The WB

"The WB Television Network" redirects here. For the American television production company, see Warner Bros. Television Studios. For the channel in India, see WB Channel. For the Latin American and East Asian channel, see Warner TV. For other uses, see WB.
Not to be confused with Warner Bros. or West Bengal.
The WB Television Network
TypeDefunct broadcast television network
CountryUnited States
AffiliatesList of former WB affiliates
HeadquartersBurbank, California, U.S.
Ownership
Owner
ParentThe WB Television Network, Inc.[2]
History
FoundedNovember 2, 1993 (1993-11-02)
LaunchedJanuary 11, 1995 (1995-01-11)
FounderJamie Kellner
ClosedSeptember 17, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-09-17)
Replaced byThe CW
Links
Websitethewb.com (2005 archive)

The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog[3]) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995,[4] as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner and the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Company, with the former acting as controlling partner (and from which The WB received its name). The network aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 35, while its children's division, Kids' WB, targeted children between the ages of 4 and 12.

On January 24, 2006, Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation announced plans to replace their respective subsidiary networks, The WB and UPN, with The CW later that same year.[5] The WB ended its operations on September 17, 2006, with some programs from both it and competitor UPN (which had shut down on September 15) moving to The CW when it launched the following day, September 18.

Time Warner re-used the WB brand for an online network that launched on April 28, 2008, and then August 27, 2008. Until it was closed in December 2013, the website allowed users to watch shows aired on the former television network, as well as programming from the defunct In2TV service created prior to Time Warner's spinoff of AOL. The website could only be accessed within the United States.[6][7]

  1. ^ Greenhouse, Aaron. "The WB Television Network (Unofficial)". cs.cmu.edu. Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science. Retrieved August 5, 2001.
  2. ^ "WB Television Network/The - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com.
  3. ^ "Slanguage Dictionary: F". Variety. 20 February 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Daniel Howard Cerone (January 2, 1995). "New Year Brings 2 New Networks: WB Television and United Paramount Prepare for Their Premieres This Month. But Can They Really Survive Against the Big Four?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  5. ^ Anthony Crupi (January 24, 2006). "UPN, WB to Make the wb on CBS". AdWeek.
  6. ^ Jason Kincaid (August 26, 2008). "The WB Rises From Ashes As Competitor To Hulu". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  7. ^ "The WB.com website". The WB. Time Warner. Retrieved November 7, 2012.