On January 24, 2006, Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation announced plans to replace their respective subsidiary networks, The WB and UPN, with The CW later that same year.

Until it was closed in December 2013, the website allowed users to watch shows aired on the former television network, as well as programming from the defunct In2TV service created prior to Time Warner's spinoff of AOL.

[6][7] Much like its competitor UPN, The WB was created primarily in reaction to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s then-recent deregulation of media ownership rules that repealed the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, and partly due to the success of the Fox network (which debuted in October 1986) and first-run syndicated programming during the late 1980s and early 1990s (such as Baywatch, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and War of the Worlds), as well as the erosion in ratings suffered by independent television stations due to the growth of cable television and movie rentals.

[10] However, this plan was scaled back dramatically, partly to address potential sports-related programming conflicts on WGN and certain other affiliates (including WPIX and KTLA), as The WB launched with only one night of primetime programming; and by September 1995, the network added only one additional night (Sundays), along with a three-hour Saturday morning (later expanded to four, then five hours), one-hour weekday morning and two-hour weekday afternoon children's block.

Much of the network's branding was based around Warner Bros. locations and characters: the television network's original logo (which was originally displayed upright until 1998, and displayed at a titled angle thereafter) was based on the typography of the iconic Warner Bros. Pictures' "shield" logo; network promotions and imaging campaigns for The WB and the Kids' WB block from their launches until the 2003–2004 season were also respectively centered on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot and the Warner Bros. Ranch Facilities, often involving large marquee signs promoting the nights of programming and their component shows (at times including signs for Kids' WB and certain shows from that block); this approach was similar to one used for Fox's 1989–90 "This is the Year" fall campaign (likely borrowed for The WB by former Fox executives Kellner and Ancier).

[24][25] This season gave The WB modest hits in the Aaron Spelling-produced family drama 7th Heaven (centering on a reverend and his family) and comedies The Steve Harvey Show (starring Harvey as a funk musician working as a music teacher at an inner-city Chicago high school), and The Jamie Foxx Show (starring Foxx as an aspiring actor/singer working at a Los Angeles hotel owned by his aunt and uncle).

The WB first had success with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (a series based on the 1992 film of the same name) which became a hit with critics when it premiered as a mid-season replacement in March 1997.

The popularity of Dawson helped boost the network's other shows, such as Buffy, which served as its lead-in on The WB's new night of programming that also launched in January 1998, branded as "New Tuesday",[27][28] and 7th Heaven, which enjoyed a massive 81% increase in viewership that season.

With three hit shows in its roster, The WB continued to build its teen fanbase the following season with college drama Felicity (which made a star out of lead Keri Russell) and the wicca-themed Charmed (which was also produced by Aaron Spelling, and co-starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and 90210 alumna Shannen Doherty), both of which set new records for the network when they respectively premiered to 7.1 and 7.7 million viewers; Charmed had the highest-rated premiere on the network until Smallville broke its record, debuting to 8.4 million viewers in October 2001.

[29][30] That season, 7th Heaven overtook Dawson's Creek as the network's highest-rated program, and garnered The WB the highest ratings it would ever see – the show's February 8, 1999, episode attracted 12.5 million viewers.

Meanwhile, even though ratings for 7th Heaven, Buffy and Charmed remained consistent, viewership for flagship series such as Felicity and Dawson's Creek began sagging.

The network realized that it could no longer rely merely on the tastes of young teenage girls, and thus began moving back into more family-friendly fare, attempting to launch a successful sitcom, and generally targeting a more diverse audience.

This new strategy came as The WB had dropped to sixth place in the ratings among all major broadcast networks (behind UPN) during the 1999–2000 season, losing 19% of its household audience.

Also in the fall of 2000, the fantasy sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch moved from ABC to The WB as part of its Friday night schedule; the show continued on the network for three more seasons before ending in May 2003.

In October 2001, the Superman-inspired Smallville debuted with 8.4 million viewers, the highest-rated premiere in the history of the network; that show was also important because it was one of the few series that drew a substantial male viewership.

Other series to gain attention during this period were the family drama Everwood, and the short-lived but critically acclaimed soap satire Grosse Pointe.

The period from 2003 to 2005 produced only three viable new series, the teen-oriented drama One Tree Hill, social experiment reality competition Beauty and the Geek, and fantasy drama Supernatural (all of which ultimately moved to successor network The CW), and even still their ratings paled in comparison to the ratings peaks of Dawson's Creek, which had ended its run in May 2003.

High-profile failures included Birds of Prey (a series inspired by the Batman mythos, which premiered in October 2002 with an impressive 8 share), Tarzan, Jack & Bobby, The Mountain, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced legal dramedy Just Legal, the Marta Kauffman-created dramedy Related, and the Rebecca Romijn vehicle Pepper Dennis.

In the end, seven shows from The WB, 7th Heaven, Beauty and the Geek, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Reba, Smallville, and Supernatural were chosen to move to The CW for its inaugural 2006–07 fall schedule.

Supernatural, which aired its final (15th) season in the fall of 2020, was the last surviving series from The WB that remained on the CW network schedule.

[44] The 60-second montage that closed The WB's existence featured many well-known stars from shows which aired during the 11-year run of the network, ending with the statement: "For 11 years, you brought us into your homes.

"The final image seen in the montage was former network mascot Michigan J. Frog (who was shown as a silhouette due to the animated character being retired as The WB's mascot the year before), who is shown taking his hat off and bowing, thanking the audience for watching the network for 11 years and marking the end of The WB.

The site streamed episodes of series that were broadcast during The WB's 1995–2006 run, including Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Everwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, Roswell, and What I Like About You.

[50][51][52] The site – whose business model resembled that of free-to-stream services such as Hulu – was ad-supported and geared primarily to men, and women ages 15–39.

In addition to older full-length series (among which also included All of Us, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Martin, Jack & Bobby, and Veronica Mars), the website featured original serialized web content including short series and vignettes from such well-known television producers as Josh Schwartz and McG, including Sorority Forever, Pushed, Rockville, CA, The Lake, and Children's Hospital (the latter's popularity was sustained enough to receive a run and eventual move to cable television as a regular series on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block).

An original reality series, Rich Girl, Poor Girl from Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor executive producer Gary Auerbach, in which two teenagers from different economic and social backgrounds swap lives (similar in format to Wife Swap and A Walk in Your Shoes), had ranked among the top 100 programs in the teenage category on iTunes since its October 20, 2008, debut.

A neon likeness of Michigan J. Frog also adorns the façade of former WB affiliate WBNX-TV's studio complex in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

In addition to live-action programs, the network has experimented with primetime animated series; Pinky and the Brain was the first such series, airing as part of the network's Sunday lineup from September 1995 to July 1996, before moving exclusively to the Kids' WB Saturday lineup due to low ratings in its prime time slot.

Most of the animated projects that aired afterward were adult animation series; the last such attempts being The Oblongs (running for one season in 2001, and was later revived on corporate sister Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block) and The PJs (which moved to the network in 2000 following its cancellation by Fox, and ran for only one additional season on The WB).

Of the network's cable-exclusive affiliates, "WRWB" in Rochester, New York (owned by local cable provider Greater Rochester Cablevision and its operator/successor, WB sister company Time Warner Cable), TVW (Television Wisconsin Network) in Madison, Wisconsin (owned by Morgan Murphy Media, owner of local CBS affiliate WISC-TV) and WT05 in Toledo, Ohio (owned by Block Communications, operator of Toledo-area cable provider Buckeye CableSystem) were not part of The WB 100+ Station Group, having all predated that service's launch.