Exact Date Of Merger??

[Joseph_Gallant]

We all know that sometime around or before the Fall season begins, the UPN/WB merger will be completed.

Traditionally, the third Monday in September is the start of the Fall TV season, which this year would be September 18th.

But I think the on-air consolidation will take place a little bit before then. For one thing, I thought that in recent years, both UPN and The WB both began their Fall seasons a week or so prior to the "official" start date (read: the second Monday in September). For another, the CW may want to launch their first Fall season a couple of weeks ahead of "the other guys" to create even more buzz.

While I have heard nothing of an exact date that the CW will be launched, I wouldn't be surprised if UPN and the WB as we know them will both cease to exist a few days after Labor Day and The CW officially starts-up on Sunday, September 10th or Monday, September 11th.

Or, if they want to get another week's head-start, I could even see The CW officially start-up on Tuesday, September 5th, with Monday, September 4th (Labor Day) being the last day for programming on UPN and The WB as we know them).

 

[KMRichards]

> We all know that sometime around or before the Fall season
> begins, the UPN/WB merger will be completed.

Joseph, your speculative post ignores a specific fact.

This is <u>not</u> a merger.

UPN and The WB will cease operation and a new network (at this point called The CW) will begin operation.

There may well be on-air promotion for the new network, but keep in mind that whatever affiliates are being shut out of the process are going to be very reluctant to air same.

I would agree, though, that the new network will begin operation around the same time as the Big Four start fall season premieres.

But any speculation that comes from the viewpoint of this as a merger is going to be flawed.<P ID="signature">______________


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[Yeziknoradio]

> Joseph, your speculative post ignores a specific fact.
> This is not a merger.
>
> UPN and The WB will cease operation and a new network (at
> this point called The CW) will begin operation.
>
> There may well be on-air promotion for the new network, but
> keep in mind that whatever affiliates are being shut out of
> the process are going to be very reluctant to air same.
>
> I would agree, though, that the new network will begin
> operation around the same time as the Big Four start fall
> season premieres.
>
> But any speculation that comes from the viewpoint of this as
> a merger is going to be flawed.

WB49 in Buffalo is going to be a good one to keep an eye on...and see what it does. It's easy to expect channel 23 in Buffalo to be the new CW...but what happens to CBS news an hour earlier? I found that very handy, and I don't believe the new CW has plans to care about local news an hour earlier...
<P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"
</P>

 

[RobertMoore]

Sinclair better have a prayer if their stations are picked as CW affils, and from the way it looks they're already up against not only LIN's WNLO/Buffalo, but also Pappas' WTWB/Greensboro and Belo's KBEJ/San Antonio, not to mention Fox's WUTB/Baltimore, who is rumored to go after WBFF's Fox affiliation. However they do have a chance to get the CW for Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Greenville, Raleigh, Richmond, Birmingham and Nashville.

 

[karaokelegend]

Could CW possibly start on my birthday, September 10? It's very possible.

 

[Mark_Ericson]

> WTWB/Greensboro and Belo's KBEJ/San Antonio, not to mention

KBEJ? I doubt KBEJ will get the nod (though that's just me personally), because it is a rimshot that's supposed to serve as UPN for both San Antonio and Austin (at least, it looks that way from their tower location).

http://www.recnet.com/cdbs/fmq.php?call=kbej

There are local WB stations with much better coverage (Sinclair's KRRT-35 in San Antonio, LIN's KNVA-54 in Austin) of their respective cities.

- Trip<P ID="signature">______________
Visit my website, www.rabbitears.info! It's eventually going to be your one resource for television info! Digital television, histories, and technical information for the entire USA from one source!</P>

 

[Darrel]

Re: Exact Date Of "Changeover"?

> Could CW possibly start on my birthday, September 10? It's
> very possible.

Sunday September 10 sounds like a very good day for the... uh... "changeover" (I'll try not to use "merger" either). It's the perfect "Goldilocks date," meaning it's after the low-audience days of August and Labor Day weekend (not too early), it's likely before the other 4 networks have the bulk of their fall schedules running (not too late), and it's about the same week the disaffiliated stations will have their new schedules set (just right).

However, September 10 is likely the first day of the NFL season, and with that the debut of NBC's Sunday night games. So while it may be good for CW to attract its mostly urban female target audience (those not interested in football, anyway), CW's big night may get overshadowed by NBC's own big night.