It's 'win-win' — unless you lose

Ah, television networks are just endlessly entertaining. Just not necessarily because of what they put on the air.

I'm sure it's not a good thing when a network's press releases are at least as entertaining . . . no, make that more entertaining than what that network has on the air. But such is the case with the WB this week.

At the behest of its corporate masters, the network's top management was reshuffled somewhat this week. Instead of the WB being run equally by chairman Garth Ancier and CEO Jordan Levin, Levin is out (having refused to be, in essence, demoted) and Ancier is in charge.

And Warner Bros. Entertainment chairman and CEO Barry M. Meyer issued a press release calling it "a win-win for all of us."

Ah, dear. I'm still chuckling over that one. But I digress.

Back when Jamie Kellner — the man who got the Fox network up and running — founded the WB, he eschewed titles like chairman, CEO and president. He was the boss, and he had various colleagues who were in charge of various parts of the company, but titles weren't important.

But as the WB matured as a network and the folks at Warner Bros. took more of an interest, those halcyon days disappeared. Long before Kellner retired in May, he had — rather reluctantly — taken on the titles of chairman and CEO of the network.

And, in anticipation of his departure, Kellner established a line of succession. In September, Ancier was named co-chairman and Levin was named co-CEO, titles they assumed on their own when Kellner retired. And the plan was that they would run the network as equals.

Which was, apparently, too much for the folks at Warner Bros. to wrap their brains around. Meyer wanted just one person reporting to him, and he wanted Ancier to be that person.

If there's a bad guy here, it's Meyer, I suppose. But not really. Although I've never met him, I can certainly understand him being uncomfortable with the co-bosses running a network for which he's responsible. And I'm not sure an arrangement like that ever really works.

Ancier and Levin are among my favorite network executives — not that I've always agreed with all their decisions, but they're both passionate about TV. And given how many bean counters infest the industry, that's something I value highly.