UPN

The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network founded on October 27, 1993. It operated from January 16, 1995 to September 15, 2006. It merged with The WB to form The CW on September 18, 2006. UPN was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation's subsidiary, United Television) and Viacom's then-recently acquired subsidiary, Paramount Television (which produced most of UPN's programming), then became solely owned by Viacom in 2000 after subsequently purchasing Chris-Craft's remaining stake. On December 31, 2005, UPN was kept by CBS Corporation, which was the new name for Viacom when it split into two separate companies. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Time Warner jointly announced that the companies would shut down UPN and competitor The WB to launch a new joint venture network later that year.