By Antonio D. French
Filed Tuesday, January 24 at 9:22 AM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
CBS Corp, the parent company of UPN, and Warner Bros., which owns the WB network, surprised many this morning when they announced that they will be joining their two struggling networks to form a new one called The CW. The news came as a shock to the Roberts Brothers, who own St. Louis' UPN 46.
In a phone interview with PUB DEF, Mike Roberts, who was in Las Vegas at the annual NATPE convention, said that no one knew of the plans before the announcement. As a matter of fact, it was a call from PUB DEF that first alerted Kay Gabbert, VP of The Roberts Companies. She then called Roberts.
"I'm in the middle of everybody that owns TV stations," said Roberts. "Nobody knew."
The announcement today also revealed that the new CW network would be carried on stations owned by the Tribune Co., a minority owner of the WB. Locally, KPLR's WB-11 is owned by Tribune. Roberts said that it is likely that KPLR would be chosen for the new station, leaving the black-owned Channel 46 without a network.
But Roberts described today's announcement as an opportunity. He said his company will become St. Louis' only independent, full-power television station. He said they will carry family-friendly programing and possibly introduce more sports into the market.
"We have three television stations -- in St. Louis, Columbia (SC), Jackson (MS) -- all three are UPN," said Roberts. "We are obviously going to experience a great opportunity to evaluate the programming for each of those."
3 Comments:
Who has the upper hand, the Roberts family or Koplar family?
9:45 AM, January 24, 2006
To answer you question, I think the Roberts brothers are going to have a difficult time keeping a station afloat without a network.
KPLR got a huge boost with yesterday's announcement if it does pan out that they will be the carrier for the new CW network.
But Mike and Steve Roberts have such a success record that I would not venture to bet against the brothers.
8:12 AM, January 25, 2006
Robert brother are doomed, They've made alot of bad business moves as of late. The hotel downtown needs repair, When is the last time you went to a show at the "old american" theater? The roberts loft building has a foul smell, like a sewer line is broken, just take a visit if you dont believe me. These guys made a good by when they took on sprint pcs back in the day but I dont believe they are still headed in an upward direction, Who's paying the monthly bills on all their property? That isnt making big money? ? ?
10:28 PM, January 26, 2006
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