(3 of 5)
The first batch of shows on WB and UPN will convince no one that they are bringing something new to TV. The centerpiece of Paramount's schedule is Voyager, the fourth installment in the seemingly indestructible Star Trek series. The rest of UPN's schedule ranges from a mystery-adventure series, Marker, starring teen heartthrob Richard Grieco, to a pair of frenetic Fox- style sitcoms, Platypus Man, in which comedian Richard Jeni plays the oversexed host of a TV cooking show, and Pig Sty, about five twentysomething men who share a New York City apartment. The four sitcoms being introduced by Warner also have the familiar whiff of Fox: former Fox leading men Robert Townsend (Townsend Television) and Shawn and Marlon Wayans (In Living Color) star in broad and unfunny sitcoms, while Unhappily Ever After introduces another crude, dysfunctional family created by Married with Children co- creator Ron Leavitt.
Is there room for two more networks offering another load of laugh tracks, retreads and raunchy wisecracks? Industry opinion is divided. Start-up costs have been estimated at $300 million apiece, and each network could lose between $50 million and $75 million in the first year alone. Also, unlike Fox, which was able to scoop up relatively strong independent stations in a number of markets when it began, Warner and Paramount have had to settle for the weaker leftovers. Paramount seems in the better position at the outset: it has signed up 96 affiliates (covering 79% of the country), and is promising advertisers an optimistic 7 rating (nearly what Fox now averages in a typical week), largely because of high expectations for its Star Trek series. Warner, which has confirmed only 43 affiliates thus far but says more will be on board by launch time, has had to resort to cable -- it will be carried on superstation WGN -- to boost its coverage to 72% of the country.
"It's going to be very difficult for both of us," concedes Lucie Salhany, president of Paramount's UPN. "Can both survive and grow? I don't know." Jamie Kellner, chief of WB, argues that it is hit shows that count. "This is a business that's all in the programming and the promotion," he says. "If you make good programs and promote them properly, people will beat your door down." But executives for the other networks downplay any threat posed by the Warner and Paramount ventures, describing them not as networks but as enhanced versions of the syndication outfits that distribute shows like Oprah, Wheel of Fortune and Baywatch to local stations. "What they're about is the evolution of syndication," says Neil Braun, president of the NBC television network. "What Paramount and Warner have done -- wisely, I think -- is to go out and try to tie up time periods first rather than sell, show by show. I think it's a very smart thing to do. But believe me, there's really no comparison between what they're building and what we have."