For Rivals WB and UPN, the Future Is a Matter of Focus

The two broadcasting entities vying for the title of “fifth network” outlined very different visions of the future over the weekend, with executives at WB saying broadcasters must focus on reaching more targeted audiences, while rivals at UPN maintained that any network following a “narrowcast” model is “ultimately doomed to failure.”

“If you don’t focus yourself to a certain group of people, I think you become unimportant to any group of people,” WB chief executive Jamie Kellner told TV critics in Pasadena, likening the fractured state of TV viewing to what happened when FM radio burst on the scene, cutting into the audience for AM stations.

At a separate session, Kellner’s counterpart, UPN President Dean Valentine, offered an opposing view, contending that broadcasters have not only business incentives but a social responsibility to court a wide audience, saying that there “has to be something that brings America together and unites it.”

WB has successfully courted the 12-to-34 age bracket with programs such as “Dawson’s Creek” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” quickly becoming television’s most popular network among teenagers. The network also segments the audience on certain nights along racial lines, scheduling four comedies featuring predominantly African American casts on Thursdays this fall to counter NBC’s “Must See TV” lineup--an approach Fox employed for years with “Martin” and “Living Single.”

Both services have catered to black viewers in places, seeking to fill a niche underserved by the major networks. WB said greater racial diversity in its programming remains a goal, while UPN President of Entertainment Tom Nunan noted that his network’s programs were “effortlessly integrated.”

WB and UPN officials also disagreed on whether there is room for both to survive, with Kellner suggesting there aren’t enough TV stations, advertising revenue and talented creative people to support six broadcast networks. Valentine said that with new technologies distributing programs eventually won’t be an issue, meaning the best programming will win out.

So far, WB is well ahead in that battle. The network’s audience grew 25% last season, to about 4.5 million people on an average night, fueled by the popularity of the teen-oriented “Dawson’s Creek” and “7th Heaven.” By contrast, UPN’s audience dropped 10%, to 4 million viewers, and WB was able to charge considerably more for advertising time in the coming season.

While WB has what promises to be one of the most critically lauded new series in “Felicity” (described as “Ally McBeal in college”), UPN has drawn particularly harsh criticism for one of its new sitcoms, “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer,” a political farce set in the White House during the Lincoln administration.

WB’s entertainment president, Garth Ancier, said the freedom to focus on reaching a specific audience fosters better programming.

“We can take a program for a somewhat smaller group and make it more to [their] tastes than we could 10 years ago,” he said.

Both networks will expand to five nights of programming per week in the fall. WB will gradually roll out its shows starting Sept. 13, opposite the nighttime Emmy Awards on NBC.