The CW - should more stations drop branding?

[carolinaradio]

Good night...looking at The CW's midseason schedule, it just makes them look like a bigger joke. The ratings are awful (not quite as bad as last year's, which were horrid, but they still are not good). They have some new wedding show coming, and that's about all. It is a horrible shame to think about how amazing The WB once was, and what it was pretty much replaced with.

With that said, should more stations follow Tribune in dropping "CW" from their branding and opt for something else? My local CW affil., WYCW, shows programs such as That 70s Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, George Lopez, King/Queens, Roseanne, etc. and takes any possible chance to plug in "on your CW", "CW" this, "CW" that. I mean, should these stations really try so hard to associate themselves with a horrible broadcast network? It's just a 2 hour block of low rated programming.....I wouldn't want it associated with such high profile shows.

Thoughts?

 

[wncc]

WJZY only had CW branding for about a month after the beginning of the CW, they're now branded as Charlotte's WJZY. However, they sister station WMYT embraces the MyNetwork branding as MYTV12(their analog cable assignment from Time Warner).

 

[ding12]

I dislike the CW logo and branding. Also don't think the combination of C and W together is really as aesthetically pleasing or sounding, as was UPN or WB.

 

[Iowan]

In a related story (speaking of brandings), many believed The CW4Kids would be replaced by Toonzai on Saturday morning, but Wikipedia stated that the former would co-exist with the latter due to contractual obligations, which they once said would end in December, but then that last part was removed from their page....

 

[WNCRadioFan]

My two cents on this one: Although there is one CW show I do watch regularly, I'd like to see the branding dropped. I thought it was a HUGE mistake for Channel 62 to drop the WASV calls in the first place, WYCW is kinda blah, at least the WASV was more localized to the Asheville(Greenville-Spartanburg) market.They also seem to mix "Your CW" in with "CW for the Carolinas" , "Your CW for the Carolinas" and even "Carolinas CW" and the colors are kind of sickly- at least IMHO.

 

[MarcB]

There was nothing wrong when Channel 20 in Hartford (Waterbury) dropped their CW-20 Branding and branded themselves as "TXX" for a year and a half. I took issue earlier this year the they branded themselves as "The CT" on WTXX. And then in June. The other shoe dropped. They changed from WTXX (calls they had since the early 80s) to WCCT-TV. - They're still branding as "The CT", but if they're promoting a CW Show (say 90210) it'll come up on-screen "90210 - Monday Nights at 8PM on The CT" and on the side it will say "The Home of CW". In some ads that were on the radio for local shows the ad will say "On The CT, the all new WCCT-TV 20."

Website: http://www.ct.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCTonWTXX (look at that hideous logo. Hello, PBS called. They want their logo back). A transparent version of that logo appears on screen during programming and underneath it says WCCT-TV.

Southpark (which was originally on sister station FOX 61 and for a while was airing on both until they dropped the show in September) makes fun of the change from WTXX to WCCT in this ad from The New Haven Advocate: http://www.bill1820.com/images/wcct-ad-2010-08.jpg (I think The Adovcate is under common ownership with FOX 61 WTIC-TV/WCCT-TV because they own The Hartford Advocate. - That's one of those underground papers with naughty ads in the back).

 

[BRNout]

That WCCT logo has to go into the record books as the UGLIEST television logo of all time. It even makes the old PBS logo (from which it was clearly ripped-off) look stylish!

 

[TexasTom]

Generally, I'm not a big fan of stations branding by network. In particular, it makes little sense for CW and My Network affiliates, since neither of those networks has what I'd call huge brand equity.

But I'll note that even some of the stronger affiliates of the major networks are trying to keep an independent identity. Here in DFW, WFAA channel 8 (ABC) comes to mind. Visiting family in Tacoma, I notice that pretty much all of the major affiliates steer away from branding by network -- and let's face it, "KING 5" (the leading station in Seattle/Tacoma) is a much more memorable branding than would be another "NBC 5".

 

[carolinaradio]

My two cents on this one: Although there is one CW show I do watch regularly, I'd like to see the branding dropped. I thought it was a HUGE mistake for Channel 62 to drop the WASV calls in the first place, WYCW is kinda blah, at least the WASV was more localized to the Asheville(Greenville-Spartanburg) market.They also seem to mix "Your CW" in with "CW for the Carolinas" , "Your CW for the Carolinas" and even "Carolinas CW" and the colors are kind of sickly- at least IMHO.

Nice to see someone else in my market here.
I agree. WASV were very good calls, even though the channel does not target Asheville directly. I shudder every time I hear the peppy voice guy go "weeknights at 7 on your CW!" like it's something to be proud of. WYCW is a very strong station syndication wise, The CW is an embarassment to the rest of the schedule, IMO. Air CW, but don't brag on it! Those green and yellow colors are awful. I guess dreadful colors go hand in hand with a pretty much dreadful network.

Very few stations in my market brand by network, except for FOX Carolina and Carolinas' CW. There's Newschannel 7 (CBS), WYFF 4 (NBC), News 13 (ABC). WMYA/MY 40 uses the MY branding but I don't really mind that, the graphics are decent, the name is decent, and MNTV is really just a primetime programming service, not even a network. I sort of like the "My" branding....makes up for the awful syndicated talk shows/courtroom shows they run.

 

[BRNout]

I agree. WASV were very good calls, even though the channel does not target Asheville directly. I shudder every time I hear the peppy voice guy go "weeknights at 7 on your CW!" like it's something to be proud of. WYCW is a very strong station syndication wise, The CW is an embarassment to the rest of the schedule, IMO. Air CW, but don't brag on it! Those green and yellow colors are awful. I guess dreadful colors go hand in hand with a pretty much dreadful network.

Very few stations in my market brand by network, except for FOX Carolina and Carolinas' CW. There's Newschannel 7 (CBS), WYFF 4 (NBC), News 13 (ABC). WMYA/MY 40 uses the MY branding but I don't really mind that, the graphics are decent, the name is decent, and MNTV is really just a primetime programming service, not even a network. I sort of like the "My" branding....makes up for the awful syndicated talk shows/courtroom shows they run.

Network branding varies by market and the bigger markets that are filled with network O & Os tend to provide the opposite impression as you find in your area. For example, Chicago where we have CBS-2, NBC-5, ABC-7 and FOX Chicago. That's how they ID themselves. Basically because each is owned by the network. The non-network owned affiliates tend to have more of an independent streak, though most FOX affiliates do seem to be an exception.

As for the CW, it is a horrible name for a pretty uninteresting programming service. Ditto for My Network TV. I truly hope that as many stations drop the "CW" branding as possible. For one thing, it sticks in the throat; secondly, the logo ain't got no alibi it's ugly, UGLY, U-G-L-Y. Even the smallest market station can do better.

My has a better logo, but it's far too homogenized. My9, My50, My40, all look exactly the same. The same in LA as in Boston as in Chicago. And for what? A few hours of poor to mediocre programming during the course of a week? Each certainly had a better logo, name and positioner before being absorbed into the "My" network.

 

[MarcB]

My has a better logo, but it's far too homogenized. My9, My50, My40, all look exactly the same. The same in LA as in Boston as in Chicago. And for what? A few hours of poor to mediocre programming during the course of a week? Each certainly had a better logo, name and positioner before being absorbed into the "My" network.

My Network TV is owned by FOX. FOX wants the vast majority of their stations to have similar logos and the same holds true for My Network TV. WCTX Channel 59 in New Haven brands as MY TV 9 (Channel 9 being their cable position) because some cable operators in the New Haven area also carry WWOR Channel 9 out of NYC. WWOR is MY 9. WWOR is also owned by FOX.

Branding in Hartford/New Haven:

3 WFSB CBS Merideth Broadcasting - They go by Channel 3. And their newscast has been branded as Channel 3 Eyewitness News for years and years.

8 WTNH ABC Lin Media - After 14 years as News Channel 8, they changed their name to News 8 this past summer. Before becoming News Channel 8 in '96 their news was Action News.

20 WCCT-TV CW Tribune - "The CT". Before that "TXX". Before that (since the demise of WB) CW 20. Until Viacom sold WVIT to NBC in 96 or 97 WVIT was LMAing WTXX. They were UPN 20. When Tribune began LMAing WTXX before they bought it outright they changed the branding to "Connecticut's 20" and their logo was "CT20". In 2000 or 2001 they got the WB from Channel 59 and became WB 20. (And they actually started using the WB20 branding in mid-December 3 weeks before officially flipping to WB).

30 WVIT NBC O&O - "NBC Connecticut". (They started that name in '09 when they opened their new HD Studios). From the time NBC bought the station in '96 or ' 97 until '09 they were NBC 30. Under Viacom's ownership their logo was 30 then the NBC logo. And back then their news was branded as Connecticut News 30.

59 WCTX My TV Lin Media - "MY TV 9" and before that "UPN 9". from the day they flipped from WB to UPN until 04 or 05 they banded as "THE X". Before that they were WB 59.

61 WTIC-TV FOX Tribune - "FOX Connecticut". Prior to December 2009 they were FOX 61.

 

[justpassingthough]

The CW was a branding nightmare from the beginning. The logo and colors are just atrocious. The WB had great imaging and name recognition thanks to other Warner Bros properties. Heck, even most of the kiddies knew who they were, if they had visited a Six Flags theme park in the past 20 years. With that said, I actually am a regular viewer of a few shows on the CW.

Its too little, too late now, but I think it would have been wise to keep the WB branding, as the shows left on the combined network were most closely aligned with the WB's existing demographic and a majority of the CW stations were former WB affiliates. Young women don't care that this is a network co-owned by Warner Bros and CBS. If anything, even playing off the CBS ownership would have been better. CBS is losing some of its stigma attached to attracting an older audience, and perhaps branding the CW something like 'CBS Women' or 'CBS2' would have better served the audience and the corporation. I'm guessing Warner Bros would have looked the other way if it made the network more profitable...

 

[carolinaradio]

Even though it is not NEARLY as good, I have always considered The CW to be more similar to WB than UPN from day one.
Why do they insist on calling themselves "The" CW? The CBS Warner? Same could be said for "The" WB, though....

Tribune was smart in dropping the CW branding and its color scheme from non-CW hours. I hope more stations follow. What's funny is that most of the syndicated fare on my local affiliate seems like it would have a totally different audience than CW. The whole image has never been very good.

I have lost any faith in the CW to go anywhere. This season's ratings pretty much tied with last year to be the worst ever. Shows aren't that great, Smallville (ending finally) and One Tree Hill are exhausted.....the only thing somewhat watchable to me is Supernatural. The sole new midseason show tells a lot..."Shedding For The Wedding."

 

[kilamanjero]

My two cents on this one: Although there is one CW show I do watch regularly, I'd like to see the branding dropped. I thought it was a HUGE mistake for Channel 62 to drop the WASV calls in the first place, WYCW is kinda blah, at least the WASV was more localized to the Asheville(Greenville-Spartanburg) market.They also seem to mix "Your CW" in with "CW for the Carolinas" , "Your CW for the Carolinas" and even "Carolinas CW" and the colors are kind of sickly- at least IMHO.

Nice to see someone else in my market here.
I agree. WASV were very good calls, even though the channel does not target Asheville directly. I shudder every time I hear the peppy voice guy go "weeknights at 7 on your CW!" like it's something to be proud of. WYCW is a very strong station syndication wise, The CW is an embarassment to the rest of the schedule, IMO. Air CW, but don't brag on it! Those green and yellow colors are awful. I guess dreadful colors go hand in hand with a pretty much dreadful network.

Very few stations in my market brand by network, except for FOX Carolina and Carolinas' CW. There's Newschannel 7 (CBS), WYFF 4 (NBC), News 13 (ABC). WMYA/MY 40 uses the MY branding but I don't really mind that, the graphics are decent, the name is decent, and MNTV is really just a primetime programming service, not even a network. I sort of like the "My" branding....makes up for the awful syndicated talk shows/courtroom shows they run.

WLOS now goes by the "ABC 13" branding outside of the non-news programming where "News 13" is used. I remember visiting family in the Upstate (in the Greer area) recently and noticed this to be a fact. Sinclair is notorious for directly tying their affiliates branding with the network...

 

[nomadcowatbk]

KMIZ in Columbia MO goes by "ABC 17", Scrips owned KSHB in Kansas City goes by "NBC Action News" or "NBC Action Weather", Does channel number even matter any more with Cable and DTV?

 

[Charles1]

WVTM-13 recently dropped their NBC-13 branding in favor of a return to Alabama's 13. Doesn't matter what they call themselves. The station is still horrible.

All other network affiliates brand their station according to their network affiliation: WBRC: Fox 6. WCFT/WJSU: ABC 33/40. WIAT: CBS 42. WTTO: CW 21. WABM: My 68. I'm not sure how the Ion affiliate WPXH-44 brands themselves, since I have Dish Network and just get the national Ion feed.

 

[carolinaradio]

WLOS now goes by the "ABC 13" branding outside of the non-news programming where "News 13" is used. I remember visiting family in the Upstate (in the Greer area) recently and noticed this to be a fact. Sinclair is notorious for directly tying their affiliates branding with the network...

Oh, ok...I rarely watch 13 outside of primetime.

Does ION brand their stations differently? I always figured they just called themselves...ION like the national feed as most of the affiliates use the same national schedule (infomercials outside of 3pm-12am) as far as I know.

 

[DToTheJ]

I truly hope that as many stations drop the "CW" branding as possible... the logo ain't got no alibi it's ugly, UGLY, U-G-L-Y...

Nice Fishbone reference!

You'd think if the biggest of the CW stations were doing away with the identity (New York's WPIX, which scraped the giant "CW" logo letters off its building on East 42nd Street not too long ago), that the others would eventually follow suit.

Branding in Hartford/New Haven:

30 WVIT NBC O&O - "NBC Connecticut". (They started that name in '09 when they opened their new HD Studios). From the time NBC bought the station in '96 or ' 97 until '09 they were NBC 30. Under Viacom's ownership their logo was 30 then the NBC logo. And back then their news was branded as Connecticut News 30...

And who can forget its branding before all of that - giant block lettering of the call letters with the script "Thirty" over it.

 

[MarcB]

And who can forget its branding before all of that - giant block lettering of the call letters with the script "Thirty" over it.

That was either before my time or when I was too young to notice (or care). I was born in May of 82. And I don't have a lot of memories from when I was really young.

 

[kilamanjero]

WVTM-13 recently dropped their NBC-13 branding in favor of a return to Alabama's 13. Doesn't matter what they call themselves. The station is still horrible.

I'm almost to the point where I wish either Gannett (and their generic look) or even some local business person would purchase WVTM from Media General. I hate what that station has become under Media General's ownership. Even NBC-Universal treated the station with decency and basics, but now it is just local infomercial outfit with some news being delivered here and there.

All other network affiliates brand their station according to their network affiliation: WBRC: Fox 6. WCFT/WJSU: ABC 33/40. WIAT: CBS 42. WTTO: CW 21. WABM: My 68. I'm not sure how the Ion affiliate WPXH-44 brands themselves, since I have Dish Network and just get the national Ion feed.

All Ion stations are just called "ION, and [their local station ID]" at the top and bottom of each hour. In Birmingham's case it's now "ION, WPXH-TV 44 Gadsden/Birmingham"