THREE WEEKS INTO FIRST SEASON, THE CW IMPROVES OVER WB AND UPN IN ADULTS 18-34

"Gilmore Girls" Ranks Second in Its Time Period in Women 18-34

Building Week-to-Week, "Top Model" Wins the Hour in Adults and Women 18-34

"Top Model" and "One Tree Hill" Lift The CW to Second on Wednesday in Women 18-34

The CW's "SmackDown" Wins Friday in Target Demo Of Men 18-34

"SmackDown" Climbs to Best CW Ratings in Adults 18-34 and Men Demos

October 10, 2006 (Burbank, CA) - Only three weeks into its first season, The CW Network is out-performing both UPN and The WB through the same point last year with regularly scheduled programming in the network's target demo of adults 18-34 (1.8/5, up 20% vs. WB and 6% vs. UPN). The CW mirrors The WB's scheduling model with 6 nights and 13 hours of primetime programming.

The CW has also improved over The WB this season to date with regularly scheduled programming by 16% in women 18-34 (2.2/6) and 5% in viewers (3.6mil). The CW is flat versus UPN in women 18-34 and viewers.

For the week ending Oct. 8, The CW improved over the same week last year on UPN in adults 18-34 (1.7/5, 13%) and matched The WB.

Through the CW's launch, series formerly on UPN have moved to a new local station in more than two-thirds of the U.S., while series formerly on The WB have transitioned to new stations in nearly one-third of the U.S.

Tuesday 10/3/06

In week two on The CW, "Gilmore Girls" built over last week's seventh season premiere by 140,000 viewers (4.62mil) and held 100% of its premiere audience in adults 18-34 (2.2/7).

"Gilmore Girls" climbed to second in the hour with its target demo of women 18-34 (3.4/10) behind only "Dancing With The Stars," and ranked third in women 18-49 (2.9/8).

The CW premiere of "Veronica Mars" retained more of its "Gilmore Girls" lead-in among adults 18-34 (77%, 1.7/5) and adults 18-49 (74%, 1.4/3) than "Veronica" did a year ago following "America's Next Top Model" on UPN.

With "Gilmore Girls" as its lead-in, "Veronica Mars" delivered its third highest-rated telecast ever among adults 18-34 (tie), its second best telecast ever in adults 18-49 (tie), and its fourth most watched episode ever (3.3 million) since its debut two years ago.

Wednesday 10/4/06

With growth across the board, "America's Next Top Model" once again ranked first from 8:00-9:00PM in The CW's target demos of women 18-34 (4.6/14) and adults 18-34 (3.2/10-tie). "Top Model" ranked second in the hour among women 18-49 (3.7/10).

"Top Model" delivered gains over last week's episode in all demos and viewers, including 14% in adults 18-34, 15% in women 18-34, 8% in adults 18-49 (2.6/8), 6% in women 18-49 (3.7/10) and 12% in viewers (5.3mil).

Despite facing off against the season premiere of "Lost," "One Tree Hill" retained 100% of last week's premiere audience in its target demo of women 18-34 (2.8/7) and 95% of last week's adults 18-34 (2.0/6).

"America's Next Top Model" and "One Tree Hill" combined to lift The CW to second on Wednesday night among women 18-34 (3.7/10).

The CW's Wednesday line-up represents a major improvement over both UPN and The WB on the same night a year ago (10/5/05) in all key demos. Compared to The WB's Wednesday, The CW is scoring increases of 37% in adults 18-34, 42% in women 18-34, 33% in adults 18-49 and 33% in women 18-49. Versus UPN's year ago Wednesday, The CW is up 37% in adults 18-34, 37% in women 18-34, 25% in adults 18-49 and 27% in women 18-49.

Friday 10/6/06

The CW's "Friday Night SmackDown" won Friday night in its target demo of men 18-34 (2.0/8), ranked second in men 18-49 (1.9/6), and third in adults 18-34 (1.6/6), beating ABC and Fox.

"SmackDown" scored its best performance to date on The CW in adults 18-34 (1.6/6), men 18-34 (2.0/8) and men 18-49 (1.9/6), with growth over last week of 14% in adults 18-34 and 18% in men 18-34.

"SmackDown" also posted gains over its delivery a year ago on UPN (10/7/05) by 7% in adults 18-34, 11% in men 18-34, 6% in men 18-49 and 2% in viewers (3.8mil). "SmackDown" remains a dramatic improvement over the WB's line-up of comedies on the same night a year ago, with increases of 60% in adults 18-34, 233% in men 18-34, 9% in adults 18-49 (1.2/4), 138% in men 18-49 (1.9/6) and 42% in viewers.

Source: NTI, week of 10/2/06-10/8/06

Season to Date: 9/18/06-10/8/06 v. 9/19/05-10/9/05 (regularly scheduled programming)