CW

The CW is heading into the fall with a very conservative fall schedule, keeping three of five nights intact and introducing only two new series, The Flash and Jane the Virgin, with two new and two returning dramas held for midseason.

The network unexpectedly renews Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast but chops two new shows. It’s focusing on comics and slightly older-skewing dramas.

The two networks will continue to set pricing for commercials independently of each other, but will now begin to share research and other broader efforts to understand audience behavior. While CW (of which CBS owns 50%) has its own research team, it is not as broad in its mandate as the one at CBS, where David Poltrack orchestrates deeper looks at viewership as well as new technologies and data resources that can supply new kinds of information about TV audience.

The network, which throughout the year typically airs nine drama series as part of its 10-hour schedule, is experimenting with a pair of new half-hour comedies, Backpackers (originally a digital series) and Seed, as well as magic series Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion, as part of its summer lineup.

In what could be a network TV first, The CW will present two versions of this week’s episode — an on-air cut that meets broadcast content standards and an uncensored “too hot for TV” version that will stream exclusively online. The difference between the versions? The editing of two sex scenes.

The CW has unveiled its season finale schedule, which finds the net’s vamps, demon hunters and costumed crime fighters all signing off in the same month.

As it has done in the past couple of years, the CW has given early renewals to its strongest series. The list includes flagship dramas The Vampire Diaries and Arrow, formidable veteran Supernatural and freshmen The Originals and Reign.

Longtime CBS executive Christopher Brooks takes charge of The CW’s distribution, affiliate relations and affiliate marketing activities.

For a net known for sudsy young adult dramas, CW prez Mark Pedowitz quipped that his head of sales is “very happy these days” as the net continues to broaden out its core audience to include more men and adults beyond the 18-34 age bracket.

The CW, looking to build off its momentum from the fall while increasing the number of original hours it airs in the back half of the season, revealed its aggressive midseason plans today. Premiering are Star-Crossed and The 100, while giving new nights to Hart of Dixie and Tomorrow People.

Greg Berlanti’s Arrow has found a formula for success for the CW and now he’s working on another superhero show, about the Flash.

Starting Oct. 1, the Morris Multimedia-owned ABC affiliate in Wilmington, N.C., will broadcast The CW in high definition on its ch. 3.2 under the Cape Fear CW brand.

After a plethora of summer reruns, the network’s ballet reality show Breaking Pointe returns days after a big debut for the Whose Line is it Anyway revival.

The CW is sticking with its strategy of bowing fall fare outside the crush of the first two weeks of the television season, announcing October start dates for all of its shows.

The network, home to series like The Vampire Diaries, secured ad rate increases around 5% to 6% for time in the new season.

Like last fall, the CW is introducing three new series this fall — The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals, costume drama Reign and sci-fi drama The Tomorrow People — with three more series — dramas The 100; Star-Crossed; and reality show Famous In 12, from the TMZ team — on tap for midseason. For a second year in a row, the CW will hold its fall launches until October

With Big Five upfront presentations set for May 13, 14, 15 and 16, the networks are looking to fill a lot of slots in hopes of finding significantly more keepers than last season.

The CW has fewer timeslots to fill than any other broadcast network, airing just 20 hours of original programming per week. But the network has still struggled to fill those slots the past few years, with a slew of new shows that came and went nearly as quickly as Blair’s latest hairstyle on Gossip Girl. With Girl and 90210, two veteran dramas, ending this season and America’s Next Top Model in its twilight years, that’s a lot of open space on the schedule.

The freshman dud has been removed from the network’s schedule and may be available on other platforms. CW will use Cult‘s former 9 p.m. Friday slot to air repeats of The Carrie Diaries (April 12) and Oh Sit! (April 19 and 26).