targeted youth aged 4 to 12.
On January 24, 2006, Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation announced plans to merge The WB and competitor UPN into a new network, The CW, later that year. The WB ceased broadcasting on September 17, 2006, with some programs from both it and UPN (which shut down two days earlier) moving to The CW when it launched the following day, September 18. Time Warner re-used the WB brand for an online network that operated from 2008 to 2013 in the United States, which offered programs from the television network and the defunct In2TV service created before Time Warner's spinoff of AOL.
History
1993–1995: Origins Much like its competitor UPN, The WB was created primarily in reaction to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s April 1993 deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules (fin-syn), and resulting fear that networks would stop buying programs from independent studios. Another reason was the success of the Fox network (which debuted in October 1986) and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s (such as Baywatch, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and War of the Worlds), as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals. The network can also trace its beginnings to the Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN), a programming service operated as a joint venture between Time Warner and the Chris-Craft Industries group of stations and launched in January 1989. It is known that both The WB and UPN were recognized as the fifth American television network after Fox, due to the intent behind both networks' creation, despite The WB and UPN's positions as the fifth and sixth national television networks, respectively. However, it is also recognized that neither The WB nor UPN managed to secure "major" network status at any point during their lifespans. It has been speculated that the "The WB" branding was utilized for the network in order to distinguish it from the Warner Bros.-branded businesses (Pictures, Television, etc.) that existed at the time under the overall Warner Bros. umbrella organization.
Among the independent studios that the end of fin-syn affected was Warner Bros. Television. On November 2, 1993, the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner announced the formation of The WB Television Network, with the Tribune Company holding a minority interest. As such, Tribune Broadcasting signed agreements to affiliate six of its seven television stations, all independent, including the television group's two largest stations, WPIX in New York City and KTLA in Los Angeles – with the network. Only five of these stations, along with a sixth that Tribune acquired the following year, would join The WB at launch; the company's Atlanta independent WGNX would instead agree to affiliate with CBS in September 1994, as a result of Fox's affiliation deal with New World Communications, then-owner of longtime CBS station WAGA-TV. In contrast, New Orleans sister station WGNO did become a WB charter affiliate before joining ABC in January 1996 due to a similar affiliation deal between Fox and SF Broadcasting, owner of longtime ABC station WVUE-TV.
On December 3, 1993, The WB announced a separate affiliation agreement with Tribune for its Chicago flagship station WGN-TV (which originally planned to remain an independent station due to concerns about handling its sports programming commitments while maintaining a network affiliation); 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 stations of The WB since Time Warner held controlling interest in the network's ownership.
When the network was announced, The WB planned to run a predominantly network-programmed schedule over time. It was originally slated to launch with two nights of primetime 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, partly to address potential sports-related programming conflicts on WGN and certain other affiliates (including WPIX and KTLA), as The WB launched with only one night of primetime programming; and by September 1995, the network added only one additional night (Sundays), along with a three-hour Saturday morning (later expanded to four, then five hours), 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, who served as president of Fox from 1986 to 1993; and president of programming Garth Ancier, 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. (a sitcom starring comedians Shawn and Marlon Wayans) as its first program. The classic Warner Bros. cartoon character Michigan J. Frog appeared on-air as the network's official mascot (with animator Chuck Jones, in person, drawing him out after Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck argued about who should launch The WB during the network's premiere), and would remain as part of the network's branding in one form or another until 2005.
Much of the network's branding was based around Warner Bros. locations and characters: the television network's original logo (which was originally displayed upright until 1998, and displayed at a titled angle thereafter) was based on the typography of the iconic Warner Bros. Pictures' "shield" logo; network promotions and imaging campaigns for The WB and the Kids' WB block from their launches until the 2003–2004 season were also respectively centered on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot and the Warner Bros. Ranch Facilities, often involving large marquee 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 borrowed for The WB by former Fox executives Kellner and Ancier). Local station IDs initially used by some WB affiliates until 1997—set to a soft orchestral theme incorporating the musical signature of "Hello Ma Baby"—featured moving projections of the "WB" lettering on CGI models of the Warner Bros. studio lot, with the end tag (in which the affiliate's logo is displayed) prominently featuring the lot's water tower next to a translucent outline of the "WB" logotype (which is briefly lit up as the image zooms out to show the tower and model soundstages).
The WB's scheduling structure was similar to Fox's when it launched, as it started with one night a week of programming and then gradually added additional nights of programming over the course of several seasons: the network started with a two-hour Wednesday night lineup of sitcoms, airing from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. The limited amount of network programming in The WB's early years essentially rendered its affiliates as nominal independent stations; because of this, affiliates held the responsibility of programming primetime slots on nights that the network did not program, airing either first-run and/or off-network syndicated programs or more commonly, movies.
Several of the network's first programs were black sitcoms. Four of the five shows that debuted in the network's first nine months were renewed beyond the first year – The Wayans Bros., Unhappily Ever After (a dysfunctional family sitcom from Married... with Children co-creator Ron Leavitt), The Parent 'Hood (a family sitcom starring and co-created by Robert Townsend), and Sister, Sister (a teen/blended family sitcom starring Tia and Tamera Mowry that was picked up by the network after its cancellation by ABC in the spring of 1995). The four shows had a lasting impact on audiences, while a fifth show, Muscle (a sitcom that parodied primetime soap operas), was canceled after one season due to low ratings, and ultimately replaced with Sister, Sister.
On August 17, 1995, the Tribune Company acquired a 12.5% limited partnership interest in The WB for $12 million; the deal gave Tribune an option to increase its stake in the network up to a 25% interest; 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 vehicle Kirk and night-time soap opera Savannah) managed to garner much viewing interest. The network also launched the Kids' WB programming block in September 1995, which featured a mix of existing Warner Bros. animated series that originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication and originally aired on Monday through Saturday mornings. 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-produced family drama 7th Heaven (centering on a reverend and his family) and comedies The Steve Harvey Show (starring Harvey as a funk musician working as a music teacher at an inner-city Chicago high school), and The Jamie Foxx Show (starring Foxx as an aspiring actor/singer working at a Los Angeles hotel owned by his aunt and uncle).
1997–2000: Courting the teen market The WB first had success with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (a series based on the 1992 film of the same name) which became a hit with critics when it premiered as a mid-season replacement in March 1997. The series debuted with the highest Monday night ratings in The WB's history, attracting not only new teenage viewers, but new advertisers as well.