Editing UPN (section)

=== 1948–1994: Origins of the network ===
[[Paramount Pictures]] had played a pivotal role in the development of network television. It was a partner in the [[DuMont Television Network]], and the Paramount Theaters chain, which was spun off from the corporate/studio parent and merged with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] in a deal that helped cement that network's status as a major network. The [[Paramount Television Network]] was launched in 1948, but dissolved in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Schatz |first1 = Thomas |title = Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s |date = 1999 |publisher = University of California Press |isbn = 978-0-520-22130-7 |page = 433 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dwf5SUcfousC&pg=PA433 |language = en |quote = In 1948, Television Productions, Inc., formed the Paramount Television Network }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last = White |first = Timothy R. |title = Hollywood's Attempt to Appropriate Television: The Case of Paramount Pictures |type = PhD dissertation |publisher = University of Wisconsin-Madison |year = 1990 |pages = 107–131 }}</ref>

Paramount had long had plans for its own television network with the [[Paramount Television Service]]. Set to launch in early 1978, it would have run its programming for only one night a week. Thirty "Movies of the Week" would have followed ''[[Star Trek: Phase II]]'' on Saturday nights. Plans for the new network were scrapped when sufficient advertising slots could not be sold, though Paramount would contribute some programs to [[Operation Prime Time]], such as the mini-series ''[[A Woman Called Golda]]'', and the weekly pop music program, ''[[Solid Gold (TV series)|Solid Gold]]''. ''Star Trek: Phase II'' was reworked as the theatrical film, ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'', absorbing the costs already incurred from the aborted television series.

Paramount, and its eventual parent [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] (which bought the studio's then-parent, Paramount Communications, in 1994), continued to consider launching their own television network. [[Independent station (North America)|Independent station]]s, even more than [[network affiliate]]s, were feeling the growing pressure of audience erosion to [[cable television]] in the 1980s and 1990s; there were unaffiliated commercial [[television station]]s in most of the major television markets, even after the foundation of [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in 1986. Meanwhile, [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]], which had long been successful in syndication with repeats of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', launched several first-run syndicated series by the 1990s, including ''[[Entertainment Tonight]]'', ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]]'', ''[[Friday the 13th: The Series]]'', ''[[War of the Worlds (1988 TV series)|War of the Worlds]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', and ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''.

In 1993, [[Time Warner]] and [[Chris-Craft Industries]] entered into a [[joint venture]] to distribute programs via a [[prime time]] programming service, the [[Prime Time Entertainment Network]] (PTEN), which is UPN's partial parent. Chris-Craft later became a partner in UPN, and Time Warner launched The WB in a joint venture with the [[Tribune Media|Tribune Company]] at roughly the same time.