Despite the warnings that this might happen, the news that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is leaving the WB at the end of the season and moving to UPN for the next two years is, nonetheless, startling.
The battle over the show began more than a year ago, and it has been playing out in the national press since the beginning of this year. But not many really thought it would come to this.
("Buffy" on the same network as the WWF? Ick!)
To make a long story short, Fox — the studio that produces the show — was demanding a lot more money from the WB (the network that telecast the show since it debuted in 1997). The WB insisted its final offer (reportedly $1.8 million per episode) was at the break-even point for it financially.
Fox, which floated the idea of moving "Buffy" to the Fox network, sold to the highest bidder — UPN (at a reported $2.3 million per episode).
The switch from the WB to UPN raises more questions than it answers, with ramifications that reach from Hollywood's halls of power to the homes of "Buffy" fans in Provo and other parts of Utah.
FOX SUBTERFUGE: There have been lots of voices in the industry — not all of them coming from the WB — predicting that if a studio took a hit show off one network and put it on another network that it owns, it would destroy the current system under which studios produce shows for networks with which they are not affiliated.
Why would, say, NBC ever buy a show like "ER" from Warner Bros. if, after the show became a hit, the studio moved the show to the WB?
Fox points out that it didn't put "Buffy" on its own network — but that's disingenuous.
First, Fox is in the process of finalizing its acquisition of the Chris-Craft TV stations, nine of which are big-time UPN affiliates — they're located in New York (the nation's No. 1 TV market), Los Angeles (No. 2), San Francisco (No. 5), Dallas (No. 7), Minneapolis (No. 14), Phoenix (No. 17), Orlando (No. 22), Portland (No. 23) and Baltimore (No. 24).
Those stations alone cover more than 22 percent of the nation, and it's no exaggeration to say that UPN would cease to exist if it lost them. And it's no exaggeration to say that Fox is adding value to those stations by taking "Buffy" away from the WB and giving it to UPN.
"20th Television has made an inauspicious decision for the television industry by taking one of their own programs off of a non-affiliated network and placing it on a network in which they have a large vested interest, through their acquisition of Chris-Craft, and public comments that Fox and UPN are discussing ways to merge," the WB said in a statement.
Indeed, once Fox's parent company, News Corp., closes the Chris-Craft deal, it is fully expected that UPN's parent company, Viacom, will work out a deal with Fox to share ownership of the network.
Fox didn't put "Buffy" on the Fox network — but it did put it on a network in which it has a clear financial interest.
WHITHER 'ANGEL'? With "Buffy" off to UPN, what becomes of the show's spinoff, "Angel," is an open question.
The WB has an option to renew the show but is under no obligation to do so. (If it does, that would seem to preclude any more crossovers between the two series.)
If the WB cancels "Angel," here's betting UPN would snap it up and give us a Tuesday-night schedule on which it would follow "Buffy."
And wouldn't it be odd if the WB keeps "Angel" — and schedules it opposite "Buffy" on UPN?
HERE IN UTAH: All the "Star Trek: Voyager" fans who are currently ticked off because they can't receive Utah's new UPN station, Ch. 24, either over the air or on cable, will be joined by "Buffy" fans put in the same predicament in the fall (assuming the pending writers' and actors' strikes don't put the kibosh on the fall premieres).
Oh, Ch. 24 is still promising to upgrade its signal, but we'll believe it when we see it.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The good news for "Buffy" fans is that the show should still be around two years from now — at least that's good news for fans who can actually get a UPN station on their TV. And don't expect to see any big changes in the show, which should remain the same, despite the change of address.
And don't be surprised if the ratings fall. The vast majority of shows that switch networks lose viewers who can't find it. And, while there are exceptions (like "JAG" or "Sabrina"), most shows that switch networks don't succeed.
But then there's never been a switch like this one before.
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com