• Media Life, Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1 PM

While the upcoming CW network is being positioned as the best of the WB and UPN, the melding of the two is looking a bit wobbly going into its first fall season, which kicks off Sept. 20. Media buyers say that if CW has inherited the best of the WB, it also got the worst of UPN--i.e., a lineup that is all over the demographic map. Since the merger, CW executives have worked to knit together a schedule under Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment at the CW and former UPN president. She says the mix-and-match lineup is part of appealing to everyone in the 18-34 demographic. "What we really need is an umbrella. Under that umbrella, we have a lot of different nights that will appeal to different 18- to-34-year-olds." But according to Chris Neel, vp and associate director of national broadcast at Initiative: "The WB had a distinct identity, but now the CW has inherited the issues that came with UPN, having multiple identities. UPN was always three different networks for three different [groups of] people."

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