Warner Bros. Unveils Plan for 5th Network : Television: Studio sets premiere for next fall. Rivalry with Paramount, which has similar plans, is expected to be fierce.
After months of not-so-secret planning, Warner Bros. Inc. lifted the veil Tuesday on plans to launch a fifth broadcast network that will compete with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.
The network is set to premiere in the fall of 1994 with two nights of programming, and plans call for more than 11 hours of programming daily within five years. Paramount Communications Inc. announced similar plans less than a week ago.
The competition between the two major entertainment companies is expected to become fierce because executives at both companies believe the television marketplace cannot support more than one additional network on top of the four existing ones.
“There is only room for one more network,†said Jamie Kellner, the former president of Fox Broadcasting Co. who sold Warner Bros. on the idea of a fifth network and will be its chief executive. “No way is there room for two more.â€
Chicago-based Tribune Co., which owns and operates the largest independent station group in the country, will serve as the backbone of the new Warner network by aligning its six major-market TV stations, including KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles, with the operation. Warner said it has affiliation agreements from stations covering 40% of the country.
The dueling fifth networks represent efforts by both studios to secure a valuable outlet for their programming in the coming 500-channel household. The studios increasingly believe they must control the distribution of programming as well as its production in the highly fragmented television viewing environment.
Kellner and other Warner executives declined to provide any substantive details about the new network, such as when it will air or what programs will appear.
But they did say that one of the cornerstones of the network will be animation, an area in which Warner has a rich history. Eventually, executives said, famous Warner Bros. cartoons such as Bugs Bunny and Looney Toons might be seen only on the WB Network, as it will be known.
Warner Chief Executive Robert Daly predicted that WB Network will break even by its third or fourth year and will be “clearly profitable†in its fifth. Daly declined to say how much it will cost to start the network, but sources said the seven-year cumulative investment could amount to $2 billion. “We’re in it for the long haul,†Daly said.
He also said that Warner will draw on the studio’s stable of TV writers and producers to create shows for the new network. Warner is the largest program supplier in Hollywood, producing hit shows such as “Murphy Brown†and “Full House.â€
Many of the country’s 422 independent stations, which for years believed that their financial security rested on the simple formula of sports, movies and reruns, now see their only choice for growth in affiliating with a network or program service.
“In a 500-channel universe, you have to have a franchise,†said James Dowdle, chief executive of Tribune Broadcasting Co. “We felt it was time to look very seriously at something like this. To say baseball was our answer for the long term becomes questionable.â€
Indeed, Tribune has been one of the most stalwart of independent station operators, but it has also traditionally programmed a heavy element of news. Tribune executives said they will honor all programming commitments while Warner’s fifth network rolls out.
And that is likely to take several years. If all goes according to plan, Warner will introduce roughly two additional hours of programming every year until 1998, including a morning animation block, daytime shows, a late-afternoon “family†hour and prime-time and late-night programming.
Despite the obvious resources behind a Warner fifth network, many hurdles remain.
For example, in order to reach the minimum 82% U.S. television homes necessary to attract national advertisers, Warner plans to supplement as much as 16% of its coverage area by affiliating with local cable TV systems in areas where there is no available broadcast outlet to carry the network’s signal.
Warner plans to rely on local stations, all of them already affiliated with other networks, to negotiate for a second channel on the cable system. The stations will then split any advertising revenue from the venture with the cable operator.
One hitch could be that major networks such as ABC and NBC, which are already trying to enlist their affiliates in launching new sports and all-talk cable TV networks, will object to Warner approaching their outlets to negotiate for channel space on local cable systems.
And not only must Warner win over potential affiliates, it must keep them from affiliating with Paramount’s planned fifth network.
Paramount now appears to have the better bait. The studio has agreed to use its next “Star Trek†series as the linchpin of its network. “Star Trek†episodes have been mega-hits in syndication.
Ultimately, some observers believe, Warner and Paramount may decide to join forces and jointly operate a fifth network, which would allow each studio to share the burden of risk in what could become a very costly venture.
In the meantime, however, Warner and Paramount are committed to duking it out, and both studios are racing around the country to sign up affiliates. Along the way, each studio is trying to talk up the virtues of its network and point out the weaknesses of its rival’s.
“They are on a little airplane right now trying to stop us,†Kellner said, laughing.
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
