Viacom President Talks UPN Strategy

Viacom President Mel Karmazin recently made clear that his company only sees itself involved in UPN if it has full operational control over the network. This raises question marks over the possibility of a partnership with News Corp. in UPN.

In a recent interview with Electronic Media Online, Karmazin talked about Viacom's relationship with News Corp., the company that controls Buffy producers 20th Century Fox. Karmazin said that when UPN ordered two seasons of Fox's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it did so only after Fox parent News Corp. renewed its UPN affiliation agreement for at least those two season. Previously, News Corp. was able to use such a long-term affiliation deal as a condition in negotiations over UPN.

With the deal in place, it is no longer a high priority for Viacom to reach an agreement with News Corp. over partnership in UPN. "Now that we have the long-term affiliation agreement with News Corp., we are very comfortable running the network alone," said Karmazin.

"We see no reason that we need a partner," he continued. "Having said that, we have a terrific relationship with those people. If UPN could be made better from having them as a partner, we would be open to it. Originally News Corp. talked about wanting an equity position in UPN in exchange for giving us a long-term affiliation agreement for the Chris-Craft stations. We have said we will keep talking about it. It is now an opportunity, not a condition."

News Corp. President Peter Chernin recently told Electronic Media his company would only want to partner in UPN if it had full operational control over the network. "I wouldn't see us being an investor with them [Viacom] having operating control," he said. Chernin added that while his company would like to obtain a stake in the network, it would still honour its agreement to be "a good supportive affiliate."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Enterprise will be at the head of an initiative to bring new life to UPN, in a new and exciting Fall schedule. "Our decision to put Buffy on the network is that we thought it was a very transforming transaction for us that will give the entire network a halo effect," Karmazin said. "We need to make the UPN Network profitable, and we think that this was a step in the right direction. You can't make a network profitable by not investing in programming."

Buffy and the new Star Trek series are not the only costly investments Viacom will be making in UPN. Stephen King's Dead Zone is set to air after Enterprise on Wednesday nights in the Fall, creating a high profile and what the network hopes will be a highly attractive line-up. Earlier today, reports appeared suggesting that UPN will also order the remake of Battlestar Galactica (story). This would make the network as serious contender with the Sci-Fi Channel in its line up of top quality new science fiction programming.

This investment in new programming is also combined with a refinement of UPN's current schedule. XFL has been cut from Sunday nights, leaving WWF Smackdown as one of the few more low-brow programmes still on the schedule. However, even Smackdown will likely be decreased from 120 to 90 minutes next season.

The full interview with Mel Karmazin, in which he talked about rumours that UPN might change its name, can be found here at Electronic Media Online.

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