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Tavis: Dawn Ostroff is the president of entertainment at the new CW network. Prior to that, she held similar positions at UPN, Lifetime, and Fox, where she helped develop series like 'Buffy, The Vampire Slayer' and 'The Practice,' one of my favorites. The CW premieres Wednesday night. Here is a preview of what's coming up.

Tavis: So, how does one take one network and another network, namely UPN and WB, and make them one, brand new network? How do you do that? Is that like magic?

Dawn Ostroff: It's sort of like magic. You take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and you put it in a bowl and you mix it. And I think what was very clear to everybody is that if we combined the best of the two networks, that one plus one might equal three. Because the viewers were being torn each night as to which place to go.

And so now, by taking the best of UPN, the best of WB, and putting the shows that compliment each other behind each other or in front of each other, depending on which show it is, we've got the best of both worlds under one roof, one tent. And so, the idea is that this could be the network for that target audience, which is the 18 to 34 year olds.

Tavis: For those who have not been following this story, but obviously know that there was something called WB, something called UPN, what facilitated this merger?

Ostroff: Well, there were several things. One is the WB and UPN had existed and competed against each other for 11 years. And I think that everybody started to realize that just in terms of a business model, it probably would make a lot of sense for the two networks in some way to join forces. What they did is shut both networks down, and started a new joint venture using the best of both, including the teams - the teams behind the two networks - so that the company was formed from some of the UPN employees, and some of the WB employees.

But I think also when you looked at, again, the two networks fighting for the same audience, that became an issue. And most importantly, Time-Warner, Warner Brothers, and CBS, the executives who put this all together have a great relationship. They've worked together for many years, and as you know and you've heard, joint ventures can many times be very complex. But this was a situation...

Tavis: I know; I had Time-Warner stock. That's another issue, but go ahead, yeah. (Laugh)

Ostroff: (Laugh) But that aside, we at least have two companies who really have worked together before. The people who are overseeing the network have had a lot of success together. So there was a lot of upside for this particular combination.

Tavis: It's a little bit inside baseball, so I promise I'll ask an inside baseball question, and come right back out. But I'm just curious; I'm always trying to get inside the head of executives. On the one hand, I could see sitting at a table, or wherever your big conference room is, and saying okay, we're gonna combine these two networks. And so the easy thing to do, or the smart thing to do, is to take the hits on both networks, put them together, you got a hit network.

Take the highest-rated shows, put them together on this new CW network. On the other hand, I could argue that that's a bit myopic. It might not be the best strategy for starting a new network, just to take the highest-rated shows. 'Cause now you're not considering all of your audience, even if it is the top one, two, or three shows. So what's the process for combining two networks when obviously you ain't got but 24 hours in the day?

Ostroff: Right. Well, the process is you obviously have to look at the very successful shows. 'America's Next Top Model' and 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Smallville' and 'Everybody Hates Chris.' You have to look at those shows and say okay, you know those shows have to be on the network. And then, you have to see what shows have a real chance of succeeding behind a show that's been typically number one or number two in our key demographic.

But then you also have to say okay, we've gotta add something new in order to make this a network that's gonna have its own identity. And so the two new shows that we added were 'Runaway,' which is gonna be on Monday nights after 'Seventh Heaven,' and 'The Game,' which is gonna be on after 'Girlfriends.' It's also created by Mara Brock-Akil. We also have a lot of midseason shows that are gonna come on.

But the real premise of using all of the established franchises for the launch was in order to be able to communicate to the viewers that this is a new network, this channel most likely is changing from whichever market you're in, if you're gonna see one of your favorite shows. And it's a great way for us to use the passion and the loyalty of the viewers to help bring them into this new network, as opposed to just having all new shows on a network that people don't know about.

Tavis: I have been in any number of conversations with a number of my friends who happen to be African-American, and this has come up in a number of conversations. Two things. One, that if you go back just a few years ago, in total, not just about WB or UPN or CW, but in total a few years ago, there were more Black shows literally just a few years ago than there are now. We know some of the big ones are no longer on.

Bernie Mack is gone, and Damon Wayans' show on ABC is gone. But if you go back to just a few years ago, there were more shows that had casts of African-Americans. That's one point. I want your thought on that, and where are we headed in television, given that reality. But the second thing is while some of us had issues with these vanity networks that seem to get their start on the backs, or on the eyeballs, more accurately, of African-American viewers, there is a concern whether or not when you take two networks that gave two different sets of African-American theme shows an opportunity to be seen, does that hurt or help when you shrink them into one network? Does the African-American, does the Hispanic viewer gain or lose in this process?

Ostroff: Well, first of all, I've always been very committed to programming shows for particularly the African-American audience. My whole career, I've been involved with shows, be it 'Where I Live' or 'Any Day Now.' And so, on a personal note, it's always been important to me, and that's part of what intrigued me about coming to work at UPN when I first started there. And since I've been there, we've had success with 'Everybody Hates Chris' and with 'Top Model' and, every year, we try and add a new show or two.

And I have to say that when you look at the 18 to 34 year old demographic, it's a huge portion of the population in our country. Believe it or not, one-third of the 18 to 34 year olds in this country identify themselves as a minority. And so, since that's our target audience, we have got to be reflective of their lives, because we want them to watch our network. So in order to do that, everything we do is with that in mind.

And if you look at the shows that we've had on the air, not all successful, but great attempts. We did a show, 'Platinum,' which we were very proud of, when I was at UPN. We did 'Kevin Hill,' which starred Taye Diggs, when I was at UPN. And we'll continue to try? It's a combination. It's about getting great material and great acting, catching lightning in a bottle. But it's first and foremost, you've gotta make a great television show. And then we really have to work on being relevant, and being reflective of our audience.

Tavis: You said something a moment ago, and I'm gonna put you on the spot. This isn't fair, but you're the head of the network, so you can handle this. I was fascinated by your stat a moment ago that one-third of that demo, 18 to 34, identifies as a minority. In the process of putting together this network, aimed specifically at that 18 to 34 age demo, what have you found most interesting or fascinating about them in your research?

'Cause so many of us talk about that generation. We talk down to that generation, we talk around that generation. Nobody talks to that generation, unless they're trying to sell them something, of course. That's another issue. But what have you found fascinating about that demo in America today?

Ostroff: Well, the most interesting thing is you can't exactly speak to them quite in that way. You've gotta speak to them in a different way. Eighteen to 34 year olds are made up of Gen X and Gen Y. And believe it or not, that's 60 million Americans here are the 18 to 34 year olds, so it's a huge segment. What we've done is a lot of research. We really went into the field and talked to them.

And part of what we did with the CW is come up with a campaign of Free to Be. Because what's really important to them is that they're all connected in some way, shape, or form, like forming a community, but they stay individuals. And so the campaign that we've been running is free to be whoever you are. Free to be fierce, free to be super, free to be bald, free to be whatever you are, but yet there's something that connects all of these people together.

And that's a big reason why the Internet is so important to them. They can be themselves, but yet they can communicate and be connected in some way. And that's what the shows offer them. The ability to connect with other people, talk about what they've seen, or talk about characters and storylines, but yet maintain their own individuality. They don't have to conform.

Tavis: So you do this every day, and I'm told on top of all this there are four people who call you Mommy.

Ostroff: Yeah, that's true.

Tavis: Four.

Ostroff: Four. Four. (Laugh) And my kids have nothing in common. I've got a high schooler, a middle school, an elementary school, and a preschooler. So, I've got my own focus group at home, actually, it's pretty good.

Tavis: (Laugh) I was about to say.

Ostroff: They tell me what's going on with the 18 to 34 year olds.

Tavis: Yeah. But this is quite - I was anxious to talk to you, and pleased that you're here, because this is a difficult and challenging task for anybody. But it's especially pleasing for me to see that a woman gets a chance to head this network and to pull this venture off. Now that's how I feel about it. For you, that's much ado about nothing, or is it significant for you, as well?

Ostroff: I think it's significant in that I truly didn't believe, when I was starting out in my career that I would ever see a woman be the head of a network. Sherri Lansing was the only woman who had ever been a president of a studio. And to see the amount of changes that have taken place in such a short period of time is just astounding. At one point a few years ago, every major studio in Hollywood was being run by a woman, most with children, and four out of the six networks were being run by women, which is amazing.

I just never dreamt that that would be. So I don't take it for granted at all. And I think that there are a lot of women like me, and a lot of women who are coming up, who see there's always a price you have to pay for having it all, but it can be done.

Tavis: Yeah, well, male or female, you look awfully calm for a woman, a person, (laugh) who's launching a network tomorrow night. But anyway, congratulations.

Ostroff: Thank you so much. It's so nice being here.

Tavis: And glad to have you on. All the best to you.

Ostroff: Thank you.

Tavis: The new CW, kicking off tomorrow night on, of course, the CW. That's our show for tonight. Catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles, thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith.