UPN and The WB Battle It Out For 5th Place

Ever since they first debuted a few years ago, the WB and UPN have been battling to see which network can establish itself as the viable 5th broadcast network. That battle has heated up considerably this year. According to Neilsen Media Research, ratings for UPN are up while ratings for the WB are down compared to a year ago at this time.

The WB and UPN suffer similar technical problems in that most of their affiliates are the weaker broadcast stations in the various markets. The major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX already have the broadcast stations with the stronger signals locked up for themselves. Over the last couple of years the WB and UPN have had competition with PAX-TV, a newer but still struggling broadcast network.

Here is a brief look at the placement in the ratings of each show on the WB and UPN from most to the least popular. The ratings are for the week ending November 25th as determined by Neilsen Media Research. All total, the six broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PAX, UPN and WB) have 125 shows on the air.

"7th Heaven" - WB - 65th place "Smallville" - WB - 78th place "Enterprise" - UPN - 80th place "Gilmore Girls" - WB - 81st place "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" - UPN - 82nd place "WWF Smackdown" - UPN - 83rd place "Angel" - WB - 85th place "The Parkers" and "Girlfriends" - UPN - tied for 87th place "One on One" - UPN - 89th place "The Hughleys" - UPN - 93rd place "Reba" - WB - 95th place "Dawson's Creek" - WB - 96th place "Special Unit 2" - UPN - 97th place "Roswell" - UPN 100th place "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" and "Felicity" - WB - tied for 101st place "Maybe It's Me" - WB - 104th place "UPN Friday Movie" - UPN - 111th place

It is ironic because "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel" and "Smallville" all get more publicity than "7th Heaven" yet "7th Heaven" continues to be the most popular show on either the WB or UPN. It just goes to show that people will watch a family show provided it is done well.

News and notes from the world of television:

CBS and NBC are the big sweeps winners. "Sweeps weeks" are the four times a year that the ratings of each network are taken to determine the advertising rates for the upcoming quarter.

The results from the just completed November sweeps are in and CBS and NBC are the big winners. CBS was the broadcast network with the most households watching while NBC was the network with the most 18-49 year olds watching. This is important because 18-49 year olds are the group that advertisers most covet. Overall, the order of the networks according the sweeps ratings provided by Neilsen Media Research were as follows: CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, UPN, WB and PAX.

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