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[09/24/03 - 12:00 AM] UPN Reups Afilliation with Fox-Owned Stations By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC) |
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CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- The storm clouds circling UPN as it enters the 2003-04 season appear to be clearing up as the network announced today it has signed a new multi-year affiliation agreement covering all nine Fox-owned UPN affiliates. The agreement, which is retroactive to September 1, includes stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The news marks a major triumph for the future of the Viacom-owned/CBS-run network. "We are very pleased to extend our partnership with Fox in these major markets," said CBS topper Leslie Moonves in a statement. "These Fox stations are an outstanding group and a very important part of the UPN affiliate family. We are excited and enthusiastic about UPN's future, and a key component of that future is this extension of our affiliation agreements with these Fox stations. We look forward to working with Mitch Stern and his Fox Television Stations colleagues to grow our business together."
The nine stations, WWOR-TV New York, KCOP-TV Los Angeles, WPWR-TV Chicago, WDCA-TV Washington, DC, KTXH-TV Houston, WFTC-TV Minneapolis, KUTP-TV Phoenix, WRBW-TV Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne and WUTB-TV Baltimore, reach 24% of all U.S. TV households. Should UPN's previous contracts have expired, as they were set to do next summer, the netlet would literally have been without a third of its bandwidth. Such a scenario, along with news that the Fox Stations Group was unhappy with its UPN partnership (read the story), fueled speculation UPN wouldn't last beyond the 2003-04 season.
Nevertheless despite such doom and gloom, the reups mean UPN will be around for several years to come. Details about the pact were not disclosed but insiders say it's for at least three years. The Fox Stations Group appears to be happy as well as its CEO Mitchell Stern told the press, "This new agreement extending our UPN affiliations is a perfect fit with our business and operational plans, especially since in eight of these nine markets we have duopolies. It means that UPN programming will be available to our audiences and our advertisers during the 2003-04 season and in the years ahead, providing valuable continuity and stability. We appreciate Leslie's leadership of UPN and welcome the opportunity to build on the equity of this new agreement in each of our markets."
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[07/08/25 - 12:01 PM] Netflix Top 10 Week of June 30: "Squid Game" Season 3 Leads Top 10 Globally, Climbs to No. 3 on Most Popular Plus: "The Waterfront" maintained its Top 10 empire as the No. 1 English show in its third week with 5.6 million views.
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[07/08/25 - 11:47 AM] Lifetime Greenlights Latest "Ripped from the Headlines" Thriller "Girl in the Cellar" Starring Kyla Pratt and Kelcey Mawema Premiering August 23 Inspired by real stories, the film follows a single mother who resorts to extreme measures to control her teenage daughter.
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[07/08/25 - 11:45 AM] CBS Studios Returns to Comic-Con International with Fan Favorite "Star Trek" Universe, "Ghosts" and New Series "NCIS: Tony & Ziva" Attendees will not want to miss panel presentations from beloved series and franchises.
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[07/08/25 - 11:16 AM] Video: Trailer and Key Art Debut - "Zarna Garg: Practical People Win" Zarna Garg is bringing the heat (and the guilt trips) in her laugh-out-loud Hulu debut, taking aim at husbands, kids, in-laws, and anyone who dares question an Indian mom's wisdom.
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[07/08/25 - 11:10 AM] Video: Peacock Releases First Look Images, Teaser, and Announces Premiere Date for "Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy" From 1972-1978, thirty-three young men were kidnapped, murdered, and buried in a crawl space beneath their killer's house. And no one was the wiser.
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[07/08/25 - 10:31 AM] Netflix Serves Up a Fresh Slate of Food Series with Exciting New Titles and Fan-Favorite Returns Fan-favorite "Is It Cake?" is back with a triple helping of themed seasons - "Is It Cake? Halloween," "Is It Cake? Holiday" Season 2, and an "Is It Cake? Valentines" special.
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[07/08/25 - 10:30 AM] "New Girl" Summer on Hulu: Creator Liz Meriwether Picks Essential Summer Episodes All seven seasons of "New Girl" are available to stream on Hulu.
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[07/08/25 - 09:33 AM] Disney Entertainment Television Announces 2025 San Diego Comic-Con Programming with a Lineup for Every Fan in the Family Beginning Thursday, July 24, Hulu's King of the Hill backyard cookout, ABC's A Very Abbott Block Party, FX's "Alien: Earth" - "The Wreckage," and The Percy Jackson Experience outdoor activations will be open to the public directly outside the San Diego Convention Center.
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[07/08/25 - 09:11 AM] Nickelodeon Airs Animated Series, "Unicorn Academy" and "Vida the Vet," from Spin Master Entertainment, Beginning July This marked the series' respective linear debuts in the U.S. - "Unicorn Academy" on Nickelodeon and "Vida the Vet" on the Nick Jr. channel.
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[07/08/25 - 09:01 AM] Video: Prime Video Releases Official Trailer and Key Art for "Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War" The three-part docuseries, from executive producers Blye Faust and Cori Shepherd, premieres July 23 on Prime Video.
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[07/08/25 - 09:00 AM] "Big Brother": A Summer of Mystery Cast Revealed This season's cast includes a professional bull rider, event curator, marketing manager, AI consultant, aura painter, attorney and a dungeon master, among others.
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[07/08/25 - 08:07 AM] Apple TV+ Announces Seventh Season for Celebrated Spy Drama "Slow Horses" Season five is slated for September 24; while season six was announced last year.
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[07/08/25 - 08:01 AM] Video: "Untamed" - Official Trailer - Netflix In the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park, a woman's death draws a federal agent into lawless terrain - where nature obeys no rules but its own.
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[07/08/25 - 07:32 AM] FOX Nation Enters Live Sports Arena with All-New PBR Partnership In the lead up to the live weekly team events, the platform will roll out season two of the hit series "Last Cowboy Standing" beginning on Friday, July 11.
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[07/08/25 - 07:01 AM] "Grantchester" Begins Production on Its 11th and Final Season "We're so grateful to all the loyal viewers and can't wait to bring you the final chapter of this story," said PBS.
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