WB television network
Identification Network television station
Date Aired 1995-2006
The WB competed with UPN to be the fifth television net-
work during the 1990’s.
The WB, founded by Time Warner, Tribune, and
Jamie Kellner, capitalized on changing Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) regulations
concerning television ownership. Kellner, hoping to
launch a network aimed at underrepresented audi-
ences, encouraged station owners to join the WB by
offering profit-sharing schemes, a television first.
Originally designed to compete with UPN, the
WB actually premiered earlier, on January 11, 1995,
only offering programming on Wednesday nights.
However, being available to 83 percent of American
households made the WB network more accessible
than UPN. Of the first six shows, all sitcoms, four
were aimed at African Americans; three of these and
one other were renewed. About nine months into
the season, Sunday programming was added, but
none of these shows survived. Also in 1995, the lucra-
tive children’s programming block Kids’ WB was
started, withTiny Toon AdventuresandAnimaniacs.
For the 1996-1997 season, Monday nights were in-
cluded and the first major success,7th Heaven, which
would become the longest-running family drama,
premiered, as didThe Steve Harvey ShowandThe Jamie
Foxx Show.
The WB’s greatest success began on March 10,
1997, withBuffy the Vampire Slayer. An instant critical
hit, it was also responsible for a 32 percent increase
in teen viewers, male and female, leading to higher
advertising revenues. This success was re-created
beginning January 20, 1998, with the launch of
Dawson’s Creek, which earned the highest ratings in
WB history. Kellner’s ingenious marketing strategy
worked once again in a deal that allowedDawson’s
Creekto use popular music in return for a commer-
cial spot at the end of the show in lieu of paying full
royalties. The show’s theme song, “I Don’t Want to
Wait,” was a Warner Bros. property, increasing reve-
nues for the parent company.
Also in 1998,7th Heavenachieved an 81 percent
increase in viewership andPokémonwas added to
Kid’s WB. Trying to appeal to the teenage girl audi-
ence who loved the strong Buffy character, Kellner
ordered two new shows featuring powerful young
women as the leads,FelicityandCharmed, and began
Thursday night broadcasting.
In 1999-2000, adding Friday nights to its lineup
withRoswellandAngel, the WB was the only network
to gain viewers that year. In 2001,Gilmore Girls;
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch;Smallville; andEverwood
continued the WB’s success, which continued
through 2003, when its slump began. It quit broad-
casting on September 17, 2006, merging with UPN
to become the CW.
Impact The WB successfully targeted African Amer-
ican and teenage viewers. It also produced quality,
well-written shows for the teenage demographic. Be-
tween 1995 and 2003 it syndicated more shows than
any other network and jump-started the careers of
many young Hollywood stars. In 2008, it created the
first Internet network Web site, allowing free viewing
of all WB shows.
Further Reading
Daniels, Susanne, and Cynthia Littleton.Season Fi-
nale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of the WB and
UPN.New York: HarperCollins, 2007.
Stepakoff, Jeffrey.Billion-Dollar Kiss: The Kiss That
Saved “Dawson’s Creek” and Other Adventures in TV
Writing. New York: Gotham Books, 2007.
Leslie NeilanSee also Ally McBeal;Beverly Hills, 90210; Cable
television; Children’s television; Pokémon franchise;
Television; UPN television network. Wegman, William
Identification American painter, photographer,
and video artist
Born December 2, 1943; Holyoke, Massachusetts
Although Wegman began his art career in the 1970’s paint-
ing and creating experimental, minimalist installation
art, he later turned to photography and video art, and the
public has since been drawn to his subsequent droll depic-
tions of costumed dogs.
William Wegman graduated from the Massachusetts
College of Art in 1965 and earned his master of fine
arts degree at the University of Illinois in 1967. For
three years, he taught conceptual art and photogra-
phy at the University of Wisconsin, and there he had
an epiphany about graphic beauty during a photo908 WB television network The Nineties in America