WB, UPN team up to fight crime

UPN and WB announced today that both networks would shut down and form one mega-network for the fall season, called The CW:

The new network will launch in the fall, the executives said, when both UPN and WB will shut down. It will be a 50-50 partnership between Warner Bros. and CBS, and the network will be carried on stations owned by the Tribune Co., a minority owner of WB.

Altogether, the 16 Tribune stations and the 12 UPN stations owned by CBS will give the new network coverage in almost half of the country, the executives said. The executives said they hoped to sign up new affiliates in the rest of the country by the time The CW launches.

[snip]

The plan includes two hours of programs in prime time each night Monday through Friday and three hours on Sunday evening. It will also offer programming on weekday and Sunday afternoons, and five hours of children's programs on Saturday morning.

No idea how this will affect Smallville, Veronica Mars or any of the other current shows on either network, though I read that WWE Smackdown is relatively safe.

EDIT: More thorough press release here; though it doesn't sound like anything is definite, at least it mentions Smallville, Supernatural and Veronica Mars when it lists their "hit shows."