The CW - One Step Closer To Death

[Jax]

Here is a very interesting article from SyFy Portal about The CW network...

The Wall Street Journal reports that viewership for the netlet is 28 percent off it audience target for viewers between the ages of 18 and 34 so far this season, while ratings overall during the most recent sweeps period were down 22 percent.

With a focus on younger viewers, The CW was supposed to be a slam dunk for advertisers trying to reach people known for having extra money to spend. But it seems people in that generation are getting their entertainment elsewhere, and are not all that interested in what The CW is putting out.

Because of that, some sources are telling WSJ that if things don't get better in 2008-09, at least one of the two major partners could pull out of the venture, possibly bringing The CW to an end.

To help get back on its feet, The CW has made it clear that it's abandoning its efforts to attract young men, and instead will focus even more on young women, which it has done with programs such as "Gossip Girl" and "America's Next Top Model.

Obviously, we would have liked to do better," said The CW president Dawn Ostroff. "Our young audience certainly knows how to get their content in different ways, and we have to figure out different ways to measure how they're getting it.

I do think we will see the death of The CW before the end of 2010 and while it won't affect a show like Smallville which will end next season, shows like Supernatural and especially REAPER, which attract sum critical reception unlike the other half dead shows like OTH & GG, will struggle to find any new homes and most likely end.

 

[nx1701g]

^ That rebranding fits the promos for the upcoming seasons of Smallville and Supernatural.

Season Eight Description:
On Thursday, the heroic team of SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL will continue to offer viewers great special effects and gorgeous men.

The brought about some eyerolling in the Smallville thread this week.

 

[Jax]

The CW is pathetic and aiming towards mindless teenage/young women is the stupidest plan ever.

 

[nx1701g]

^ But I have to admit that it doesn't surprise me. They're even going more toward that with Smallville by introducing a new male lead next season as well as the return of Green Arrow. Plus they have shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 TNG (West Beverly seems to be filled with male students now).

 

[Angel4576]

Other than Supernatural, it wouldn't concern me greatly if The CW folded.

I like Reaper, Smallville ends next season anyway, and I don't mind Gossip Girl, but losing all of them's not the end of the world.

 

[wamdue]

The CW is pathetic and aiming towards mindless teenage/young women is the stupidest plan ever.

yes other than Supernatural, Smallville & Everybody Hates Chris, I wouldnt miss the network if it folded, and well Smallville is near its end already.

 

[Wonderlust King]

I have never watched the CW. I am indifferent to its collapse.

 

[wamdue]

Smallville ends next season anyway,

is that offical?

 

[Bad Bishop]

When The WB and UPN combined to make The CW, it was widely assumed that the new network would be stronger than The WB. But I remember reading that ratings were disappointing, right out of the gate. It was as if millions of viewers just tuned out. So what happened?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

When The WB and UPN combined to make The CW, it was assumed that the new network was going to be stronger than The WB. But I remember reading that ratings were disappointing, right out of the gate. It was as if millions of viewers just tuned out. So what happened?

Well I believe I read the first reason why ratings would be smaller, is that there was less affiliates carrying it. Anything else would be my opinion, based on my taste in programming.

 

[Snaploud]

When The WB and UPN combined to make The CW, it was assumed that the new network was going to be stronger than The WB. But I remember reading that ratings were disappointing, right out of the gate. It was as if millions of viewers just tuned out. So what happened?

Well, I think the CW took over many of the UPN stations in local markets (rather than the WB stations), so that probably wasn't a help. Also, they're pretty much surviving based solely upon their old WB fare. Their new programming department is obviously terrible.

There are other factors as well. For one, you're giving up on a relatively successful brand (the WB) to create something new (which is always a risk). And two, many WB viewers have grown up and are only willing to stick around for a couple of their old favorites (the ones still around) but unwilling to watch any new CW product. The WB probably would have run into the same problem had it stuck around (though, perhaps not to this extent).

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The CW is pathetic and aiming towards mindless teenage/young women is the stupidest plan ever.

It's actually a good plan. The 18-34 age group for both genders has abandoned TV, so that anyone who can get them to watch TV can offer advertisers something that competitors can't. There will always be advertisers who want to sell products to that age group and now they have to go chase them down on MySpace. Whether or not that demographic is "mindless" is not really the issue, as long as they wield their mighty Visa cards.

In fact, mindless people make great customers because they're dumb enough to buy the crap you're peddling - ever notice how much Old Navy advertises on the CW? Their clothes are the cheapest, most shoddily-produced junk imaginable! They advertise on stupid shows because they know that nobody intelligent would shop at Old Navy anyway.

The problem is not the plan, it's the execution. I dunno what they can do to capture that demographic. I suppose dumb shows about spoiled rich bitches should work as well as anything. What messes up the system is that shows like Supernatural and Reaper are good enough to get a broad-ranging audience and not enough of the Old Navy-shopping crowd.

 

[DarthPipes]

It's a dumb strategy. They're trying to be a major network and they're abandoning the entire male demographic? WWE Smackdown was one of the only successful shows they had and they got rid of it. It's clear this network wants to die a slow and painful death.

 

[nx1701g]

Smallville ends next season anyway,

is that offical?

Nothing official has been mentioned on if Season 8 will be the last or not. However, even I think that its about time for it to happen.

 

[bigdaddy]

I hope they do.

Screw you CW.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

OK, my memory is not the greatest about this topic but from what I remember...when the WB and UPN merged, didn't the UPN bigwigs (Moonvres, Ostroff) end up running the new CW not the WB bigwigs?? If they couldn't run and program UPN to draw an audience, why should the results of their running the CW be any different??

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Moonves let Ostroff have free reign, I suppose. I don't know why, but the CW isn't working. I've got to echo Temis' comments. After Supernatural and Reaper, I'm not too concerned about the network surviving. Smallville has got to end next season. It was good once, but everyone's leaving. It's run its course. It happens to all shows. Supernatural and Reaper share the same sin. They don't draw the 18-34 demo. Supernatural has too many fans over 35, and Reaper has too many male fans who aren't young enough. That's a no no. I definitely agree that Reaper, SPN, and Everybody Hates Chris are the only decent shows the network has to offer. They're the only shows that get any decent recommendations in the press.

My prediction is that, barring a miracle happening next season with 90210 TNG becoming a mainstream hit next season, the CW has two seasons left in it. The network is broke. Warner will keep it alive that long to allow Smallville (a Warner show) to complete its run and get one more season of DVD royalties, to allow One Tree Hill (another Warner show) to get seven seasons and really capitalize on the sweet syndication deal it has with SoapNet network which is already paying off for Warner pretty handsomely, and to allow Supernatural (also Warner) to finish its fifth season. Its exec producer has insisted all along that he has only a five year story planned and that he doesn't want to write past that. With Supernatural being so lucrative already in the foreign market (Russia, Japan, Brazil, Malaysia, France, Germany, Israel, UK, Australia, and about 40 other countries if Variety is to be trusted) Warner is going to want that fifth season to sell. That'll be done in the spring of 2010. After that, the CW is toast. You can make bank on that.

 

[DarthPipes]

OK, my memory is not the greatest about this topic but from what I remember...when the WB and UPN merged, didn't the UPN bigwigs (Moonvres, Ostroff) end up running the new CW not the WB bigwigs?? If they couldn't run and program UPN to draw an audience, why should the results of their running the CW be any different??

Yeah, putting the UPN bigwigs in power always surprised me.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Considering Ostroff's history with UPN and Lifetime, I was surprised myself. After the CW goes down, she'll be hard pressed to run another network.

 

[James Bond]

^ That rebranding fits the promos for the upcoming seasons of Smallville and Supernatural.

Season Eight Description:
On Thursday, the heroic team of SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL will continue to offer viewers great special effects and gorgeous men.

The brought about some eyerolling in the Smallville thread this week.

No need to go there, I'll bring it out here. A big to that.

Smallville ends next season anyway,

is that offical?

No, but it's sort of like SG-1 where you would imagine that they'd have to call it quits. I'm in the minority that hopes Smallville actually continues, but it would seem that the CW is intent on killing itself, and taking it's better shows to Hell with it.

When The WB and UPN combined to make The CW, it was widely assumed that the new network would be stronger than The WB. But I remember reading that ratings were disappointing, right out of the gate. It was as if millions of viewers just tuned out. So what happened?

Dawn Ostroff