UPN Network
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| Type | Defunct broadcast television network |
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| Country | United States |
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| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
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Key people
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Launch date
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January 16, 1995 |
| Dissolved |
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The United Paramount Network (UPN) is a defunct American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. The network was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries/United Television; then Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which produced most of the network's series) turned the network into a joint venture in 1996 after acquiring a 50% stake in the network, and then purchased Chris-Craft's remaining stake in 2000. In December 2005, UPN was spun off to CBS Corporation when CBS and Viacom split up into two separate companies.
CBS Corporation and Time Warner jointly announced in January 2006 that the companies would shutdown UPN and competitor The WB to launch a new joint venture network later that year. UPN ceased broadcasting on September 15, 2006, and The WB ended two days later. Select programs from both networks moved to the new network, The CW, when it launched on September 18, 2006.
Paramount Pictures had played a pivotal role in the development of network television. It was a partner in the DuMont Television Network, and the Paramount Theaters chain, which was spun off from the corporate/studio parent, merged with ABC in a deal that helped cement that network's status as a major network. The Paramount Television Network was launched in 1949, but dissolved in the 1950s.
In the wake of the successful Universal Studios ad hoc syndication package Operation Prime Time, which first featured a miniseries adaptation of John Jakes' novel The Bastard and went on to air several more productions, Paramount had earlier contemplated its own television network with the Paramount Television Service. Set to launch in early 1978, it would have run its programming for only one night a week. Thirty "Movies of the Week" would have followed Star Trek: Phase II on Saturday nights. Plans for the new network were scrapped when sufficient advertising slots could not be sold, though Paramount would contribute some programs to Operation Prime Time, such as the mini-series A Woman Called Golda, and the weekly pop music program, Solid Gold. Star Trek: Phase II was reworked as the theatrical film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, absorbing the costs already incurred from the aborted television series.
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