UPN, WB to Merge Into New Network

By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer


NEW YORK — UPN and the WB Network will cease operations this fall to make way for a new broadcast network called The CW aimed at young, ethnic viewers, CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment executives announced today.

Both companies will own 50% of the new venture, which will be carried by the Tribune Co. and the CBS UPN affiliates and offer 30 hours of programming a week, including shows like "Smallville," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Beauty and the Geek."

The news about the launch of the new network — which will dramatically reshape the broadcast television landscape — was kept tightly under wraps until this morning, when reporters were summoned to a news conference at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan.

"We're coming here with a pretty historic announcement," Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of the CBS Corp. said.

"The CW is going to be a real competitor, a destination for young audiences, diverse audiences and a real favorite with advertisers," Moonves added. "The CW will be able to do something truly remarkable: program already hit shows every single day of the week, programs that consistently rank number one or number two in their time slots in the most coveted young adult demographic."

Barry Meyer, chairman and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Entertainment, called the new network "a partnership whose time has come."

"The CW is a brand new network that will be a 50-50 partnership between Warner Bros. Entertainment and the CBS Corp., with both companies contributing the best of their strategic assets — assets including existing hit television series, access to new programming, the strongest executive talent from both the WB and UPN and a solid national distribution system," he said.

Dawn Ostroff, currently president of UPN, will serve as entertainment president of The CW, while John Maatta, currently chief operating officer of The WB, will take on that role at the new network.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-012406tv_lat,0,5458802.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Who dies on Smallville Thursday night?

Do not click the link unless you want to know.

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/4686/s21xb.jpg

Unhappy marriages detrimental to self-esteem and health

Long-term, low-quality marriages have significant effects on overall well-being, according to a recent study by Penn State researchers.
Daniel Hawkins, graduate student, and Alan Booth, distinguished professor of sociology, human development and family studies, and demography, said that people who remain unhappily married suffer from lower levels of self-esteem, overall health, overall happiness, and life satisfaction along with elevated levels of psychological distress, in contrast to those in long-term happy marriages.

( Read more... )

Emory study lights up the political brain

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/euhs-esl012406.php

When it comes to forming opinions and making judgments on hot political issues, partisans of both parties don't let facts get in the way of their decision-making, according to a new Emory University study. The research sheds light on why staunch Democrats and Republicans can hear the same information, but walk away with opposite conclusions.

Evolution study tightens human-chimp connection

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found genetic evidence that seems to support a controversial hypothesis that humans and chimpanzees may be more closely related to each other than chimps are to the other two species of great apes - gorillas and orangutans. They report that the rate of human and chimp molecular evolution is much slower than that of gorillas and orangutans, with the evolution of humans being the slowest of all.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/giot-est011906.php

Going back to more Apollo hardware - damn good call.

WASHINGTON — NASA’s Project Constellation program has been overhauled to include a slightly smaller Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and a new human-rated booster with an Apollo-era upper stage engine.

Project Constellation is the name NASA has given for the effort to develop hardware necessary to replace the space shuttle and return astronauts to the Moon late next decade.

http://www.space.com/news/060120_cev_overhaul.html

Sweden follows Iceland in declaring plan to be Oil free.

"Minister for Sustainable Development Mona Sahlin has declared that Sweden is going to become the first country in the world to break the dependence on fossil energy. Sweden will stop using oil by 2020 and eventually the energy supply of the country will be based on renewable energy only. The goal is to gradually rid the country of gasoline-run cars and oil-heated homes"

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/01/sweden_raises_t.php