UPN sees glass as half-full
UPN report card
Dec 23, 2003
UPN may be having a tough time in the ratings so far this season, but there is a silver lining. Its rival, the WB Network, has been hit so hard that it makes UPN's woes seem almost mild in comparison.
Down 17% in its core 18-34 demographic (to a 1.5 rating/5 share average for the season-to-date, Sept. 22-Dec. 19), UPN has nevertheless done reasonably well with a new block of ethnic comedies on Tuesdays this fall, including the freshman "All of Us." And while it badly lagged the WB last year, the network has significantly narrowed the overall gap with its competitor this season (the WB is down 22%, to a 1.8).
No wonder CBS chief Leslie Moonves, who also oversees UPN for parent company Viacom, finds some comfort in the numbers.
"The good news for us is we're very close to the WB," Moonves said. "It was five-tenths (of a demo rating point margin last year), and now that's sort of cut in half."
As for the percentage decline, Moonves noted that as a small network, UPN is naturally susceptible to dramatic statistical fluctuations. "When (a rating) goes down a tenth of a point, that's a lot because the base is so low," he said.
Still, UPN, ranked last among the six major broadcasters in most key categories, is struggling with more than just the laws of mathematics these days. Thursday's "WWE SmackDown!" which occupies one-fifth of UPN's 10-hour weekly schedule, started the season with big declines. While its ratings have improved recently, the wrestling extravaganza has still tumbled 21% season-to-date in 18-34.
Even worse is Wednesday, where "Enterprise," the latest in the "Star Trek" franchise, has sunk 24% in the demo -- the WB's decision to move its established hit "Smallville" into the competing slot likely hurt both shows -- while the freshman drama "Jake 2.0" has failed to deliver at 9 p.m.
"We need help Wednesday," Moonves said. "The numbers are disappointing."
While sci-fi hasn't worked very well for UPN in the past couple of seasons, Moonves isn't quite ready to give up on the genre. "It's one thing we're going to look at" in determining the 2004-05 schedule, he said.
The story is much better earlier in the week. The freshman sitcom "Eve" has been a decent addition to the Monday sitcom block, which is flat in 18-34 compared with the same period last year. (The WB, by comparison, has plunged 22% for the night.)
UPN's big play this season is on Tuesdays, where the disappearance of last season's dramas "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Twilight Zone" created an opportunity to shift programming gears. Moonves and UPN entertainment president Dawn Ostroff responded with three freshman sitcoms (plus a returning show, "One on One," that was transferred from Mondays to kick off the night). One of the new series -- the downscale spoof "The Mullets" -- quickly bombed. Another, the domestic comedy "Rock Me Baby," has delivered mediocre results.
But Moonves is cheered by the numbers for "All of Us," a sitcom loosely based on the lives of actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. And he believes that the midseason return of "America's Next Top Model" will help the night considerably.
While UPN is down 11% in 18-34 for the night season-to-date, the Tuesday offerings have helped the network achieve a longtime goal of establishing schedule continuity.
"One of things we have been trying to do with Tuesday night is to get a little bit of flow out of Monday," Moonves said. "Before, when you went from the black comedies (on Monday) to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' there was no flow, and the next night, you were doing 'Star Trek.' So I think Monday and Tuesday are now going hand in hand a lot better, and hopefully we can start spreading (flow across) the week that way."
On Fridays, UPN has stuck with theatrical movies and is flat this season. Moonves said the network at one point toyed with moving sitcoms to the night and putting the movies on Tuesday. In any case, the plans for Fridays next season are "up in the air," he said.
While Moonves' boss, Viacom president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin, recently suggested that the network might open up a sixth night of programming to help lure advertisers, such a change probably won't happen soon.
"That obviously will be an eventual goal," Moonves said. "I don't know if we achieve it this season. We're trying to shore up what we have."
With no breakout hit driving big ratings gains, the balance sheet of UPN remains under considerable pressure with no sign of relief. The network is still losing tens of millions of dollars annually, though Moonves said the financials have improved greatly since CBS assumed control of many of the network's operations early last year.
The ad inventory of "SmackDown," for example, was once sold by the WWE but is now controlled by the CBS ad sales department and can be packaged with eye network series (in return, UPN pays a license fee to the WWE).
"When you're able to sell 'Letterman' with WWE or even 'CSI,' there's a lot more clout" with advertisers, Moonves said.
And Moonves pointed out that while hardly profitable in its own right, UPN continues to help build the 19 Viacom-owned stations that carry the network's programming.
"When I first took over CBS eight years ago, the network was losing hundreds of millions of dollars," Moonves said. "The attitude was, well, it's just a funnel for stations, which are making the profit. Now the network is very profitable, and the stations are even more profitable. So it goes hand in hand. Right now, UPN is in that situation where they're helping our stations. And we foresee that there's a light at the end of the tunnel for that network as well," he said.
Down 17% in its core 18-34 demographic (to a 1.5 rating/5 share average for the season-to-date, Sept. 22-Dec. 19), UPN has nevertheless done reasonably well with a new block of ethnic comedies on Tuesdays this fall, including the freshman "All of Us." And while it badly lagged the WB last year, the network has significantly narrowed the overall gap with its competitor this season (the WB is down 22%, to a 1.8).
No wonder CBS chief Leslie Moonves, who also oversees UPN for parent company Viacom, finds some comfort in the numbers.
"The good news for us is we're very close to the WB," Moonves said. "It was five-tenths (of a demo rating point margin last year), and now that's sort of cut in half."
As for the percentage decline, Moonves noted that as a small network, UPN is naturally susceptible to dramatic statistical fluctuations. "When (a rating) goes down a tenth of a point, that's a lot because the base is so low," he said.
Still, UPN, ranked last among the six major broadcasters in most key categories, is struggling with more than just the laws of mathematics these days. Thursday's "WWE SmackDown!" which occupies one-fifth of UPN's 10-hour weekly schedule, started the season with big declines. While its ratings have improved recently, the wrestling extravaganza has still tumbled 21% season-to-date in 18-34.
Even worse is Wednesday, where "Enterprise," the latest in the "Star Trek" franchise, has sunk 24% in the demo -- the WB's decision to move its established hit "Smallville" into the competing slot likely hurt both shows -- while the freshman drama "Jake 2.0" has failed to deliver at 9 p.m.
"We need help Wednesday," Moonves said. "The numbers are disappointing."
While sci-fi hasn't worked very well for UPN in the past couple of seasons, Moonves isn't quite ready to give up on the genre. "It's one thing we're going to look at" in determining the 2004-05 schedule, he said.
The story is much better earlier in the week. The freshman sitcom "Eve" has been a decent addition to the Monday sitcom block, which is flat in 18-34 compared with the same period last year. (The WB, by comparison, has plunged 22% for the night.)
UPN's big play this season is on Tuesdays, where the disappearance of last season's dramas "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Twilight Zone" created an opportunity to shift programming gears. Moonves and UPN entertainment president Dawn Ostroff responded with three freshman sitcoms (plus a returning show, "One on One," that was transferred from Mondays to kick off the night). One of the new series -- the downscale spoof "The Mullets" -- quickly bombed. Another, the domestic comedy "Rock Me Baby," has delivered mediocre results.
But Moonves is cheered by the numbers for "All of Us," a sitcom loosely based on the lives of actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. And he believes that the midseason return of "America's Next Top Model" will help the night considerably.
While UPN is down 11% in 18-34 for the night season-to-date, the Tuesday offerings have helped the network achieve a longtime goal of establishing schedule continuity.
"One of things we have been trying to do with Tuesday night is to get a little bit of flow out of Monday," Moonves said. "Before, when you went from the black comedies (on Monday) to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' there was no flow, and the next night, you were doing 'Star Trek.' So I think Monday and Tuesday are now going hand in hand a lot better, and hopefully we can start spreading (flow across) the week that way."
On Fridays, UPN has stuck with theatrical movies and is flat this season. Moonves said the network at one point toyed with moving sitcoms to the night and putting the movies on Tuesday. In any case, the plans for Fridays next season are "up in the air," he said.
While Moonves' boss, Viacom president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin, recently suggested that the network might open up a sixth night of programming to help lure advertisers, such a change probably won't happen soon.
"That obviously will be an eventual goal," Moonves said. "I don't know if we achieve it this season. We're trying to shore up what we have."
With no breakout hit driving big ratings gains, the balance sheet of UPN remains under considerable pressure with no sign of relief. The network is still losing tens of millions of dollars annually, though Moonves said the financials have improved greatly since CBS assumed control of many of the network's operations early last year.
The ad inventory of "SmackDown," for example, was once sold by the WWE but is now controlled by the CBS ad sales department and can be packaged with eye network series (in return, UPN pays a license fee to the WWE).
"When you're able to sell 'Letterman' with WWE or even 'CSI,' there's a lot more clout" with advertisers, Moonves said.
And Moonves pointed out that while hardly profitable in its own right, UPN continues to help build the 19 Viacom-owned stations that carry the network's programming.
"When I first took over CBS eight years ago, the network was losing hundreds of millions of dollars," Moonves said. "The attitude was, well, it's just a funnel for stations, which are making the profit. Now the network is very profitable, and the stations are even more profitable. So it goes hand in hand. Right now, UPN is in that situation where they're helping our stations. And we foresee that there's a light at the end of the tunnel for that network as well," he said.
Share on LinkedIn
