The WB To Be Reincarnated As Streaming Video Site: Report
By David Kaplan - Fri 07 Mar 2008 02:53 PM PST
Warner Bros. Television Group is giving The WB TV network another chance at life - this time as a new, dedicated website with free, ad-supported streaming video, Mediaweek reports, citing unidentified sources. The site could serve as a repository for all WB-produced series that aired during the youth-oriented network’s 1995-2006 run. There is also talk of using the new site as a hub for video produced outside the company, a la NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) - News Corp.’s (NYSE: NWS) Hulu. No official word on the venture though. Asked to confirm the report, WBTV Group gave us this statement: “We are in the process of developing several Warner Bros. branded web destinations and will announce all the details in the coming weeks.”
The WB, known for such teen-targeted fare as Gilmore Girls, Everwood and What I Like About You, merged with Fox’s UPN Network to create The CW for the 2006-07 TV season. Apart from old hits, the new site, which will be aimed at women between the ages of 12 and 34, also would run new short-form video series—10 installments of five-minute webisodes.
It’s not certain if hit series produced outside of The WB - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity and Dawson’s Creek, among them - will be featured on the new portal at WB.com. (Buffy is already on Hulu.) At the moment, it redirects users to a general Warner Bros. studio site, but it’s expected to begin beta testing next month.
-- Communications Daily: Warner Bros. TV President Bruce Rosenblum told Stanford University law students late last month that entertainment producers will begin to go around the broadcast networks over the next 10 years via broadband and cellular. “We will go directly to consumers with content,” Rosenblum said, mentioning a video deal with Hulu. He also discussed how the company eventually decided to abandon its emphasis on DVD sales and embrace electronic distribution through iTunes and other outlets: “The margin is a lot better. Where’s the problem in that? Who gets upset? Wal-Mart.”
Posted in: Broadband, Companies, Time Warner, Entertainment, Media, TV
