UPN Pins Ratings Hopes on New Projects

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN
.c The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Executives at UPN, the struggling network known for smackdowns, vampire slayers and minority sitcoms, said Sunday they hope to bring projects from Will Smith, Mel Gibson and the rap star Eve to television.

The sixth-ranked broadcast network had difficulty solidifying its disparate viewer base and hopes to do that with high-profile names, said Les Moonves, president of CBS, which oversees UPN.

``One of the problems that UPN had - and we're trying to focus it in, and you can't get there overnight - is the fact that UPN has had five different audiences on five different nights,'' Moonves said at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

Shows such as ``The Parkers'' and ``Girlfriends'' on Mondays attract predominantly black audiences, he said, while ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' draws its own niche audience on Tuesdays. The Star Trek spinoff ``Enterprise'' and the new ``Twilight Zone'' anthology appeal to sci-fi fans on Wednesdays, and wrestling fans tune in Thursdays for ``WWE SMACKDOWN!''

Fridays feature a miscellaneous movie each week, and few of the shows have crossover appeal with each other.

``We're trying to bridge the nights so there's a lot more of a flow within the network,'' Moonves said. ``We don't make predictions on how long it's going to take.''

One strategy is to get big names associated with UPN, whether as producers or stars.

For instance, Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are developing a program about a married couple dealing with the husband's first wife and their son, while Mel Gibson is creating a drama about do-gooder con artists who pull different scams each week, said Dawn Ostroff, president of UPN entertainment.

While Gibson and the Smiths are unlikely to star in their shows, rapper Eve would likely take the lead role in her comedy about the fashion world.

The development schedule for those programs remains uncertain, but this season's new releases on UPN include ``Platinum,'' a hiphop drama about a family's music empire, and ``Abby,'' a sitcom starring Sidney Poitier's daughter Sydney Tamiia Poitier.

A new reality show, ``America's Next Top Model,'' stars Tyra Banks as one of the judges.

Moonves and Ostroff said they were uncertain about the future of ``Buffy,'' and said the fate of the show depends on whether series star Sarah Michelle Gellar wants to continue.
UPN cuts loss in half vs last yr-exec

By Ben Berkowitz






LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - UPN, the broadcast network best known for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the latest "Star Trek" series and sitcoms aimed at black audiences, has cut its losses in half from last year, a top executive said Sunday.

"Financially, UPN is in better financial shape than (at any other time) in its eight-year history," said Les Moonves, the president and chief executive of CBS who also oversees UPN, noting that advertising revenue is up 25 percent in 2002 versus 2001 even as the network works to shore up ratings.

"Obviously, UPN lost a great deal of money last year but losses have been cut over 50 percent for this year," said Moonves, speaking at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Los Angeles. He did not give details on the reduced loss.

Both CBS and UPN are owned by Viacom Inc., with Moonves running the two networks since early 2002.

UPN still generates its biggest profits from professional wrestling shows, Moonves said. "Thursday night, our wrestling night, is our most profitable night," he said, even though World Wresting Entertainment Inc. sells most of the advertising time for that programming.

Moonves said the network was recovering from a slump in ratings and also improving its financial health.

Of the seven broadcast networks, UPN has finished a consistent sixth in the ratings this season, even with high-profile shows like the long-running "Buffy," "Enterprise," the latest "Star Trek" series, and wrestling.

Like the other broadcast networks, UPN is in the midst of rolling out its midseason slate, which relies heavily on its traditional appeal to black audiences, to fill gaps in its schedule and replace canceled programs.

Among its new shows are the hip-hop drama "Platinum," starring rapper Sticky Fingaz; "Abby," starring award-winning actor Sidney Poitier's daughter Sydney; and reality series "America's Next Top Model," with model Tyra Banks.

"People today, especially UPN's young-adult audience, live and work in a multicultural world, and television needs to reflect that reality," Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment for UPN, told TV writers.

"Obviously we are trying to make more of our casts interracial," Moonves added, "and yes, we would like to expand beyond an African-American audience, and I think we've accomplished that."

Moonves said he wanted the network to be viewed as younger and hipper, and evolve into a "fuller network." To that end, he said viewers will see little CBS programming pop up on UPN.

Ostroff said the network was cross-promoting "Platinum," by rebroadcasting the show on sister network MTV, also owned by Viacom, and pursuing a deal for music albums from the show and its stars.

She also said the network is in development on a comedy with husband-and-wife actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith and on a drama with Mel Gibson.

hmm, interesting read.

of course the important thing to me is Sarah and Buffy. And from the sound of it UPN hasn't changed it stance on Buffy, they want the show but apparently it's still in discussions and looks to be now completely hingeing on Sarah and if she wants to continue. Just want she needs more pressure. oh dear.

Also sounds like part of thier savings might have been on promotions for thier shows. (oops did I say that )
at any rate they are still loosing money but not as much which is good. and buffy has something to do with that since Buffy, ENterprise and WWF are all mentioned in the same sentance.

so what does this all really mean, not a thing yet. they danced around the important question and put the pressure on Sarah (which might have been a tactic to get her to sign on) to renew.

Maybe that is the reason the fight this week didn't look too difficult for her... the producers are trying to coddle her into resigning. Perhaps she'd be more willing to if they scaled back her responsibilites or screen time so she wouldn't have to film as many days a week, or something like that (hey, they've been several episodes with limited Buffy-time and they've still been quite good).

And perhaps her adoring fans (that would be us ) should bombard her with mail selflessly begging her to resign before we commit a strange cultish mass suicide.
Well, except for that suicide part...

sounded positive that UPN is still interested in Buffy.

Agree with you SMGVBEST...man the pressure that Sarah could be feeling about this if it truely all comes down to her decision.