Angel

Dissention in The WB Family ?

The web sites of the biggest WB affiliates in the US have posted a call to action for fans of Angel. Could this be an indication of dissention in the ranks at The WB family?

19 stations, covering the most populated US urban areas, have all posted the same weekly Web site news package urging local viewers of ANGEL to rally in force and "Log on and do what you can." The posting provides a list of the three "Save ANGEL" Web links and notes, "Never say die folks."

These weekly "Angel Bits" packages are produced in-house for affiliate stations’ sites by Tribune Interactive, an arm of the Tribune Company of Chicago, one of the US’s largest and oldest broadcasters. The company is an outgrowth of the Chicago Tribune newspaper founded in 1847, whose renowned slogan "World’s Greatest Newspaper" also appears in the "WGN" call-letters of its radio and television holdings.

What might surprise ANGEL viewers is that the Tribune Broadcasting Company holds a 22% stake in the WB Network. That makes it second largest shareholder, behind Time Warner’s 66% share and ahead of the 11% held by WB network executives. Of the Tribune’s 26 TV stations, 19 are WB affiliates. Its big urban WB holdings include KTLA, WLVI-Boston, KDAF-Dallas, WPIX-New York and the core of its media empire, "World’s Greatest Network" WGN-Chicago.