Advertisement
It was announced Tuesday the UPN and The WB networks will shut down this fall, and programming from both will be used to launch The CW network, aimed mainly at young and minority viewers.
The “C” comes from CBS Corp. and the “W” from Warner Bros., each of which will own half of the new entity and contribute programs, assets and executives to the new venture.
WXOW-TV has operated the local WB affiliate, WBCZ-TV, since it began in 1998. WBCZ-TV is carried on area cable TV systems, and doesn’t broadcast over the air.
Chuck Roth, WXOW-TV vice president and general manager, predicted The CW network will be carried on cable TV systems. He had no prediction whether it eventually will be broadcast over the air in this area.
“Our relationship with WB has worked out very well,” Roth said. “They’ve been happy with our involvement, and the station has been very pleased. They’ve told us they’d like to see it continue as it has been” with The CW. “We anticipate it will,” but many details have to be worked out, Roth said.
KQEG-TV in La Crosse has been the local UPN affiliate. But that will end Friday, said Eleanor St. John, majority owner and managing partner of the station.
“I’ve chosen to go independent,” St. John said Tuesday, declining to comment on why she is doing that now rather than waiting until UPN shuts down. The station will continue working with the FamilyNet network, which has been its secondary affiliate and provides some of its programming.
“We’re investigating some things” as far as more affiliations, St. John said. The station will immediately add more local programming as well as other programming as it ends its UPN affiliation, she said. It already provides more than 10 hours of local programming a week, she said.
