Sweeps periods, Snick. You have to have three or four eppys during November, February and May for regular broadcast networks. To set advertising rates. That's why cable shows have surpassed the networks. Most shows only have the budgets to produce 22 eps per season so they have to spread them out.
Meanwhile, the CW continues to lose affiliates. A couple of my friends up in Ohio near Akron are losing CW because Direct TV is fighting with the local cable company. The CW has lost affiliates every single year; I don't know how it survives. I really don't. All its shows ratings are in the toilet. SPN on Fridays does better than everyting except Vampire Diaries, which doesn't even score 3 million regularly anymore.
God, Mad Men on AMC got 3.5 million for its premiere last week, and The Walking Dead got 9 million viewers for its season finale the prior week. On AMC. I like both those shows, so I'm not complaining, but it shows how pathetic the CW is.