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New CW signs with KBEJ … But is it Austin’s station?
A wee bit of hysteria spread through certain sections of cyber-Austin Wednesday when the CW announced it had signed a deal with KBEJ, the station in Fredericksburg that supplies both Austin and San Antonio with UPN programming.
Alert readers/viewers immediately began wondering where that left KNVA, the Austin station for the WB that had been widely rumored as the home for CW when it debuts in September.
For those of you whose heads are spinning right now, the background of all this is that corporate giants CBS and Warner Bros. announced in January that weblets WB and UPN would merge in the fall of 2006 to become the CW — a name that I still think smacks of country-western and will confuse the average channel-hopper.
With many of its Fox-owned UPN stations being threatened with extinction (since many of the new CW stations were expected to be former WB stations), Fox stepped up and announced the creation of a hybrid network, My Network TV, that would provide limited network programming and thus allow stations that signed on to be semi-independent.
What does it all mean and where exactly do we stand? Depends on whom you ask and whom you want to believe.
A spokesman for KBEJ, which is housed at KENS in San Antonio, said his station found out Wednesday afternoon that the deal had been struck with CW. He insisted on anonymity because he’s not allowed to speak on the record (“That’s for corporate to say. I’ll be fired.”) But his understanding is that KBEJ will be the CW affiliate for San Antonio, not for Austin.
KXAN general manager Carlos Fernandez, who also manages KNVA, said KNVA is still negotiating with both the CW and My Network and that neither new weblet had yet signed an agreement to broadcast in Austin.
But other off-the-record-in-the-know folks think KBEJ may well become the CW affiliate for both Austin and San Antonio, as it is now for UPN. And that means KNVA, unless it wants to be completely independent, will have to sign with Fox’s My Network.
Austin television hasn’t seen this kind of topsy-turvy since July 1995, when KTBC, the oldest station in Austin, switched from CBS to Fox. Independent station KBVO then became CBS affiliate and changed its name to KEYE. Nobody knew where to find “The Simpsons” or Dan Rather, and confusion ensued.
The September ‘06 switcheroo involving two mini-networks isn’t likely to be nearly as big a deal. But it’s a bit of an upheaval nonetheless. And with the transition only five months away, we’re still in a holding pattern.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Local news
Comments
By Hank
April 3, 2006 05:52 PM | Link to this
The one think about having KBEJ as the UPN station is that Dish Network doesn't consider it an Austin station. It's considered a San Antonio station and isn't included in the local station package......hopefull KNVA will sign on as the new country-western (I know, I know CW), otherwise, it won't be seen at all by Dish Network subscribers...
By joe
March 30, 2006 01:17 PM | Link to this
This is no good for those of us without cable. Whenever the solar flares are really active, I can get the UPN affiliate on my rabbit ears, but normally all I see is a blue screen. I know, I know... eventually I will have to buy into the wired television for hd broadcasts and whatnot, but I'm holding out as long as I can.
By austinights
March 30, 2006 01:01 PM | Link to this
I do hope in the end that KNVA signs with the CW, because I'm a huge fan of the current WB and think that it will give KNVA a continued presence in the Central Texas region. Though I'm glad that San Antonio has picked up the station, its local focus will be San Antonio. I spent three seasons on late night WB (KNVA) and was able to cover local events and that was fun when I would meet people who stayed up. Though my show was independent it was fun to have it broadcast locally, because it was Austin. I look forward to whatever KNVA does, because I know it takes a lot of time and energy to keep a television station programmed and operated on any given day. Best of luck.