i realize that there are financial and PR benefits (are those one and the same?) to this, but i still think it's a cool thing to do.

summary: WHSL, a St Louis area station affiliated with the Home Shopping Network is set to become a UPN affiliate on April first next year. KPLR, a primary WB affiliate, had been broadcasting Buffy and other UPN shows as a secondary UPN affiliate (dual affiliation for UPN and WB is common). KPLR decided that it's schedule was too crowded with both network's shows and local professional sports broadcasts, and opted not to continue showing UPN programing this season*, leaving the area UPN-free through most of this season (there's even more history of UPN bouncing around in the St. Louis area, at the end of the linked article).

WHSL stepped up and worked out a deal with HSN (who stands to lose money) and UPN to broadcast two hours of this season's UPN programming a week, Buffy and Enterprise. the only downside to the deal (though still in the Upside column over all, i think) is that the WHSL won't be broadcasting them until Friday of each week.

* (through my corporate overlord, i have been seeing a lot of stations dropping to single affiliation lately. i've also noticed that UPN is picking up more affiliates, with WB remaining about the same).