By BILL BRIOUX
Toronto Sun
PASADENA, Calif. -- The Buffy battle continues.
Jamie Kellner, chairman and CEO of The WB, spoke with TV critics yesterday for the first time since rival weblet UPN stole his franchise series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Kellner told critics last January that the defection of Buffy could lead to "Armageddon" among studios and networks. The series is produced at 20th Century Fox, and Kellner foresaw a trend of studios eventually clawing back properties that hit big on other networks.
As it turned out, UPN, which feared the defection of crucial market stations without an established hit, outbid both Fox and The WB for Buffy.
Kellner says the licence fee UPN paid for Buffy "was about as high per rating point as NBC paid for ER." He estimated the cost at upwards of US$70 million.
That was way too much in light of the sharp downturn in ad spending, he said. "This was not a good year to overspend on programming."
A jittery NBC recently discounted their prices dramatically in order to sell out their ad time, driving the entire TV ad market down.
Kellner estimated that UPN's upfront ad revenue for the coming season will barely match what they spent to steal Buffy. Officials with the rival network will tell their side of the story to critics today.
Kellner argued that a business model must be found to prevent shows from jumping back and forth to studio-controlled networks in the future.
Kellner was asked if the loss of Buffy has hurt his relationship with series creator Joss Whedon. Kellner called Whedon "passionate and competitive" and refused further comment.
He didn't rule out any cross-overs this season between Buffy and Whedon's other series, Angel, which remains on The WB -- but don't hold your breath.
