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The WB Television Network (commonly shortened to The WB) is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to shut down the channel and launch The CW Television Network later that same year. WB Television Network shut down on September 17, 2006, and merged with UPN (which had shut down two days earlier).

As a television network, it aired programs targeting mostly teenagers and young adults, with the exception of its Saturday morning line-up of shows called Kids' WB, which was geared towards children. It was re-launched as an online network on April 28, 2008 by Warner Bros. The new website allows users to watch shows of the former TV network. The website can only be accessed within the United States.^[2][3]

History[link]

Origins (1972–1995)[link]

Much like its competitor UPN, the WB Television Network was a reaction primarily to new FCC deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed fin-syn, and partly to the success of the upstart Fox and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s such as Baywatch, Star Trek: The Next Generation and War of the Worlds, as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals. The network can also trace its beginnings to the Prime Time Entertainment Network, a joint venture between Warner Bros. and the Chris-Craft Industries group of stations.

On November 2, 1993 the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner announced the formation of the WB Television Network with Tribune Company holding a minority interest; as such, Tribune signed an agreement with the network to affiliate with the majority of Tribune Broadcasting's television stations, which at the time consisted largely of independent stations. The WB originally was slated to launch with two nights of primetime programming in the first year, with two additional nights of primetime, a late primetime half-hour strip, 4½ hours of weekday daytime programming and a four-hour Saturday morning children's lineup in the second year; by the third year, a fifth night of primetime and 1½ hours of weekday programming outside of primetime would have been added, followed by an additional hour of primetime and 1½ hours on weekday afternoons by year four, and a seventh night of primetime in the fifth year of operation.^[4] However, the plan was scaled back dramatically, particularly as only one night of primetime programming debuted as the network launched; and by September 1995, The WB added only one additional night (Sundays), plus a three-hour Saturday morning and one-hour weekday morning children's block.^[5]

The Tribune stations (which included the television group's flagship station WGN-TV in Chicago, as well as WPIX in New York City and KTLA in Los Angeles) became de facto owned-and-operated stations of the network through Tribune's minority interest in the network. Warner Bros. Entertainment appointed many former Fox network executives to run the network, including the network's original chief executive Jamie Kellner, who served as president of Fox from 1986 to 1993; and president of programming Garth Ancier, who was the programming chief of Fox from 1986 to 1989.

1995–97: Beginnings[link]

The WB Television Network began its life on January 11, 1995. The classic Warner Bros. cartoon character Michigan J. Frog appeared on-air as the network's official mascot, and would remain in the network's branding in one form or another until 2005. The WB's schedule was similar to Fox's when it launched, as it started with one night a week of programming (essentially rendering its affiliates as largely being independent stations initially) and then gradually added additional nights of programming over the course of several seasons: the network started with a two-hour Wednesday night lineup of sitcoms, airing from 8–10 p.m. ET. The network's first programs were mostly sitcoms targeted at an ethnically black audience. Even though four of the five shows shown in the netlet's first nine months (The Wayans Bros., The Parent 'Hood, Sister, Sister (picked up after being cancelled by ABC), and Unhappily Ever After) were renewed beyond the first year, none of them made a significant impact.

From 1995 to 1999, the network received additional national cable distribution through Chicago-based superstation WGN-TV, whose local Chicago-area feed served as a charter affiliate of WB, in order to give the network time to find affiliates in markets where the network was unable to find a station to carry the network at launch. The decision to have WGN's superstation feed act as a de facto affiliate of the WB Television Network to markets that did not have an affiliate was made one month after the announcement of the network's launch on December 3, 1993.^[6]

The WB Television Network began programming on Sunday nights in the 1995–1996 season, but none of the new shows (including the Kirk Cameron vehicle Kirk and night-time soap opera Savannah) managed to garner much viewing interest. Still, the network continued to expand in the 1996–1997 season, adding programming on Monday nights.^[7] This season gave The WB modest hits in the family drama 7th Heaven and comedies The Steve Harvey Show and The Jamie Foxx Show.

The network also added the Kids' WB programming block in 1995, which mixed Warner Brothers' biggest hit animated shows (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and later Batman: The Animated Series, all of which originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication), with new productions and original shows (such as Freakazoid!, Histeria!, Superman: The Animated Series, Road Rovers, Pinky and the Brain and Batman Beyond).

1997–2000: Courting the teen market[link]

The WB Television Network first began to experience success with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which became a hit with critics when it appeared as a mid-season replacement in March 1997. It debuted with the highest Monday night ratings in the network's history, attracting not only new teenage viewers, but new advertisers as well.^[8]

Inspired by Buffy's success, The WB intentionally shifted the focus of its programming, trying to capture what it perceived to be a heavily fragmented market by marketing to the under-courted teen demographic. While the Fox network, the previous destination for teen television (with shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Parker Lewis Can't Lose), began to court older audiences with shows such as Ally McBeal, The WB began to craft its identity with teen-targeted programs. The network's breakout hit and, arguably, its signature series was Dawson's Creek, which debuted in January 1998 to what were then the highest ratings in the network's history. It quickly became the highest rated show on television among teenage girls, and the most popular show on the network. The popularity of the show helped boost other network shows, such as Buffy, which served as its lead-in on the network's new night of programming also launched in January 1998, known as "New Tuesday," and 7th Heaven, which enjoyed a massive 81% increase in viewership that season.

With three hit shows in its roster, the WB Television Network continued to build its teen fanbase the following season with college drama Felicity and the wicca-themed Charmed, both of which set new records for the network when they premiered with 7.1 and 7.7 million viewers, respectively. Charmed had the highest-rated premiere on the network until Smallville broke its record, debuting to 8.4 million viewers in October 2001. The network also expanded to air original programming on Thursday nights. That season, 7th Heaven garnered The WB the highest ratings it would ever see. The episode airing February 8, 1999 attracted 12.5 million viewers. That season also saw 7th Heaven overtake Dawson's Creek as the network's highest rated show.

In the 1999–2000 season, the network expanded once again, adding Friday night programming.^[9] New shows that season included Roswell, Popular, and Angel (a spin-off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), which premiered with 7.5 million viewers, the second highest premiere for the net at the time. During this season, The WB was the only network to have gains in its audience and each key demographic.

2000–03: Broadening the focus[link]

As the teen boom of the late 1990s began to wane, the WB Television Network attempted to broaden the scope of its line-up. Although teen fare like Popular and Roswell had premiered to strong ratings, both series saw serious ratings erosion in their sophomore seasons, leading the network to cancel both (Roswell, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, would end up being revived by rival network UPN). Meanwhile, even though ratings for 7th Heaven, Buffy, and Charmed remained consistent, viewership for flagship series such as Felicity and Dawson's Creek began sagging. The network realized that it could no longer rely merely on the tastes of young teenage girls, and thus began moving into more family-friendly fare, attempting to launch a successful sitcom, and generally targeting a more diverse audience.

The move came as during the 1999–2000 season, The WB dropped to sixth place in the ratings behind UPN, losing 19% of its household audience; network executives attributed the ratings decline in large part due to WGN-TV's decision to remove WB network programming from its national superstation feed after deciding the network's national distribution was large enough that broadcasting its programming outside of Chicago was no longer necessary, reducing The WB's potential household audience by 10 million homes; this expansion was due to a series of affiliation deals for the network with station groups such as Sinclair Broadcast Group in the years following The WB's launch, as well as the network launching The WB 100+ Station Group, a national cable-only service that debuted in September 1998 serving areas with a Nielsen market ranking of #99 and above that did not have enough broadcast stations to support an over-the-air affiliate (WGN-TV continued to carry WB programming over-the-air in the Chicago market and on cable providers in northeastern Illinois and far northwestern Indiana until the network shut down in 2006).^[10] Despite the slight downturn in the network's fortunes, there were a few bright spots during the era. Gilmore Girls, which debuted in 2000, netted meager ratings when it debuted in a tough Thursday time-slot, but subsequently grew into one of the network's most successful shows after moving in 2001 to its Tuesday time-slot where it remained for seven seasons. Also in the fall of 2000, the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch moved to The WB's Friday night schedule from ABC. The show continued on The WB for three more seasons before ending in 2003.

In 2001, Smallville (inspired by Superman) debuted with 8.4 million viewers, the highest premiere in the history of the network; the latter show was also important because it was one of the few shows that drew a substantial male viewership. 2001 also saw the launch of the Reba McEntire vehicle Reba, arguably the network's most successful comedic series. Other series to gain attention during this time period were the family series Everwood, and the short-lived but critically acclaimed soap satire Grosse Pointe.

Also in 2001, Time Warner moved the WB Television Network to its Turner Broadcasting System division from Warner Bros. Entertainment from 2001 until 2003, when The WB was reassigned back to the Warner Bros. unit.

2003–06: Decline[link]

Despite some early success, the network struggled to shift its focus from the female 12–24 demographic to the broader 12–34 range. In 2005, the network abandoned its trademark mascot, Michigan J. Frog, as the network's iconic emblem. David Janollari, The WB's President of Entertainment, explained in July 2005 at the network's summer 2005 press tour that "[Michigan] was a symbol that perpetuated the young-teen feel of the network. That's not the image we [now] want to put to our audience."^{[citation needed]}

Still, the move did not seem to help the network. The period from 2003 to 2005 produced only three viable new series, One Tree Hill, Beauty and the Geek, and Supernatural (all of which have since moved to successor network The CW), and even still their ratings paled in comparison to the ratings peaks of Dawson's Creek, which had signed off in 2003. Ratings dropped for shows like Angel (which was canceled in 2004), and the network failed to launch new hit shows to take their places.

Although The WB's well-known inability to launch successful comedy series was nothing new (Reba being the sole exception), this period saw the network struggling to establish new dramas as well. High-profile failures included Birds of Prey (inspired by the Batman mythos which premiered with an impressive 8 share), Tarzan, Jack & Bobby, The Mountain, Jerry Bruckheimer's Just Legal, Marta Kauffman's Related, and the Rebecca Romijn vehicle Pepper Dennis.

During the 2004–05 season, the WB Television Network finished behind rival UPN for the first time in several years, and fell even further behind in the fall of 2005. Both networks fell behind the Spanish language network Univision in the overall 18–34 demographic.

It was estimated in 2005 that The WB was viewable by 91.66% of all households, reaching 90,282,480 houses in the United States; the network was carried by 177 VHF and UHF stations in the U.S., counting both owned and operated and affiliated stations (the owned and operated stations were not actually operated by Warner Bros. or Time Warner; instead, Tribune owned and operated these stations, thus its stake in the network). The network could also be seen in smaller markets on cable-only stations, many of these through The WB 100+ Station Group – available to TV markets below the number 100 in viewership as determined by Nielsen in a packaged format, with a master schedule; the addition of local advertisements and news were at the discretion of the local distributor, often a local television station or cable television provider.

Network closure[link]

The logo of the CW, which took over The WB in September of 2006.

On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to shut down both UPN and The WB and launch a new network, The CW in their place. Over the next nine months, it was to be seen which shows from the two networks would cross over to the new CW, as well as which stations across the country would become future affiliates of the new network.

In the end, 7th Heaven, Beauty and the Geek, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Reba, Smallville, and Supernatural were chosen to move from The WB to the new CW's Fall 2006 schedule. 7th Heaven and Reba were originally canceled after the 2005–06 season, but were ultimately renewed at the last minute with 13-episode deals (the former show was later given a full-season order, while the latter served as a midseason replacement and, in spite of becoming The CW's highest-rated comedy of the 2006–07 season, ended rather abruptly).

Starting on August 14, 2006 with the Daytime WB block, the WB 'bug' was removed from the lower right corner of the TV screen and was replaced with a countdown of days until The CW launched. Some stations which converted to MyNetworkTV or became independent stations received a logo-free feed of the network, while others took the main feed and overlaid their local logo bug over the CW logo.

The WB Television Network closed on Sunday, September 17, 2006 with The Night of Favorites and Farewells, a five-hour block of pilot episodes of their past signature series. Commercial breaks featured reairings of past image campaigns and network promotions. This plan involved promo spots given to the cable networks carrying these shows in off-network syndication, along with ads for each series' TV-on-DVD box set.^[11]

The final montage was aired after an old WB promo from the past. Each montage was at least 30 seconds long, while the final montage was about one minute. The montage contained images of actors and actresses that appeared in series aired on The WB over the eleven year run of the network, ending with the words "For 11 years, you brought us into our homes, we made you smile, and tugged at your heart, and now, we say goodbye from all of us at WB. Thank you." The final image was a silhouette of the former WB mascot Michigan J. Frog. At the end of the montage, he was shown taking his hat off and bowing thanking the audience for watching for 11 years and bringing the network to a close. Michigan J. Frog was shown as a silhouette because he retired as the network's mascot in 2005, the year before the network shut down.

After its closure, the network's URLs were redirected to The CW's website. As of March 30, 2008, they redirected to the Warner Bros. Studios homepage. As of April 28, 2008, they now redirect to the Beta.TheWB.com website.

The final night of WB programming netted relatively low ratings. The network scored a 1.0 household rating (1% of total households in the US) and a share of 2, meaning just 2% of viewers were tuned in to WB on its final night.^[12] This may mostly be due to certain areas whose The WB affiliates became MyNetworkTV affiliates, leaving The WB's final two weeks of programming unavailable in those areas.

2008 onward: Entering the Internet[link]

The Warner Bros.' television arm planned on resurrecting the WB Television Network in the form of a website at TheWB.com, the website domain used for the official site of the television network. The site streams free episodes of all WB-aired and produced series during the network's 1995–2006 run, including Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Everwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, Roswell and What I Like About You.

Warner Bros. also introduced original serialized web-content produced by such television heavyweight producers as Josh Schwartz and McG for the website when it was launched on August 2008, including original series such as Sorority Forever, Pushed, Rockville, CA, The Lake and Childrens Hospital. Many other well-known Warner Bros.-produced series that did not air on the WB Television Network, including Friends and The O.C. are also available. However, the site does not contain episodes of Charmed or Felicity, which were two of WB's most popular shows, as Charmed is owned by CBS Television Distribution and Felicity is owned by Disney-ABC Domestic Television.

The site—which models that of Hulu—is ad-supported and geared primarily to women ages 15–39. In addition to older full-length series, the site features new short series and vignettes. Each of these episode runs 5 minutes, with 10 installments planned. Comcast offers over 1,000 episodes from the Warner Bros. Television library on its video on demand service.^[13]

TheWB.com made its official launch on August 27, 2008.^[14][15] While Warner, a division of Time Warner, has not promoted the site in any multimedia ads, it is drawing about 250,000 unique viewers a month, said MindShare’s Mr. Chapman, who has been tracking the site. Some of its original material is being offered on partner sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Data compiled by comScore Video Metrix shows that 62 percent of current visitors to the site are female.

An original series, Sorority Forever, from McG, had its premiere on the site on September 8, 2008. It has recorded more than 7.3 million video views since then from The WB site and partner sites. An original reality series, Rich Girl, Poor Girl from Gary Auerbach, the executive producer of Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor, in which two teenagers from different economic and social backgrounds swap lives (similar to Wife Swap), has ranked among the top 100 programs in the teenage category on iTunes since its October 20, 2008 debut.^[16]

Internet advertising[link]

The clothing retailer H&M, not a traditional TV advertiser, sponsored Sorority Forever and had some of its clothing worn by characters in the series. Unilever’s Axe brand has sponsored Children's’ Hospital. ”If an advertiser has an interest in a series we have in production, we can work in their products or even adjust our launch dates if they want to tie it in to a special promotion,” said Craig Erwich, executive vice president, Warner Horizon Television, who oversees TheWB.com.^[17]

Video on Demand[link]

Series available on Video on Demand include:

• All of Us
• Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
• Martin
• Jack & Bobby
• One Tree Hill
• The O.C.
• Veronica Mars

Children's programming[link]

WB added the Kids' WB programming block, following its launch, which mixed Warners' biggest hit shows (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and later Batman: The Animated Series, all of which originated either on, Fox Kids or in syndication) with new productions and original shows.

After the Turner–Time Warner merger in 1996, Kids' WB formed an alliance with Cartoon Network, and over time, they shared more and more programming.

1997–2000[link]

In February 1999, the WB Television Network also launched the American version of Pokémon in the Kids' WB blocks, which they acquired from syndication (TV Tokyo) earlier that year and became a widespread pop culture phenomenon. WB also acquired the English-language version of the second series Yu-Gi-Oh!, also sharing the phenomenon that Pokémon experienced.

2000–05[link]

The Kids' WB aired mainly animated series but also aired some live-action programming. Kids' WB aired a televised version of R. L. Stine's The Nightmare Room in 2001, though it didn't make it past a season. They also aired a live-action movie known as Zolar, as well as the JammX Kids All-Star Dance Specials.

2006–08[link]

As Kids' WB shared more and more of its programming with Cartoon Network, because of the 1996 Turner-Time Warner merger and the fact that Cartoon Network was outrating Fox Kids, airing Kids' WB became financially unattractive as broadcast stations started showing only live-action talk shows and sitcom reruns in the afternoon to compete and go after a different audience, figuring children had all moved to watching cable networks in the afternoons.

On May 31, 2005, WB announced the discontinuation of the weekday Kids' WB block as of December 30, 2005. Kids' WB continued to air weekdays after this, but with redundant programming and theme weeks until January, and more promotion of Cartoon Network's afternoon Miguzi block and Kids' WB Saturday during the transition. After Daytime WB started, Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup was expanded by one hour.

The block continued on The CW, which replaced WB in their merger with UPN beginning September 18, 2006 as Kids' WB. It has been unofficially dubbed The CW Daytime, however, on-air promos for the block (which are quite rare) do not give it an actual name.

2008-onward[link]

• On October 2, 2007, The CW (WB and UPN's successor) announced that it would end the Kids' WB block starting May 2008, due to the effects of children's advertising limits and cable competition, in a joint decision between Warner Bros. and CBS, parent companies of The CW. Kids WB ended on May 17, 2008. During that time, the programming time has been sold to 4Kids Entertainment. With this deal, in the 2008–09 season, 4Kids ran two different Saturday morning blocks. 4Kids TV ended on December 27, 2008. Now, 4Kids only runs one Saturday morning block, the current The CW4Kids.^[18]

Station standardization[link]

When the WB Television Network was launched during the mid-1990s, the network began branding most of its stations as "WB" or "The WB", then the channel number, with the call signs nearby. The call signs were minimized to the smallest FCC-approved size by the end of the decade.

New York and St. Louis[link]

This meant that, for example, WPIX in New York and KPLR-TV in St. Louis were both referred to as "WB11". Fox originated such naming schemes, and CBS uses the CBS Mandate on most of their O&O stations. NBC and ABC utilize similar, but less extreme, naming schemes. While Fox and UPN mandated their respective naming schemes on all stations, WB did not.

Chicago and Los Angeles[link]

Thus, not all WB affiliates followed the naming scheme. WGN-TV in Chicago (on the local feed only as the superstation feed stopped carrying WB programming feed in 1999) used the name "WGN 9 Chicago" in its ID with the WB logo within the right curve of the station's "9 as an upside-down G" logo at the network's start, and next to a boxed "9" after the station's image revamp in 2002. Most of Tribune's WB affiliates only used the network logo in their station's logo or use "The WB" name after the calls. An example was Los Angeles affiliate KTLA, whose station ID was "KTLA, The WB".

Other affiliates[link]

Most WB affiliates also had another standardization name branding scheme: In Lakeland, Florida a UHF station went all out and acquired the call letters WWWB and called their station "The WB-32." Many other stations would take on a 'by city' branding approach. For example, KIAH (formerly KHWB) in Houston was called "Houston's WB," WLVI in Boston was called "Boston's WB," KDAF in the Dallas / Fort Worth area of Texas was called "Dallas/Ft. Worth's WB" and WDCW (former WBDC) in Washington, D.C. was called "Washington's WB." Some stations which followed this scheme used a regional name instead of a specific city, such as "Capital Region's WB" for WCWN in Albany, New York (formerly WEWB), or "Hawaii's WB" for KFVE in Honolulu, Hawaii and "East Tennessee's WB" for WBXX-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee while others incorporated the channel number, such as WPHL-TV in Philadelphia ("Philadelphia's WB17"), or Mobile, Alabama's WBPG (now WFNA; "The Gulf Coast's WB55"). Many WB 100+ stations also followed either one of these variations on "The City/Region's WB" scheme.

Legacy[link]

In addition to the web site, the WB Television Network lives on in a number of ways:

• Kids' WB continued as a broadcast television block for two years after WB went off the air, until May 17, 2008 when CBS and Time Warner sold the Saturday morning block time to 4Kids Entertainment. Kids' WB was also relaunched as an online portal.
• Services offered by WB carried over to The CW, like Daytime WB (now The CW Daytime), EasyView and The WB 100+ (now The CW Plus).
• Several shows formerly broadcast on the network have been released on DVD and/or continue to air on The CW.

See also[link]

• List of programs broadcast by The WB
• List of former WB affiliates
• The WB 100+ Station Group
• 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment
• DuMont Television Network
• UPN
• The CW

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website Only available in the United States
• WB India – Now that's Hollywood in India
• WB Network from The Encyclopedia of Television
• Farewell video
• A Clip of the final few moments.

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks. Many early television networks (e.g. the BBC, NBC or CBS) evolved from earlier radio networks.

In countries where most networks broadcast identical, centrally originated content to all their stations and where most individual TV transmitters therefore operate only as large "repeater stations", the terms "television network", "television channel" (a numeric identifier or radio frequency), and "television station" have become mostly interchangeable in everyday language, with professionals in TV-related occupations continuing to make a difference between them. Within the industry, a tiering is sometimes created among groups of networks based on whether their programming is simultaneously originated from a central point, and whether the network master control has the technical and administrative capability to take-over the programming of their affiliates in real-time when it deems this necessary — the most common example being national breaking news events.

In North America in particular, many television networks available via cable and satellite television are branded as "channels" because they are somewhat different than traditional networks in the sense defined above, as they are singular operations – they have no affiliates or component stations, but instead are distributed to the public via cable or direct-broadcast satellite companies. Such networks are commonly referred to by terms such as "specialty channels" in Canada or "cable networks" in the U.S.

A network may or may not produce all of its own programming. If not, production houses such as Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures can distribute their content to the different networks, and it is common that a certain production house may have programs on two or more rival networks. Similarly, some networks may import television programs from other countries, or use archival programming to help complement their schedules.

Some stations have the capability to interrupt the network through the local insertion of TV commercials, station IDs, and emergency alerts. Others completely break away from the network for their own programming, known as regional variation. This is common where small networks are members of larger networks. The majority of commercial television stations are self-owned, even though a variety of these instances are the property of a Owned And Operated television network. The commercial television stations can also be linked with a non-commercial educational broadcasting agency. It is also important to note that some countries have installed nationwide television networks, so that individual television stations can act as common repeaters of nationwide programs.

The majority of commercial television stations are self-owned, even though a variety of these instances are the property of a Owned And Operated television network. The commercial television stations can also be linked with a non-commercial educational broadcasting agency. It is also important to note that some countries have installed nationwide television networks, so that individual television stations can act as common repeaters of nationwide programs. On the other hand, televisions networks also undergo the impending experience of major changes related to cultural varieties. The emergence of cable television network has made available in major media markets on television, programs aimed at American bi-cultural Latinos. Such a diverse captive audience presents an occasion for the networks and affiliates to advertise the best programming that needs to be aired. This is explained by author Tim P. Vos in his abstract “A Cultural Explanation of Early Broadcast” where he determines Targeted group/non-targeted group representations and also the cultural specificity employed in the television network entity. He notes: Policymakers did not expressly intend to create a broadcast order dominated by commercial networks. In fact, legislative attempts were made to limit the network’s preferred position.

As to individual stations, modern network operations centers usually use broadcast automation to handle most tasks. These systems are not only used for Broadcast programming and for video server play-out, but use exact atomic time from GPS or other sources to maintain perfect synchronization with upstream and downstream systems, so that programming appears seamless to audience viewers.

Global[link]

A major international television network is the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC which is perhaps most well known for its news agency BBC News. Owned by the Crown, the BBC operates primarily in the United Kingdom. It is funded by the television licence paid by British residents that watch broadcast TV and as a result, no commercial advertising appears on their networks. Outside of the UK, advertising is shown because the licence fee only applies to the BBC's British operations. 23,000 people worldwide are employed by the BBC and its subsidiary, BBC Worldwide.

United States[link]

Television in the United States has long been dominated by the Big Three television networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, but Fox, launched in 1986, has gained prominence and is now considered as part of the "Big Four." The Big Three provide a significant amount of television programs to each of their affiliates, including newscasts, prime-time, daytime television and sports television, but still have periods each day when each affiliate can air local programming, such as local news or syndicated programmes. Since the creation of Fox, the number of American television networks has grown, but the amount of programming they provide is often much less: for example, The CW Television Network only broadcasts for ten hours each week, leaving its affiliates free to broadcast a large amount of syndicated programming. Other networks are dedicated to specialist programmes, such as religious broadcasting or services in languages other than English, especially in Spanish.

The largest television network in the United States, however, is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a non-profit, non-commercial educational, publicly owned service. In comparison to the commercial television networks, there is no central unified arm of broadcast programming, meaning that each PBS affiliate has a significant amount of freedom to schedule television shows as they consent to.

Some public television such as Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) carry separate digital network through affiliates such as Georgia Public Broadcasting stations. In fact some programs from PBS were branded on other channels as GPB Kids, and PBS World. The way this works is by having each network sending its signal to many local affiliate television stations across the country. These local stations then air the "network feed," and millions of households across the country tune in. In the case of the largest networks, the signal is sent to over 200 stations. In the case of the smallest networks, the signal may be sent to just a dozen or fewer stations.

The way this works is by having each network sending its signal to many local affiliate television stations across the country. These local stations then air the "network feed," and millions of households across the country tune in. In the case of the largest networks, the signal is sent to over 200 stations. In the case of the smallest networks, the signal may be sent to just a dozen or fewer stations.

With the digital terrestrial television and the mandated DTV transition in the United States, several television networks have been created specifically to be transmitted on the digital subchannels of TV stations. These include Ion Life (which is almost always paired with Ion Television as most of the stations are network-owned), and ThisTV (which is carried on an assortment of unrelated stations).

Providers of pay TV generally on cable television pay the networks a certain amount per subscriber (the highest charge being for ESPN). Direct-broadcast satellite company can sell local television commercials, in which case there may be revenue sharing. Networks that consist entirely of home shopping or infomercials may instead pay the station or cable/satellite provider, which is known as brokered programming. This is especially common with low-power TV stations, and now even more so for the ones that are using this income to make the forced conversion to digital, which in turn provides them with several extra channels to transmit different program sources on.

History[link]

Television broadcasting in the United States was heavily influenced by radio, a precursor to television. Early individual experimental radio stations in the United States began limited operations in the 1910s. In November 1920, in Pittsburgh, Westinghouse launched "the world's first commercially licensed radio station", KDKA.^[1] Other companies built early radio stations in Detroit, Boston, New York City, and other areas. Radio stations received permission to transmit through broadcast licenses obtained through the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), a government entity created in 1926 to regulate the radio industry. With few exceptions, radio stations east of the Mississippi River received official call signs beginning with the letter W; those west of the Mississippi a K. The amount of programs these early stations aired was often limited, in part due to the expense of program creation. The idea of a network system which would distribute programming to many stations simultaneously, saving each station the expense of creating all of its own programs and expanding the total coverage beyond the limits of a single broadcast signal, was devised.

NBC set up the first permanent coast-to-coast radio network in the United States by 1928, using dedicated telephone line technology. The network physically linked individual radio stations, nearly all of which were independent radio owned and operated station, in a vast chain, NBC's audio signal thus transmitted from station to station to listeners across the United States. Other companies, including CBS and Mutual, soon followed suit, each network signing hundreds of individual stations on as affiliates: stations which agreed to broadcast one network's programs.

As radio prospered throughout the 1920s and 1930s, experimental television stations, which broadcast both an audio and a video signal, began sporadic broadcasts. Experimental television station broadcast license were often granted to experienced radio broadcasters, and thus advances in television technology closely followed breakthroughs in radio technology. As interest in television grew, and as early television stations began regular broadcasts, the idea of networking television signals (sending one station's video and audio signal to outlying stations) was born. However, the signal from an electronic television system, containing much more information than a radio signal (6 MHz), required a broadband transmission medium. Transmission by a nationwide series of radio relay towers would be possible but extremely expensive.

Researchers at the AT&T subsidiary Bell Telephone Laboratories patented coaxial cable in 1929, primarily as a telephone improvement device. Its high capacity (transmitting 240 telephone calls simultaneously) also made it ideal for long-distance television transmission, where it could handle a frequency band of 1 megahertz.^[2] German television first demonstrated such an application in 1936 by relaying televised telephone calls from Berlin to Leipzig, 180 km (110 mi) away, by cable.^[3]

AT&T laid the first L-carrier coaxial cable between New York and Philadelphia, with automatic signal booster stations every 10 miles (16 km), and in 1937 they experimented with transmitting televised motion pictures over the line.^[4] Bell Labs gave demonstrations of the New York–Philadelphia television link in 1940–1941. AT&T used the coaxial link to transmit the Republican national convention in June 1940 from Philadelphia to New York City, where it was televised to a few hundred receivers over the NBC station.^[5]

NBC had earlier demonstrated an inter-city television broadcast on February 1, 1940, from its station in New York City to another in Schenectady, New York by General Electric relay antennas, and began transmitting some programs on an irregular basis to Philadelphia and Schenectady in 1941. Wartime priorities suspended the manufacture of television and radio equipment for civilian use from April 1, 1942 to October 1, 1945, temporarily shutting down expansion of television networking. However, in 1944 a short film, "Patrolling the Ether", was broadcast simultaneously over three stations as an experiment.

The DuMont Television Network in 1949. DuMont's network of stations stretched from Boston to St. Louis. These stations were linked together via AT&T's coaxial cable feed, allowing the network to broadcast live television programming to all the stations at the same time. Stations not yet connected received kinescope recordings via physical delivery.

The DuMont Television Network logo.

AT&T made its first postwar addition in February 1946, with the completion of a 225-mile (362 km) cable between New York City and Washington, D.C., although a blurry demonstration broadcast showed that it would not be in regular use for several months. The DuMont Television Network, which had begun experimental broadcasts before the war, launched what Newsweek called "the country's first permanent commercial television network" on August 15, 1946, connecting New York with Washington.^[6] Not to be outdone, NBC launched what it called "the world's first regularly operating television network" on June 27, 1947, serving New York, Philadelphia, Schenectady and Washington.^[7] Baltimore and Boston were added to the NBC television network in late 1947. DuMont and NBC would be joined by CBS and ABC in 1948.

In the 1940s, the term "chain broadcasting" was used when discussing network broadcasts,^[8] as the television stations were linked together in long chains along the East Coast. But as the television networks expanded westward, the interconnected television stations formed great television networks of connected affiliate television stations. In January 1949, with the signon of DuMont's WDTV in Pittsburgh, the midwest and east-coast networks were finally connected by coaxial cable (with WDTV showing the best shows of all four networks)[1]. By 1951, the four networks stretched from coast to coast, carried on the new microwave radio relay network of AT&T Long Lines. Only a few local TV stations remained independent of the networks.

Originally, each of the four major television networks only broadcast a few hours of programs a week to their affiliate stations, mostly between the hours of 7 and 10 PM when most viewers were watching television. Most of a television station's programs were still locally produced. As the networks increased the number of programs they aired, however, officials at the Federal Communications Commission grew concerned that local television might disappear altogether. Eventually, the federal regulator enacted the Prime Time Access Rule, which restricted the amount of time that the networks could air programs; officials hoped the rules would foster the development of quality local programs, but in practice, most local stations did not want to bear the burden of producing many of their own programs, and instead chose to purchase programs from independent producers. Sales of television programs to individual local stations is called broadcast syndication, and today nearly every television station in the United States obtains syndicated programs in addition to network-produced fare.

The Fox Broadcasting Company network, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, was launched on October 9, 1986 after the company purchased the television assets of Metromedia. In the 2006–2007 television season, The CW Television Network was launched by the merger of The WB Television Network and the UPN network.

Late in the 20th century, cross-country microwave radio relays were replaced by fixed-service satellites. Some terrestrial radio relays remained in service for regional connections.

Regulation[link]

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations in the United States restricted the number of television stations that could be owned by any one network, company or individual (Concentration of media ownership). This led to a system where most local television stations were independently owned, but received programming from the network through a franchising contract, except in a few big cities that had network owned-and-operated stations (O&O) and independent stations. In the early days of television, when there were often only one or two stations broadcasting in an area, the stations were usually affiliated with several networks and were able to choose which television programs to air. Eventually, as more stations were licensed, it became common for each station to be affiliated with only one network and carry all of the "prime-time" network programs. Local stations occasionally break from regularly scheduled network broadcast programming however, especially when there is local breaking news (e.g. severe weather). Moreover, when stations return to network programming from commercial breaks, the station identification is displayed in the first few seconds before switching to the network's logo.

Another FCC regulation, the Prime Time Access Rule, restricted the number of hours of network programming that could be broadcast on the local affiliate stations. This was done to encourage the development of local programming, and to give local residents access to broadcast time. More often, the result included a substantial amount of syndicated programming, usually consisting of old movies, independently produced and syndicated shows, and reruns of network programs. Occasionally, these shows were presented by a local host, especially in programs that showed cartoons and short comedies intended for children. See list of local children's television series (United States).

Canada[link]

A number of different definitions of "network" are used by government agencies, industry, and the general public.

Under the Broadcasting Act, a network is defined as "any operation where control over all or any part of the programs or program schedules of one or more broadcasting undertakings is delegated to another undertaking or person"^[9] and must be licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Only four national over-the-air television networks are currently licensed by the CRTC: the government-owned CBC (English) and Radio-Canada (French), French-language private network TVA, and a network focused on Canada's indigenous peoples, APTN. A third French-language service, V, is licensed as a provincial network within Quebec, but not nationally.

Currently, licensed national or provincial networks must be carried by all cable systems (in the country or province, respectively) with a service area above a certain population threshold, as well as all satellite providers. However, they are no longer necessarily expected to achieve over-the-air coverage in all areas (APTN, for example, only has terrestrial coverage in parts of northern Canada).

In addition to these licensed networks, the two main private English-language over-the-air services, CTV and Global, are also generally considered to be "networks" by virtue of their national coverage, although they are not officially licensed as such. CTV was previously a licensed network, but relinquished this licence in 2001 after acquiring most of its affiliates, making operating a network licence essentially redundant (per the above definition).

Smaller groups of stations with common branding are often categorized by industry watchers as television systems, although the public and the broadcasters themselves will often refer to them as "networks" regardless. Some of these systems, such as CTV Two, Citytv, and the now-defunct E!, essentially operate as mini-networks, but have reduced geographical coverage. Others, such as Omni or CTS, have similar branding and a common programming focus, but schedules may vary significantly from one station to the next.

Most local television stations in Canada are now owned and operated directly by their network, with only a very few affiliates still operating.

Europe, Asia, Africa and South America[link]

This section's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (October 2009)

Most television services outside North America are national networks established by a combination of publicly funded broadcasters and commercial broadcasters.^{[citation needed]} Most nations established television networks in a similar way: the first television service in each country was operated by a public broadcaster, often funded by a TV licensing fee, and most of them later established a second or even third station providing a greater variety of content. Commercial television services also became available when private companies applied for television broadcasting licenses. Often, each new network would be identified with their channel number, so that individual stations would often be numbered One, Two, Three, and so forth.

United Kingdom[link]

The first television network in the United Kingdom was provided by the BBC, but commercial broadcasting was established in order to create a second television network. Rather than creating a single network with local stations owned and operated by a single company (as is the case with the BBC), each local area had a separate television station independently owned and operated, although most of these stations shared a number of programmes. Gradually, each of these stations formed the ITV Network.

When UHF television allowed a greater number of television stations to broadcast, the BBC launched a second network, BBC Two (and the original service was later renamed BBC One). A fourth nationwide commercial network was launched, Channel 4, although Wales introduced a Welsh-language service instead, S4C. A fifth network, currently called Channel 5, was later launched. Since the introduction of digital television, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 each introduced a number of digital-only channels. The large amount of remaining channels are operated by satellite and virgin media cable only BSkyB and free to view UKTV who operate a number of channels including Dave, GOLD, Watch, yesterday and other more specific channels

Netherlands[link]

Until 1989, Netherlands Public Broadcasting was the only television network in the Netherlands, with three stations, Nederland 1, Nederland 2 and Nederland 3. Rather than having a single production arm, there are a number of public broadcasting organizations that create programming for each of the three stations, each working relatively independently. Commercial broadcasting in the Netherlands is currently operated by two networks, RTL Nederland and SBS Broadcasting, which together broadcast seven commercial stations.

Russia[link]

Soviet era[link]

The first television network of Soviet Union appeared on 4 November 1967 when the Channel One of USSR Central Television became all-union one. Until 1989 there were six TV channels, all owned by the USSR Gosteleradio. This changed during Gorbachev's Perestroika when the first independent television network, 2×2, was launched.

1990s[link]

Following a breakup of the Soviet Union, USSR Gosteleradio ceased to exist as well as its six channels. Only Channel One had a smooth transition to the Ostankino Channel One and the network itself survived. The other 5 networks were Ground Zero. This free airwave space allowed many private television networks like NTV and TV-6 to appear in the mid-1990s.

2000s[link]

2000s were marked by the increased state intervention in Russian Television. On 14 April 2001 NTV television channel had its management changed following the expulsion of former oligarch and the founder of NTV Vladimir Gusinsky. As a result most of the star reporters left the channel. Later, on 22 January 2002, the second biggest private television network TV-6, where the former NTV staff took refuge, was shut down allegedly because of its editorial policy. Five months later, on 1 June TVS was launched, mostly consisting of NTV/TV-6 staff, only to stop airing 1 year later. Since then four biggest TV networks (Channel one, Russia 1, NTV and Russia 2) are state-owned.

Still, 2000s saw a rise of several independent TV networks like REN (its coverage increased vastly allowing it to become federal channel), Petersburg — Channel Five (overall the same), the relaunched 2×2 and others. Now the TV audience is mainly shared by 5 leading companies: Channel one, Russia 1, NTV, TNT and CTC.

Australia[link]

Australia has two national public networks, the ABC and SBS. The ABC operates eight stations as part of its main network ABC1, one for each state and territory, as well as three digital-only channels, ABC2, ABC3 and ABC News 24. SBS currently operates two stations, SBS One and SBS Two.

The first commercial networks in Australia involved commercial stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and later Perth, sharing programming, with each network forming networks based on their allocated channel numbers: TCN-9 Sydney, GTV-9 Melbourne, QTQ-9 Brisbane, NWS-9 Adelaide and STW-9 Perth together formed the Nine Network, while their equivalents on VHF channels 7 and 10 formed the Seven Network and Network Ten respectively. Until 1989, areas outside of these main cities had access to only a single commercial station, and these rural stations often formed small networks such as Prime Television. Beginning in 1989, however, television markets in rural areas began to aggregate, allowing these rural networks to broadcast over a larger area, often an entire state, and become full-time affiliates to one specific metropolitan network.

Philippines[link]

In the Philippines, in practice, the terms network, station and channel are used interchangeably as programming line-ups are mostly centrally planned from the networks' main offices, and since provincial/regional stations usually just relay the broadcast from their parent company network's flagship station (usually based in the Mega Manila area). Hence VHF networks are sometimes informally referred to by the channel number they are seen on terrestrial TV in the Mega Manila area (e.g. Channel 2 or Dos for ABS-CBN, Channel 5 or Singko for TV5, and Channel 7 or Siyete for GMA Network) while some networks have the channel numbers in their name (e.g. TV5, Studio 23 and Net 25 which are seen on channels 23 and 25 respectively).

Unlike the US where networks get programmes from various production houses, the two largest networks in the Philippines produce all their prime time programmes except for Asianovelas. Other networks adopt block-time programming whose programming arrangements are similar to the relationship between a US network and station. And also Philippines has network wars in which the fans of the 2 major networks defend their favorite channel, or when the 2 major networks produce similar and rival programming, and example of this, is when an ABS-CBN fan tells an insult on GMA (usually being called cheap), and a GMA fan would answer and make another insult (usually the answer is that ABS-CBN is mayabang, arrogant in English), and an exchange of insults would occur, usually on social networking sites, especially Facebook. In terms of programming, for example, after the launch of Showtime, GMA launched Diz Iz It!, but was cancelled due to the former's popularity, and the latter was called a copycat and cheap. But the real definition of the network wars is that the 3 networks battle for ratings supremacy.

References[link]

See also[link]

Look up television network in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Cable television in the United States
• Concentration of media ownership
• List of television networks by country
• Parent company
• Television system

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Kristin Kreuk
Kristin Kreuk, 2011
Born	Kristin Laura Kreuk (1982-12-30) December 30, 1982 (age 29) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Actress, executive producer
Years active	2001–present

Kristin Laura Kreuk ( /ˈkruːk/;^[1] born December 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress and executive producer, best known for her roles as Lana Lang in the American television series Smallville and her role as Laurel Yeung in the Canadian teen drama Edgemont. She has starred in movies such as Eurotrip and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Kreuk stars as Catharine Chandler in The CW's Beauty and the Beast television series that will air in Fall 2012.

Early life[link]

Kreuk was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[2] Her father, Peter Kreuk, is of Dutch descent; her mother, Deanna Che, is of Chinese descent, but was born in Indonesia; her maternal grandmother was born in Jamaica of Chinese descent.^[3][4] Both parents are landscape architects. She has a sister named Justine, who is about five years younger.^{[citation needed]} Kreuk trained in karate^[5] and gymnastics at the national level until high school but quit in Grade 11 due to scoliosis.^[5]

Career[link]

Television[link]

After shooting the first season of Edgemont (a teenage soap opera set at a Vancouver-area high school) and getting herself an agent, Kreuk landed the lead role of Snow White in a TV movie titled Snow White: The Fairest of Them All. The film, shot in Vancouver, also starred Miranda Richardson and was directed by Caroline Thompson. It aired on ABC, and later released on DVD, in 2002.^[6] In 2003, Kreuk ended her role on Edgemont. In the summer of 2004, Kreuk took the role of Tenar for the Sci Fi Channel two-part miniseries Legend of Earthsea. The miniseries was filmed in Vancouver, directed by Rob Lieberman and broadcast on December 13, 2004.

After Snow White, Kreuk's agent sent an audition tape to screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who at the time were putting together the cast of a show they had created for the WB Network entitled Smallville. The series, which was slated to be shot in Vancouver, revolves around the life of teenager Clark Kent before he becomes Superman. Gough and Millar called Kreuk to WB's studios in Burbank, California to audition for the role of Clark Kent's first love, Lana Lang. After seven seasons, Kreuk left Smallville in the beginning of 2008, when her character leaves town. She returned as a guest star in the show's season eight for five episodes to conclude her storyline.

In 2009, Kristin Kreuk signed on for a multi-episode arc in season three of Chuck.^[7] She played Hannah, a computer troubleshooter who joins the Buy More Nerd Herd after being laid off from her previous job.

In 2010, she portrayed Ben Hur's sister Tirzah in the TV movie Ben Hur, which aired in Canada and later on ABC in the United States.

Kreuk was involved with two pilots that did not get picked up: an NBC 2010 sitcom entitled Hitched (which was co-created by Josh Schwartz, who was also the creator of Chuck)^[8] and a 2011 CBS drama series called 17th Precinct, which was developed by Ronald D. Moore.^[9]

In February 2012, Kreuk was announced as the lead female character in The CW's reboot of Beauty and the Beast,^[10] which was picked up on May 11, 2012 and will air in Fall 2012.^[11]

Advertising work[link]

Neutrogena made her the spokesmodel for their new worldwide advertising campaign. In this role, Kreuk followed in the footsteps of fellow teen stars such as Jennifer Love Hewitt and Mandy Moore. In 2005, she renewed her contract with Neutrogena for another two years, making her the company's longest-serving model spokesperson.^[12]

Films[link]

Kreuk had a cameo in 2004 comedy film Eurotrip, dancing during the live rock music performance of "Scotty Doesn't Know", sung by Matt Damon's character.

In early 2005, Kreuk signed on to the 2007 Canadian independent film Partition, playing Naseem, a vulnerable 17-year-old whose world is shattered by the trauma of the Partition of India in 1947; the character also falls in love with an ex-British Indian Army officer.

In the summer of 2006, Kreuk starred in the short film, Dream Princess by comic book writer/artist Kaare Andrews. The film is a modern sci-punk retelling of the tale of Sleeping Beauty, with a twist.^[13]

Kreuk starred in the 2009 film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, in which she played the title character, Chun Li.^[14] The film received generally negative reviews.^[15]

Kreuk was considered for 2008 film Get Smart, but reportedly lost the role to Anne Hathaway.^[16] She also tested for 2011 film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, with the role going to Paula Patton.

In early 2010, Kreuk signed onto the Japanese horror film Vampire.^[17] In 2010, Kreuk also starred in the music video "I Heard" by musician Hill Zaini.^[18][19]

Kreuk stars as Heather in the 2011 film, Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy, based on Irvine Welsh's novel. She also stars as Tilda in the 2012 sci-fi comedy film Space Milkshake.

Entrepreneur[link]

Along with her friend Kendra Voth, Kreuk established "Girls By Design," a project to empower teenage girls through creative and educational endeavors.^[20][21]

Kreuk with Rosena Bhura, of who Kreuk met on the set of Partition, started a production company called Parvati Creative Inc, which focuses on “human-centric films as seen through a female lens”.^[22][23] Parvati's first production was a short film starring Kreuk's boyfriend Mark Hildreth and directed by Rick Rosenthal called Blink, of which Kreuk is listed as an executive producer.^[24][25] The second project was a comedy web series entitled "Queenie" which featured Kreuk's friend Olivia Cheng.

Personal life[link]

Kreuk resides in her hometown Vancouver^[26][27] with her French bulldog Dublin.^{[28][29][30][31]} As of late 2011, she bought a home in Los Angeles with her actor boyfriend Mark Hildreth.^[32][33] On her weblog on the Girls By Design website, she stated that she doesn't eat meat.^[34]

Kreuk is an active member of Team Power Smart,^[35] an organization dedicated to promoting energy conservation,^[36] and a member of the American Red Cross.^[37]

Filmography[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kristin Kreuk

• Kristin Kreuk at the Internet Movie Database
• Kristin Kreuk on Facebook
• Kristin Kreuk on Twitter^{[39][40][41][42][43]}
• Girls By Design website
• "About Girls By Design". girlsbydesign.com. http://girlsbydesign.com/blog/about/. Retrieved 2011-06-20. 
• BC Hydro Team Power Smart - Kristin Kreuk Biography Page
• Official Edgemont site

References[link]

Tom Welling
Tom Welling at the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2010
Born	Thomas John Patrick Welling (1977-04-26) April 26, 1977 (age 35)[1] Putnam Valley, New York, United States
Occupation	Actor, director, producer
Years active	2000–present
Spouse	Jamie A. White (2002–present)[2]

Thomas John Patrick "Tom" Welling (born April 26, 1977) is an American actor, director, producer, and former model, best known for his portrayal of Clark Kent in the WB/CW series Smallville.

A high-school athlete, Welling initially worked in construction and, in 1998, he successfully modeled men's clothing for several popular brands. In 2000, he made a successful transition to television. He has been nominated and received several awards for his portrayal of Clark Kent. He also had a recurring role in Judging Amy. He has also been involved behind the camera as an executive producer and a director. His films include Cheaper by the Dozen, its sequel, and the 2005 remake of The Fog.

Early life[link]

Welling was born in Upstate New York on April 26, 1977.^[1][3] His family moved frequently, making stops in Wisconsin, Delaware, and Michigan.^[3] Welling attended Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan, where he started acting in plays, but then switched into sports. Welling played baseball and soccer, but his favorite sport is basketball.^[3] Welling is one of four children.^[4] His brother, Mark Welling, is also an actor.^[1]

Career[link]

Tom Welling on set of Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Originally a construction worker, Welling was discovered in 1998 at a party in Nantucket by a catalog camera scout who suggested he try modeling.^[1] Welling modeled for Louisa Modeling Agency until 2000,^[3] when he relocated to Los Angeles. There he modeled for Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Calvin Klein while pursuing an acting career.^[1] Welling has stated that he did not like modeling and that he was not good at it because it was all on the outside or from an external point of view. He pursued acting because he wanted to express a range of emotions.^[4] In his first major acting role, Welling portrayed karate teacher Rob Meltzer, a.k.a. "Karate Rob", a younger love interest of Amy Brenneman's character on the CBS series Judging Amy, which aired in 2001. Welling was originally signed for three episodes; after receiving enthusiastic fan reviews, the producers kept him for three more.^[3] Welling also had a small role in UPN's Special Unit 2, and he appeared in the debut episode of the FOX sitcom Undeclared.^[3]

[edit] Smallville

Welling was cast in the television series Smallville after a nationwide search for an actor to play Clark Kent. In an interview with a teen magazine, Welling spoke about the day he auditioned for the role: "I was on my way back from the Warner Bros. studio, and I stopped in a gas station to call my manager and tell him how it went. I called and got him on the phone and he said, 'Can you hold on a second?' Next thing I know, there are literally seven people on the other line and almost in unison they say, 'Tom, you got it!'"^[3] The pilot aired in October 2001, and became the highest-rated debut for The WB, with 8.4 million viewers.^[5] Welling told TV Guide that he turned down the lead role twice, but after reading the script, decided to take the job. Like Christopher Reeve, he was not a Superman fan prior to being cast as Clark Kent. In fact, he said, he continues to not read Superman comics: "I made a conscious decision to stay away from that material. We're doing something different at a time before all that, I don't want that to affect what I'm doing, even subconsciously."^[6] He did get the chance to meet two previous Supermans: Christopher Reeve, when the actor was invited on Smallville in the Season 2 episode "Rosetta", and Dean Cain in the Season 7 episode Cure.^[7]

Welling was named one of People magazine’s "Breakthrough Stars of 2001", and also won the Teen Choice Award as "Choice Breakout Star (Male)" in 2002 for his role as Clark Kent.^[8] Following the third season, Welling was interviewed by Smallville Magazine and stated that if he could play one character on the show that was not Clark Kent, it would be the character of Lex Luthor; "Lex Luthor! I wouldn’t mind having my head shaved – as an actor, [it is the ultimate,] getting to play the complete opposite of your character."^[9]

In 2004 Welling was approached about starring in the big screen adaptation of Superman when director Brett Ratner was attached to project. Comic book artist Alex Ross even did two sketches of Welling as the "Man of Steel" to see what the actor would look like in the famous costume.^[10] In August 2009, Welling won another Teen Choice Award as "Choice TV Actor (Action Adventure)" for Smallville.^[11]

Directing[link]

Welling made his directorial debut in 2006, with the season five episode of Smallville, "Fragile". He also directed the season six episode "Hydro", the show's 150th episode "Apocalypse", the season eight episode "Injustice", and the second part of season nine's Absolute Justice movie, which was titled Legends. Later, he directed two episodes of Smallville's last season: Patriot and Booster. Booster was written by Geoff Johns, who also wrote Absolute Justice.

Film and production[link]

Tom Welling with John Schneider and Brian Peterson at the Smalville Comic-Con panel in July 2010.

In December 2003, Welling played Charlie Baker, the oldest son and second oldest in the Baker family which had 12 children in the film Cheaper by the Dozen, which is a remake of the 1950 movie starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, based on the 1948 book by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.^[8] Welling talked about why he was interested in the project in an interview with Paul Fischer: "The top three reasons I decided to do this film were, one, Steve Martin, two, Steve Martin and three, Steve Martin. That was the number one draw for me. Then, after reading the script, I really liked this character, Charlie. I liked what he went through, what he had to go through, and I felt I understood where he was coming from. And I just wanted to be a part of it."^[4] Welling had always been a fan of Steve Martin's and stated that he "absolutely loved" working with him.^[4] In 2005, Welling appeared as Nick Castle in The Fog, a remake of John Carpenter's 1980 film of the same name and he reprised his role as Charlie Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

For Smallville's ninth season, Welling served as a co-executive producer.^[8] He returned as Clark Kent for the show's tenth and final season in Fall 2010 and has become a full executive producer, as credited in a May 20, 2010 press release by the CW.^[12] Welling still models occasionally and appeared in the May 2008 issue of Vogue, the so-called Superhero Issue.^[13] Welling executive produces Hellcats, a new television series based on the book Cheer: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders by journalist Kate Torgovnick.^[14][15] The series first aired on The CW beginning in Fall 2010.^[12] Hellcats was canceled by the CW May 17, 2011.

Personal life[link]

Welling has been married to model Jamie White since 2002.^[1] They were married in Martha's Vineyard with Welling's friends and former Smallville co-stars Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum in attendance.^[16] Welling and his wife resided in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,^[4] but returned to Los Angeles in March 2011.

Welling has stated in YM that he dislikes interviews. He said, "I don't want to be a celebrity for the sake of being a celebrity. I wanna work and then go home and live in private."^[17]

Filmography[link]