The WB, the defunct teen-targeting network that was replaced in 2006 by The CW, will be reborn online as an ad-supported, on-demand broadband-video network.
The launch of TheWB.com along with another broadband site, KidsWB.com, is the centerpiece of a digital initiative announced Monday by the Warner Bros. TV Group that includes a partnership with social-networking site Facebook.
TheWB.com, set to launch in beta in May and go wide in August, will target the same adults 16-34 demo as its linear-TV precursor and feature programming from the old channel, as well as original broadband content.
Warner Bros. TV named Mattel, McDonald’s and Johnson & Johnson as charter advertisers and touted distribution and marketing deals with Comcast, Fancast, AOL and “a number of mobile carriers.”
The site will also feature a Facebook Platform application that will allow visitors to use Facebook’s social-networking function, as well as make TheWB.com content available on the Facebook site.
KidsWB.com will feature programming drawn from the Warner Bros. studio’s library of classic animation, including Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics.
Warner Bros. TV also touted previously announced initiatives -- a partnership with corporate sibling Time Inc. to create TV and online extensions for Essence Communications and its own recently launched parenting portal, MomLogic.com.
“These destinations are perfect examples of our digital strategy to create targeted, niche destinations that present a fresh and compelling point of view to audiences,” Warner Bros. TV Group president Bruce Rosenblum said in a statement.
“In much the same way TMZ has, these initiatives enable us to create new brands and reimagine existing ones for a multiplatform playing field,” he added. “They are complementary to our thriving traditional business and share the same vision of original episodic storytelling.”
