The largest owner of national TV stations will likely prioritize content that leads to its local news programming
This is potentially an end to the network’s current lineup of scripted original series such as “Riverdale” and “The Flash”, which are more expensive for streaming-focused TV studios such as Warner Bros. Now there are only 12.5. % share in the network. Such shows had been the basis of The CW’s primetime lineup for years, but failed to lift the network to profitability after 16 years of airing.
While the network’s former owners were prepared to take losses for the show’s digital and international sales, the new Nexstar team has different financial priorities — including the ambitious goal of achieving profitability within three years. (Nexstar made no cash payment to The CW but estimated to have about $100 million in debt.)
“Dennis Miller is a very knowledgeable entertainment business leader, and I think he’s going to announce some sort of vision for the network as soon as possible,” said Tom Nunan, a UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television lecturer and The former president of UPN told TheWrap. “Changing the direction of the network is a big deal and it’s not something that can happen overnight. Announcing that they expect the channel to be profitable by 2025 is quite an ambitious goal, especially if they do it seven nights a week, The original programming is going to stick with the schedule.”
The CW was born in 2006 from the merger of CBS Corporation’s UPN (United Paramount Network) and Warner Bros. WB, two competing broadcast networks that were swayed financially. In the process, UPN’s programming, which included black-headed sitcoms such as “Moesha” and “Girlfriends”, largely disappeared in favor of The WB’s wider but less diverse series, such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The CW, which has generally catered to the needs of a younger skewed audience than other broadcast networks, then adopted the latter’s brand identity with major series such as “Gossip Girl” and “The Vampire Diaries”, both in terms of Before becoming one of today’s most inclusive networks. — and on-screen talent.
So, what could this new iteration of The CW look like?
more alternative programming
Nexstar telegraphed its plans for the network in May. Known for decades as a hub for YA-oriented and genre series, The CW announced the cancellations—which include “Legacy,” “Batwoman,” “Charmed” and “Roswell: New Mexico”—which will be released on Friday. The first time is over upgrade. As Nexstar takes over the reins, other long-running scripted shows remain vulnerable.
Amanda D. Lotz, a media studies professor at Queensland University of Technology specializing in American television, said the way forward for The CW includes cost-cutting measures where scripted dramas and single-cam comedies (which are more expensive to produce than multi-cam sitcoms) are likely to be hits.
“Audience fragmentation is one of the hardest things to script,” Lotz told TheWrap. “Dramas/comedies are now expensive to attract audiences as we have so many options. In a world with so much choice, it’s impossible to create something that will bring in enough viewers, especially if you watch them at a certain point in time. The new CW strategy follows what Fox typically did after selling the studio to Disney, and many broadcasters around the world were taken out of the script. ,
As a result, the network will prioritize low-cost alternative programming under the direction of Nexstar. “Buzzy reality can work, especially based on ‘relationship’ dramas (‘Married at First Sight,’ ‘The Bachelor,’ ‘Love Island’), game shows with celebrities, panel shows with comedians,” says Lotz explained. “Many opinion/personality-driven shows pretend to be news (look at cable or talk radio). There isn’t much revenue available, so the only answer is to cut costs.”
Focus on broadcast and local news
As the largest owner of national TV stations — about 200 across the US — Nexstar’s primary commitment will lie in broadcasting, which may include more syndicated reruns.
“I hear they want to be profitable, that they want to create content that’s going to flow more successfully in their news hours at 10 a.m., but whether it’s reality TV or sports or unscripted – whatever you want, scripted.” Call it anything but TV – I guess that remains to be seen,” Noonan said.
He added, “I think there’s a wide open playing field for that channel. And the only indication we’re getting about the future is that they want it to be helpful for their local news.”
“The End of the Golden Age” for The CW’s Most Famous YA Show
Nexstar is expected to acquire low-cost content that will benefit its bottom line, which carries a major risk: loss of brand identity. “You become a network that is known for the deals you’re doing, versus the audience you’re trying to reach,” Noonan said. “And I’m not suggesting that Dennis is going to make whatever, but if you get the reputation for programming deals, as opposed to programming great stuff that’s designed to feed off each other night and night. Maybe it’s not going to work.”
One of the main questions raised about The CW’s new creative and commercial direction is how it will affect the types of shows that the network has built its audience and identity around. Robbie Thompson—an executive producer and showrunner on The CW’s upcoming show “The Winchesters,” a prequel series to the famous “Supernatural” (which also featured Thompson heavily)—said that Pedowitz was the type of network executive that a producer would ” Dream” “about,” as the champion of genre television and the champion of old-school television.
Thompson told TheWrap, “There was a moment when we were developing the pilot, where he was giving us notes that were so nuanced and referencing such a specific moment from such a specific moment that you might have thought that you Were at a ‘supernatural’ convention.” , “But it’s that level of detail that Mark brings to all the stories he helped usher in The CW.”
During “The Winchesters” virtual panel at the Television Critics Association on Tuesday, star Jensen Ackles said Pedowitz saved “Supernatural” from cancellation, making it the phenomenon it is today. “It was put on a Friday night to go away and die. We somehow found a way to survive. He came in, he recognized her and said, ‘Okay, let’s get these guys to some better real estate. Let’s take it.’ And when we did, we took off quickly,” Ackles said, adding that he and co-star Jared Padalecki would joke that Pedowitz was “like the other Winchester brothers.”
A symptom of “peak TV”
The CW’s trajectory is also symptomatic of how the bubble bursts for the larger “peak TV” event. Robert “Bob” Thompson, a trustee professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, explained how other networks like TBS have returned to original programming, while the legendary NBC on cutting its 10 p.m. primetime hour slot is considering.
“It looks like what they’re going to do now is going to be a lot more affiliate friendly,” Thompson told TheWrap, which means maybe cheaper programming, news, documentaries, whatever, sort of reality. So if I have to make any predictions, I think the golden age of CW type drama is probably at its peak. ,
However, Thompson added as a caveat that a change in priorities does not necessarily indicate the complete end of such programming. Popular scripted series like “All American” and “The Flash” can be a rarity. “It’s not like they’re completely sanitizing the network,” he said. Shows like “All American” may not be disappearing, but there are going to be fewer shows like this.
Despite the huge turnaround coming for The CW, Noonan is optimistic that the transition will be anything but “chaotic and disruptive and confusing,” which can often be the case with new leadership and an overhaul of previous business models. He said it would not be an “overnight light on and off”, but a “gradual” change.
“Pedowitz has been a steady hand with the CW for over a decade and Dennis Miller is also a steady hand, so I assume you are going to hand the keys to a professional, so to speak, to another real professional, and That’s where we can most likely expect a smooth transition from one vision to another for the channel,” Noonan explained, “Trust me, no one wants The CW to leave. No one wants that channel to fail. In fact, the industry wants it to be successful.”
