'Buffy' Gives UPN New Lease Of Life

Just last month, it was announced the Buffy The Vampire Slayer would leave the WB for UPN next season. This week, in a deal that is reportedly tied to the acquisition of the hit series, News Corp. extended its affiliation agreement with UPN through to the end of Buffy's seventh season, thereby ensuring the network's long term future.

In an interview published in 'Electronic Media' magazine (via the Hollywood Reporter), Mel Karmazin, president of Viacom, parent company of UPN and Paramount Pictures, stated that UPN had renewed its affiliation deal with News Corp. through 2003. News Corp. daughter Twentieth Century Fox produces Buffy. Karmazin said that "as part of the transaction involving 20th Century Fox's sale of 'Buffy' to us, News Corp. also gave us a longer-term UPN affiliation agreement for the Chris-Craft stations."

News Corp. sources denied that the $102 million deal which secured the popular series for UPN was based on the fact that the affiliate deal was soon to be completed. Prior to this, the WB network had said this was in fact the reason it lost Buffy, even though UPN was also prepared to pay more money for the show.

Of particular importance in the deal were the affiliate stations in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, seen as crucial to UPN's success. "Now that we have those affiliations locked in, we can focus on making UPN profitable," Karmazin said.

Karmazin also noted that Viacom is in "active discussions with News Corp. about a role for them in UPN and about station swaps." Previously, News Corp. had initiated talks to buy all or part of the network, negotiations which were expected to end by this month.

This agreement will of course not only benefit Buffy but also Series V, which is expected to air on UPN.

The full Hollywood Reporter article can be found here.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!