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| name = United Paramount Network
| logo = UPN logo.svg
| logo_caption = Final logo used from 2002 to 2006
| type = Defunct broadcast [[television network]]
| country = [[United States]]
| affiliates = [[List of former UPN affiliates]]
| headquarters = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] {{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}
| owner = {{Plainlist|
* [[BHC Communications|United Television/Chris-Craft Television]] (1995–2000)
* [[Viacom (
* [[CBS Corporation]] (2005–2006)
}}
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| launch_date = {{Start date|1995|1|16}}
| closed_date = {{End date|2006|9|15}}<br/>({{Age in years and days|1995|1|16|2006|9|15}})
| founder = [[United Television]] (a subsidiary of [[Chris-Craft Industries]]) and [[Paramount Television]] (a subsidiary of [[Viacom (
| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20050427002755/http://www.upn.com/|upn.com}} (archived 2005)
| replaced_by = [[The CW]]<!--Do not add MyNetworkTV. There's no common ownership. Inheriting some affiliates does not make it a successor.-->
}}
The '''United Paramount Network''' ('''UPN''') was an American [[terrestrial television|broadcast]] [[television network]] that
== History ==
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Other early UPN programs included the action series ''[[Nowhere Man (TV series)|Nowhere Man]]'', starring [[Bruce Greenwood]] and ''[[Marker (TV series)|Marker]]'', starring [[Richard Grieco]]; the comic western ''[[Legend (TV series)|Legend]]'' starring [[Richard Dean Anderson]]; the sci-fi themed action series, ''[[The Sentinel (TV series)|The Sentinel]]''; and ''[[Moesha]]'', a sitcom starring R&B musician [[Brandy (entertainer)|Brandy Norwood]]. Of the network's early offerings, only ''Star Trek: Voyager'', ''Moesha'' and ''The Sentinel'' would last longer than one season. As a result of the lack of viewership, UPN operated on a loss and had lost $800 million by 2000.<ref>{{cite magazine |title = Why Won't Anyone Pull the Plug on UPN? |url = https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/04/03/why-wont-anyone-pull-the-plug-on-upn |first = James |last = Surowiecki |magazine = [[The New Yorker]] |date = April 3, 2000 |access-date = January 17, 2010 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081218170110/https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2000/04/03/2000_04_03_032_TNY_LIBRY_000020545 |archive-date = December 18, 2008 }}</ref>
Within nearly two years of the network's launch, on December 8, 1996, Paramount/Viacom purchased a 50% stake in UPN from Chris-Craft for approximately $160 million.<ref>{{cite news |title = Viacom Buys 50 Percent Stake in UPN Network |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/05/business/viacom-buys-50-percent-stake-in-upn-network.html |newspaper = The New York Times |date = December 5, 1996 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015094516/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/05/business/viacom-buys-50-percent-stake-in-upn-network.html |archive-date = October 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Viacom to Buy Half of UPN: Is Investing $160 Million in Fledgling Network |url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18935896.html |first1 = Steve |last1 = McClellan |first2 = Lynette |last2 = Rice |periodical = [[Broadcasting & Cable]]
UPN ordered 36 sci-fi films to air as part of its weekly movie presentations beginning in 1998; the films were supplied by four production companies, with most of the titles coming from Paramount. Some titles would be shown on [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] first, which allowed the [[pay television|premium cable channel]] to cooperate in advertising the movies.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Segrave |first1 = Kerry |title = Movies at Home : How Hollywood Came to Television |date = 1999 |publisher = McFarland |location = Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn = 0786406542 |page = 144 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IZTehB3M1_kC&pg=PA144 |access-date = January 8, 2016 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160624054459/https://books.google.com/books?id=IZTehB3M1_kC&lpg=PA146&pg=PA144 |archive-date = June 24, 2016 }}</ref>
UPN completed its prime time expansion in the 1998–99 season, with Thursdays and Fridays as the last nights of programming to be added to the network's evening slate. That season saw the debut of ''[[The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer]]'', a sitcom set during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] that centered on a black English nobleman who becomes the valet to [[Abraham Lincoln]]; even before its premiere, the series was riddled by controversy and protests from several African American activist groups (including the Los Angeles chapter of the [[NAACP]], who picketed outside [[Paramount Studios]] one week before the originally scheduled [[television pilot|pilot episode]]) and some advertisers for its perceived lighthearted take on [[Slavery in the United States|American slavery in the 19th century]]
=== 1999–2004: Viacom era and decline ===
[[Image:Paramount networklogo.jpg|225px|thumb|Proposed logo for the scrapped Paramount Network.]]
Six months
Unable to find a suitable partner, on March 20, Chris-Craft allowed Viacom to buy out its 50% stake for $5 million, giving Viacom full control of the network.<ref>{{cite news |title = Viacom Buys Chris-Craft's Stake in UPN for $5 Million |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/21/business/viacom-buys-chris-craft-s-stake-in-upn-for-5-million.html |first = Bill |last = Carter |newspaper = The New York Times |date = March 21, 2000 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151117102355/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/21/business/viacom-buys-chris-craft-s-stake-in-upn-for-5-million.html |archive-date = November 17, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Viacom Wins UPN so Let the Digestion Begin |url = http://www.medialifemagazine.com:8080/news2000/mar00/news20321.html |periodical = [[Media Life Magazine]] |date = March 2000 |access-date = May 4, 2013 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130617235807/http://www.medialifemagazine.com:8080/news2000/mar00/news20321.html |archive-date = June 17, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = UPN Deal Done; Viacom Buys out Chris-Craft Share |url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62239976.html |first1 = Melissa |last1 = Grego |first2 = Joe |last2 = Schlosser |periodical = Broadcasting & Cable
Shortly afterward, Viacom shortened the network's official name from the "United Paramount Network" to the three-letter initialism, "UPN". Viacom also proposed a rebranding of UPN into the "'''Paramount Network'''", using a prototype logo based on Paramount's mountain logo, which served as the basis for the "P" triangle in the network's original logo that was used until September 2002.<ref>{{cite news |title = Media Talk: UPN Will Become Paramount Network |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/31/business/media-talk-upn-will-become-paramount-network.html |first = Jim |last = Rutenberg |newspaper = The New York Times |date = July 31, 2000 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015094613/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/31/business/media-talk-upn-will-become-paramount-network.html |archive-date = October 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = UPN Network Will Carry On Without Its 'U' |url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-26-ca-59125-story.html |first = Greg |last = Braxton |newspaper = Los Angeles Times |date = July 26, 2000 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015094628/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/26/entertainment/ca-59125 |archive-date = October 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = UPN's Name in 2001: Paramount Network |url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-26-fi-59235-story.html |agency = Associated Press |newspaper = Los Angeles Times |date = July 26, 2000 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015095147/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/26/business/fi-59235 |archive-date = October 15, 2015 }}</ref> This idea was abandoned after many affiliates protested, citing that the rebranding might confuse viewers and result in ratings declines, alongside the costs of rebranding their stations with a new image and new network (and possible call sign changes). Several years later, cable television network Spike (part of Viacom)
Viacom's purchase of [[CBS]] a few months before (which resulted in the merger of that network's owned-and-operated stations into Viacom's Paramount Stations Group unit), created duopolies between CBS and UPN stations in Philadelphia ([[KYW-TV]] and WPSG), [[Boston]] ([[WBZ-TV]] and [[WSBK-TV]]), [[Miami]] ([[WFOR-TV]] and [[WBFS-TV]]), [[Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex|Dallas–Fort Worth]] ([[KTVT]] and [[KTXA]]), [[Detroit]] ([[WWJ-TV]] and [[WKBD-TV]]), and [[Pittsburgh]] ([[KDKA-TV]] and [[
At the time of UPN's launch, the network's ''[[de jure]]'' [[Flagship (broadcasting)|flagship station]]s were Chris-Craft-owned WWOR-TV in [[Secaucus, New Jersey]] (which serves the New York City market) and KCOP-TV in [[Los Angeles]] (which serves the Los Angeles market). Even after Chris-Craft sold its share in the network to Viacom, WWOR and KCOP were still commonly regarded as the ''de jure'' flagship stations of the network since it had long been common practice for this status to be associated with a network's station in the East Coast and West Coast. For this reason, some doubt was cast on UPN's future after Fox Television Stations bought most of Chris-Craft's television stations for $5.5 billion on August 12, 2000, which included several UPN affiliates (including WWOR and KCOP).<ref>{{cite news |title = Fox in the UPN house |url = https://www.nexttv.com/news/fox-upn-house-87627 |first = Steve |last = McClellan |periodical = [[Broadcasting & Cable]] |date = August 21, 2000 |access-date = May 4, 2013 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112714/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/news-articles/fox-upn-house/87627 |archive-date = September 24, 2015 }}</ref> Fox later bought the third-largest UPN affiliate, Chicago's WPWR-TV, through a separate deal with [[Newsweb Corporation]] for $450 million in June 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title = Fox Duops in Chicago |url = https://www.nexttv.com/news/fox-duops-chicago-93050 |first = Steve |last = McClellan |periodical = Broadcasting & Cable |date = June 30, 2002 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112703/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/news-articles/fox-duops-chicago/93050 |archive-date = September 24, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Fox Takeover to Bring Changes to Chicago-Area Television Station |url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-90412674.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924165032/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-90412674.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = September 24, 2015 |first = Kathy |last = Bergen |agency = Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
In 2001, UPN entered into a public bidding war to acquire two series from The WB – ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Roswell (TV series)|Roswell]]'' – from producing studio [[20th Century Fox Television]]. UPN eventually outbid The WB for the shows and aired them together on Tuesday nights until ''Roswell'' ended its run in 2002; ''Buffy'' ended its run the following year. In January 2002, Viacom President and COO, [[Mel Karmazin]] restructured the network, resulting in UPN being taken out of the ownership of [[Paramount Television]], and being placed under the oversight of CBS Television, with CBS President [[Leslie Moonves]] being given responsibility for the network. Under CBS, new shows began to breathe life into the network starting in Fall 2003 with ''[[America's Next Top Model]]'' and sitcom ''[[All of Us]]'' (which was produced by [[Will Smith|Will]] and [[Jada Pinkett Smith]]), followed up by the Fall 2004 premiere of the mystery series ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' and the Fall 2005 premiere of the sitcom ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]'', produced and narrated by [[Chris Rock]].
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On January 24, 2006, UPN parent CBS Corporation and [[Time Warner]], the majority owner of The WB, announced that they would shut down the two respective networks and launch a new broadcast network that would be operated as a joint venture between both companies, [[The CW]], which incorporated UPN and The WB's higher-rated programs with newer series produced exclusively for The CW. The new network immediately signed 10-year affiliation agreements with 16 stations affiliated with The WB (out of 19 stations that were affiliated with the network) that were owned by that network's part-owner, the [[Tribune Media|Tribune Company]] – including stations in the coveted markets of [[WPIX|New York City]], [[KTLA|Los Angeles]] and [[WGN-TV|Chicago]] – and 11 UPN stations that were owned by CBS Corporation.<ref name="UPN, WB merge"/><ref>{{cite news |title = UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/business/media/24cnd-network.html?bl |first = Bill |last = Carter |newspaper = The New York Times |date = January 24, 2006 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151017035638/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/business/media/24cnd-network.html?bl |archive-date = October 17, 2015 }}</ref> Fox Television Stations' nine UPN affiliates were passed over for affiliations as a result, and two days later, those stations removed all UPN branding from those stations and ceased promotion of the network's programs. One month later on February 22, Fox announced the formation of [[MyNetworkTV]], a new network that would also launch in September 2006 that would use the company's soon-to-be former UPN affiliates as the nucleus.<ref>{{cite news |title = News Corp. to Launch New Mini-Network for UPN Stations |url = http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-02-22-fox-my-network_x.htm |agency = [[Associated Press]] |newspaper = [[USA Today]] |date = February 22, 2006 |access-date = January 21, 2013 }}</ref> Over the next eight months, determinations were made as to which shows from the two networks would cross over to The CW, as well as which of UPN and The WB's affiliate stations would be selected to become affiliates of the new network. Programming-wise, six UPN shows – ''America's Next Top Model'' (which was the last surviving series from UPN that remained on The CW's schedule until it moved to [[VH1]] in 2016), ''Veronica Mars'', ''Everybody Hates Chris'', ''[[Girlfriends (2000 TV series)|Girlfriends]]'', ''All of Us'', and ''[[WWE SmackDown|WWE SmackDown!]]'' – were chosen to move to The CW for its inaugural 2006–07 fall schedule.
With the exception of ''WWE SmackDown!'', all of the programs that aired during the network's final three months were reruns. Unlike The WB, which closed its operations two days later with ''[[The Night of Favorites and Farewells]]'' (a special night of programming paying tribute to the network's most popular series), UPN closed with little to no fanfare on September 15, 2006, fading to black after that night's ''WWE SmackDown!
== Programming ==
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=== News programming ===
Like Fox and The WB, UPN never aired national morning or evening [[newscast]]s; however, several of its affiliates and owned-and-operated stations did produce their own local news programs. Several UPN affiliates ran a local newscast in the 10:00–11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific (9:00–10:00 p.m. Central and Mountain Time) timeslot at some point during or throughout their affiliations with the network; there were also a few stations that produced a weekday morning newscast, although early evening newscasts were largely absent on most of these stations. The UPN affiliate body had fewer news-producing stations in comparison to stations aligned with the Big Three television networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) and considerably fewer than Fox and especially The WB. In several markets, the local UPN affiliate either outsourced news programming to an NBC, ABC or CBS station in the market (either due to insufficient funds or studio space for production of their own newscasts, or in later years after the FCC permitted duopolies in markets with at least eight unique station owners in 2000, the station being operated through a legal duopoly or [[local marketing agreement|management agreement]] with a major network affiliate); other affiliates opted to carry syndicated programming in the hour following UPN's primetime programming lineup. For example, one of the largest O&O UPN affiliates in the country, [[WPWR-TV]], never aired news programming in its 11-year run. This is mainly due to Viacom and [[Chris-Craft Corporation|Chris Craft]]'s non-affiliation with the Chicago station
When the network launched in January 1995, UPN automatically added six affiliates with functioning news departments through Chris-Craft/United Television and Viacom's respective affiliation deals with the network; all of those stations started their news operations as either [[Independent station (North America)|independent stations]] or during prior affiliations with other networks: WWOR-TV/Secaucus, New Jersey (New York City), KCOP-TV/Los Angeles, [[WKBD-TV]]/[[Detroit]], [[KPTV]]/[[Portland, Oregon]], [[KMSP-TV]]/[[Minneapolis]] and [[WTOG]]/[[Tampa, Florida]]. Two more stations would join them later on: [[KSTW]]/[[Seattle]], also owned by Viacom at the time, after it affiliated with UPN in 1997 through the reversal of a 1995 affiliation switch with CBS affiliate [[KIRO-TV]] (which also kept its news department as a UPN affiliate), and KMAX-TV/Sacramento, which joined UPN after being acquired by Viacom in 1998 and began producing newscasts shortly after its 1995 affiliation with The WB. KSTW and WTOG's news departments were shut down in 1998 due to cost-cutting measures mandated by Viacom; newscasts would briefly return to KSTW via a news sharing agreement with KIRO-TV between 2003 and 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title = News not Paramount |url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-53395671.html |first = Dan |last = Trigoboff |periodical = Broadcasting & Cable |date = December 7, 1998 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155349/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-53395671.html |archive-date = September 24, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = WTOG to Shutter News Operation |url = https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/1998/07/06/daily5.html |newspaper = [[American City Business Journals
Not all of UPN's news-producing stations were owned by the two companies that formed the nuclei of the network's affiliate group; [[WUAB]]/[[Cleveland]], which started its news department in 1988, also continued its 10:00 p.m. newscast as a UPN affiliate (it would begin producing newscasts for sister station [[WOIO|WOIO-TV]] in February 1995, after that station became a CBS affiliate; though WOIO eventually took over production of the newscast by 2002). [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] affiliate [[WXBU|WLYH-TV]] briefly continued its newscasts after switching to UPN from CBS in 1995, until [[WHP-TV]] began operating the station under a [[local marketing agreement]] that fall. [[WFTC]]/Minneapolis continued to produce a late evening newscast after [[Fox Television Stations]] (which acquired KMSP-TV through the Chris-Craft purchase, and converted it into a Fox O&O) acquired the station from [[Clear Channel Communications]] and switched the station to UPN – it was moved to 10:00 p.m. to avoid competing with KMSP's 9:00 p.m. newscast until the WFTC newscast was canceled in June 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title = WFTC Drops Newscast at 10; KMSP Adds It |url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-146555564.html |first = Deborah |last = Caulfield Rybak |newspaper = [[Star Tribune]] |location = Minneapolis |date = June 2, 2006 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924135521/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-146555564.html |archive-date = September 24, 2015 }}</ref>
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There were rumors that UPN then entered into discussions with then-corporate sister [[Nickelodeon]] (both networks were owned by [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]]) to produce a new block.<ref name="Disney talks called off">{{cite news |title = UPN Kids Pick Nick, not Mouse |url = https://variety.com/1998/biz/news/upn-kids-pick-nick-not-mouse-1117467104/ |first = Jenny |last = Hontz |work = Variety |date = January 27, 1998 |access-date = February 19, 2022 }}</ref>
In 1999, UPN contracted the rights to the network's children's programming lineup to [[The Walt Disney Company]]; as a result, the teen-oriented and animated series were replaced with a new block called ''[[Disney's One Too]]'', which debuted on September 6, 1999, and featured select programs seen on ABC's ''[[ABC Kids (TV programming block)#Disney's One Saturday Morning|Disney's One Saturday Morning]]'' lineup (such as ''[[Recess (TV series)|Recess]]'' and ''[[Sabrina: The Animated Series]]'').<ref>{{cite web |title = Mouse Brands UPN Kidvid |url = https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/mouse-brands-upn-kidvid-1117743063/ |last = Pursell |first = Chris |work = Variety |date = July 19, 1999 |access-date = August 17, 2009 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402212916/http://variety.com/1999/tv/news/mouse-brands-upn-kidvid-1117743063/ |archive-date = April 2, 2015 }}</ref> Many UPN affiliates at the network's launch were already airing [[The Disney Afternoon]], a block supplied by Disney-owned syndication distributor [[Disney–ABC Domestic Television|Buena Vista Television]]; however, that block would be discontinued in August 1997. The addition of ''Disney's One Too'' expanded UPN's children's program block back to two hours, running on Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons. In September 2002, ''[[Digimon: Digital Monsters]]'' moved to UPN from [[Fox Kids]], due to Disney's acquisition of Fox's children's program inventory as well as the Fox Family Channel, which was renamed [[History of Freeform (TV channel)#ABC Family|ABC Family]] (now Freeform) the past year. At the same time, the "One Too" branding was dropped from on-air usage due to the rebranding of ABC's Saturday morning lineup from ''One Saturday Morning'' to ''ABC Kids'' (although the block was unofficially referred to as ''Disney's Animation Weekdays'' outside the network). UPN subsequently chose not to renew its contract with Disney, with the network dropping all children's programming after August 31, 2003.<ref>{{cite news |title = Disney Drops UPN Programming Deal |url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-14-fi-rup14.6-story.html |agency = Associated Press |newspaper = Los Angeles Times |date = February 14, 2003 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015094902/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/14/business/fi-rup14.6 |archive-date = October 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = UPN to Ax Disney Kids Shows in Fall |url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1473784.html |newspaper = [[Chicago Sun-Times]]
Some Fox stations that declined to carry [[4Kids TV]] passed on that block to an affiliate of UPN or The WB, or an [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]], in order for the Fox affiliate to air general entertainment programming or local newscasts on Saturday mornings (for example, [[WFLD]] in [[Chicago]] moved the 4Kids TV schedule to co-owned then-UPN affiliate [[WPWR-TV]], while WFLD aired infomercials).
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During the late 1990s, UPN produced a number of [[television film]]s under the umbrella brand ''Blockbuster Shockwave Cinema'', in conjunction with sponsor (and then-sister company) [[Blockbuster LLC|Blockbuster Video]], almost all of which were [[science fiction film|sci-fi film]]s.
From UPN's inception until 2000, the network also offered a hosted movie series called the ''UPN Movie Trailer'' to its stations. The weekend block featured mostly older theatrically released action and comedy films, often those from the [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] film library. The ''Movie Trailer'' block was discontinued in 2000 to give stations that opted for them room for a two-hour block of select UPN series that aired in primetime during the past week. There were also three Paramount-branded blocks that aired on Viacom's UPN owned-and-operated stations between 1995 and 2000: the ''Paramount Teleplex'' as the main brand for movies at any given timeslot, the ''Paramount Prime Movie'' for primetime features, and the ''Paramount Late Movie'' for films airing in late night timeslots. From 2002 to 2006, UPN
== Affiliates ==
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By 2003, UPN had an estimated audience reach of 85.98% of all U.S. households (equivalent to 91,689,290 households with at least one television set). In contrast, The WB was viewable in 91.66% of all U.S. television homes. This is mainly because UPN did not have wide distribution in areas ranked below the top 100 Nielsen-designated media markets, whereas The WB operated [[The WB 100+ Station Group]] – a [[cable television|cable]]-only station group that was launched by the network in September 1998 – to provide broad coverage to those markets (from January 1995 to October 1999, The WB's programming was carried over the [[WGN America|superstation feed]] of the network's Chicago affiliate [[WGN-TV]] through a programming agreement with its owner Tribune Broadcasting). Despite the fact that UPN would not be able to have extensive small-market coverage at launch due to a lack of commercial television stations in those areas, Paramount Television denied [[Advance Publications|Advance Entertainment Corporation]] permission from distributing the network's programming over the [[WWOR EMI Service]], the [[superstation]] feed of New York City affiliate WWOR-TV, preventing the network from reaching markets without an exclusive or secondary UPN affiliate. The network proposed launching a cable-originated service to increase its distribution to markets without an over-the-air affiliate in July 1998; however, the service, which was to have been named UPN Plus, ultimately never launched.<ref>{{cite web |title = UPN Working on 24-Hour Cable Channel |url = https://variety.com/1998/tv/news/upn-working-on-24-hour-cable-channel-1117478702/ |first1 = John |last1 = Dempsey |first2 = Jenny |last2 = Hontz |periodical = Variety |date = July 22, 1998 |access-date = September 2, 2015 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151015094526/http://variety.com/1998/tv/news/upn-working-on-24-hour-cable-channel-1117478702/ |archive-date = October 15, 2015 }}</ref> UPN did have one cable-only affiliate in its station form, [[WNFM-TV]] in [[Fort Myers, Florida|Fort Myers]], [[Florida]], which joined the network in 1998.
In markets where Viacom had a CBS/UPN [[Duopoly (broadcasting)|duopoly]] after its 2000 merger with CBS, the UPN station was used to air CBS network programs if local sporting events or extended [[breaking news]] coverage would air on the CBS station, sometimes resulting in UPN programs being pre-empted outright, as the CBS-owned outlets were usually the senior partner in the duopolies (an exception being [[Detroit]], where [[WKBD-TV]] is considered the senior partner to [[WWJ-TV]] due to WKBD being longer-established). One such event occurred on September 26, 2004, when [[Hurricane Jeanne]] forced a scheduled [[National Football League|NFL]] game between the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] and [[Miami Dolphins]] in [[Miami]] to be postponed from its scheduled start time of 1:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. ET; the game aired locally on [[KDKA-TV]] and [[WFOR-TV]] while their respective UPN sister stations, [[
These factors led to the network struggling in the ratings over much of UPN's existence, with its later ''Star Trek'' franchise, ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', perhaps suffering the most and ultimately being canceled by the network in a controversial decision in February 2005. The most consistent ratings performer for the network was ''[[WWE SmackDown]]''. During the 2004–2005 season, the network was getting consistently better ratings than The WB, much of this thanks to its carriage of the WWE.<ref>{{cite news |title = UPN's Start-of-Week Blues |first = John |last = Consoli |work = Mediaweek |date = October 23, 2004 }}</ref>
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When the network launched, UPN began having most of its stations branded using a combination of "UPN" or "Paramount" (the latter having been used only by the network's Viacom-owned stations, some of whom adopted the "Paramount" branding prior to UPN's launch), and the affiliated station's channel number. By the late 1990s, affiliates were simply branded under the "UPN (channel number or city)" scheme (for example, Chicago affiliate WPWR-TV called itself "UPN Chicago" and New York City O&O-turned-affiliate WWOR-TV was referred to as "UPN 9", until The CW's launch was announced in January 2006).
However, most of the UPN owned-and-operated stations under Viacom/CBS Corporation branded themselves by the network/city conventions (for example, [[
This would be a continuation of the trend of networks using such naming schemes, which originated at Fox (and even earlier by the Canadian [[CBC Television|CBC]]), and was also predominately used at CBS (which has most of its owned-and-operated stations, with a few exceptions, brand using a combination of the network's name and over-the-air channel number) and The WB (with the exception of its Tribune Broadcasting-owned affiliates in Los Angeles and Chicago, and certain other stations); NBC and ABC also use similar branding schemes, but not to the same broad level outside their O&Os. While the "Big Three" networks do not require their affiliates to have such naming schemes (though some affiliates choose to adopt it anyway) and only on the network's O&Os is the style required, UPN mandated it on all stations – though in one case, [[Milwaukee]] affiliate [[
One Chris-Craft/United Television-owned station, [[KMSP-TV]] in [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]], only branded as "UPN 9" for its entertainment and network programming. Due to the station's circumstances of holding full cable carriage across the state of [[Minnesota]] and into [[The Dakotas]] as a [[superstation]], local management preferred to retain their pre-UPN "Minnesota 9" branding in some manner, as most of the UPN schedule was of low appeal to the station's rural viewers, and it was building a successful and competitive news department that did not depend on the success or failure of UPN. KMSP's news division success despite UPN affiliation was one of the pushes for Fox Television Stations to acquire United Television overall, then convert KMSP-TV to a Fox owned-and-operated station in Fall 2002. The UPN affiliation thus moved to new sister station [[WFTC]], which followed all UPN branding guidelines until Fox pulled their support for the network in January 2006.
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