According to a great article at Mediaweek, there might be a few problems going on behind the scenes at The CW. As we all know, The CW is jointly owned by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and CBS (NYSE: CBS). Time Warner previously ran The WB, while CBS previously ran UPN; these two netlets felt that a merger made more sense, that by combining the two assets they would create a more powerful media company that could begin to rival other networks like News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox and Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC. It was a good theory, but now executives at Warner Bros. Television Group seem to be expressing doubt about the combo. And I think I am, too.
The article states that Warner Bros. isn't satisfied in terms of the amount of its content that is getting on the air, and it believes that CBS -- which effectively calls the shots for The CW -- has done a poor job of retaining the value of The WB's brand equity and its core audience.
Also mentioned was the fact that CBS, in addition to programming The CW, programs the CBS network, of course. Is this too much of a distraction? There's also been a rumor of Warner Bros. wanting to create an online destination -- or perhaps several of them -- so that it may see if it can do a better job of serving the youthful demographic.
I'll take a wild guess here, but I'd be willing to bet that this kind of acrimony is not what shareholders want to hear. It would be difficult for The CW to grow itself into a major broadcast player if there are indeed squabbles going on.
In hindsight, combining The WB and UPN probably was a bad idea, although I can see why it seemed like the right move at the time. You had these two netlets competing for an increasingly fragmented youthful audience, an audience that both companies wanted to appeal to and one that was highly distracted by iPod's, video games, and the web -- so, you put them together, get some synergies going, and watch the magic fly. The magic didn't fly, though, because harmonious cooperation is sometimes hard to come by in the very competitive world of entertainment. And having CBS run the operations seems really strange now, too-- after all, media companies have, over the years, been buying up broadcasting platforms to ensure that content from their studios has a viable outlet. This obviously goes against such a concept, and it has apparently come to hurt Warner Bros.
So, what should be done now? Well, I personally think it would be best if both CBS and Warner Bros. went their own way. A partnership like this is difficult to run. If CBS and Warner Bros. went back to running their own netlets, or even turning their respective broadcast properties into cable channels, they could call their own shots. When the going got tough for The WB and UPN, instead of merging, they should instead have focused on bringing innovative ideas to light at the cheapest possible cost. The dismantlement of The CW, while a disappointing business thesis, might hold value.
Disclosure: I own shares of Disney; positions can change at any time. Also, I am a faithful viewer of "Smallville" -- like, who isn't?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-03-2008 @ 11:06AM
former supernatural fan said...
YES, PLEASE. Dismantle the CW.
The network is run by monkeys. The CEO is a woman obsessed by romance and soap stories.
She ruined one of the best shows on tv, Supernatural.
And all the new shows? They all suck very much.
They want to do a Beverly Hills 90210 spin- off, that's just wrong.
I want the CW to go down now.
4-04-2008 @ 12:56PM
Tom said...
If the network is having problems then I say it serves them right for canceling Veronica Mars. The only good show on that network right now is Reaper.