Is there trouble at The CW?
Posted Mar 27th 2008 2:15PM by Steven Mallas
Filed under: Time Warner (TWX), Walt Disney (DIS), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), News Corp'B' (NWS)
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.
I've always though the merger of UPN, and The WB wasn't a good idea, anyway.
John Gibson
Why are these people always trying to cater to a younger audience. There are enough networks that do that. What really needs to happen is more shows should reach a general audience. Don't make it too kiddie, or too mature. A little family friendly couldn't hurt, but don't make it all Milk and Cookies, Rainbows and Lollipops, ya know?
Even some of the shows that are rated G....AREN'T!! Let's try harder!
launchpad25
From what i gather, CBS henpecked Warners into ditching their Kids WB block. Yet, at the same time, Warners henpecked CBS into ditching WWE Smackdown
Translation...
CBS: We hate cartoons. (unless they meet the E/I requirement) We'd rather cater to the hip 20 somethings who still 'watch' reality shows because quite frankly, they're much cheaper to produce than cartoons, or scripted shows for that matter.
Warner Bros: We hate wrestling, but we want to get out of animation because who still gives a crap about Bugs Bunny anymore? (I do!) Comic books are where it's at since Marvel is cleaning our clock at the box office, yet Batman is still popular these days.
CBS & Warner Bros: We only cater to 20 somethings who like to watch 'Pretty White Kids With Problems' because quite frankly, we don't know how to cater to the other demographics anymore, but our moronic execs will never be held accountable for their 'mistakes'
Hiring someone to run a business that doesn't care about their product makes no sense. Clearly these network heads at the CW are someone's kids or relatives.
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