Blaming Buffy

An intelligent girl actually bought the LA Times yesterday - "we're buying a car! I wanted to see the used car prices!" and found an interesting article about the demise of UPN and the WB network stations.

"When the obituary is written of the WB network, the cause of death should probably read: complications resulting from Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Last week, when the money-losing WB and UPN networks announced that they were pulling the plug to form a single new broadcast network, many television veterans traced the roots of the decision back five years, when a fight over the fate of "Buffy" drove what would prove to be a fatal stake through the WB's heart."

"The show, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, was a runaway hit with teenage girls. But in early 2001, the WB balked when Fox executives demanded $44 million to license a single season. That fall, the show shifted to UPN, and with it went the WB's identity as the go-to destination for young viewers."

"As it grew, the WB consistently marketed itself as a youth-oriented network and gained traction with such signature dramas as "Dawson's Creek," "7th Heaven" and "Buffy"."

"...to save the ailing network came in 2001, when UPN agreed to pay about $50 million a season for the rights to "Buffy," $10 million more than the WB had offered to keep the show."

"...Buffy" didn't sustain the high ratings on UPN that it had enjoyed on the WB...during their 11 years, UPN lost more than $1 billion and the WB lost about $700 million."

Buffy had five glorious years on the WB, two rather patchy years on UPN. I miss her.