Originally slated for a September 8 launch, The WeB was launched at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 21, 1998 on 80 cable-only affiliates, reaching 2.8 million cable television subscribers in the United States – the largest simultaneous launch of a station group in the history of American television. The service (which was renamed The WB 100+ Station Group in March 1999) was created to serve a similar capacity that Superstation WGN held as a national distributor of The WB – the difference being that stations within The WB 100+ group were structured in the manner of a local broadcast station: local WB 100+ affiliates were managed by either a local cable provider or an affiliate of a larger over-the-air television station (usually those affiliated with networks that were established long before The WB debuted in January 1995), which may have produced some local programming – such as a prime time newscast – or televised local sporting events.