Did Buffy slay the WB and UPN?

From an article by Meg James in Sunday's Los Angeles Times...

Last week, when the money-losing WB and UPN networks announced that they were pulling the plug to form a single new broadcast network [The CW], many television veterans traced the roots of the decision back five years, when a fight over the fate of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" drove what would prove to be a fatal stake through the WB's heart.

The show, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, was a runaway hit with teenage girls. But in early 2001, the WB balked when Fox executives demanded $44 million to license a single season. That fall, the show shifted to UPN, and with it went the WB's identity as the go-to destination for young viewers.

In the end, many agree, the WB's loss of "Buffy" — which breathed new life into the struggling UPN — set in motion a pitched battle for the coveted youth market that would eventually doom both networks.

(Read the complete article here - and buy Buffy DVDs here.)