The CW Television Network (commonly referred to as simply
The CW) is an American English-language commercial
broadcast television network that is operated by
The CW Network, LLC, a
limited liability joint venture
[2] between the CBS Entertainment Group unit of
ViacomCBS, the owner of the defunct television network
UPN; and the Studios and Networks division of
AT&T's
WarnerMedia, the parent company of
Warner Bros., former majority owner of
The WB.
[5] The network's name is an abbreviation derived from the first letters of the names of its two parent corporations at the time of its foundation: "C" for
CBS Corporation and "W" for
Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The CW Television Network made its debut on September 18, 2006, after its two predecessors,
UPN and
The WB, respectively ceased independent operations on September 15 and 17 of that year.
...
In May 2006, The CW announced that it would pick up a combined thirteen programs from its two predecessors to air as part of the network's inaugural fall schedule: seven series held over from The WB (
7th Heaven,
Beauty and the Geek,
Gilmore Girls,
One Tree Hill,
Reba,
Smallville and
Supernatural) and six held over from UPN (
America's Next Top Model,
Veronica Mars,
Everybody Hates Chris,
Girlfriends,
All of Us and
WWE SmackDown!). Upon the network's launch, The CW chose to use the scheduling model utilized by The WB due in part to the fact that it had a more extensive base programming schedule than UPN, allowing for a larger total of weekly programming hours for the new network to fill.
