Less than a month after Nexstar Media closed a deal to take 75% ownership of The CW, the broadcast network has been hit with dozens of layoffs. The exact number of departures is still becoming clear, but one person with knowledge of the situation pegged it at about 30 to 40. While Nexstar is known for local stations, the company also operates NewsNation, which it overhauled and reformatted from its prior incarnation, WGN America, after acquiring Tribune Media in 2019. The lower cost profile of news programming, a distinctly different neighborhood from the scripted fare that was briefly WGNA’s specialty, was the driving motivation of the makeover.
She joins the Nexstar-owned network brings her in from Google to oversee negotiating and managing The CW’s distribution and overseeing affiliate relations with its station group partners.
DC’s Stargirl is coming to an end. The series will conclude with its third season, which is currently airing on The CW. New episodes will continue to air on Wednesdays through Dec. 7.
The drama starring Kennedy McMann as the teen sleuth will end with its upcoming fourth season on the broadcast network that is now owned by station group Nexstar. Sources say cast and crew were informed of the decision Wednesday afternoon. Season 4 is currently in production, with that fourth and final season set to be part of The CW’s midseason schedule next year. (A formal premiere date has not yet been announced.)
Chelsea Handler has been tapped to host the 2023 Critics Choice Awards. The 28th annual trophy show will be held Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, and will air live from 7 to 10 p.m. ET/delayed PT on The CW. Handler takes over the reins from Taye Diggs who hosted the show for the past four years.
At the CW’s May upfront presentation, then-Chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz announced that a new initiative with United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy would launch in the 2022-23 season to tackle “the No. 1 issue facing America’s youth: mental health” by developing storylines across the network’s programming as well as working with advertisers and affiliates and across social media. With the fall 2022 launch in full swing, the initiative is now launching, with Stevie Wonder, who performed live at The CW’s Upfront presentation in May, granting the use of his song Where is Our Love Song as the official soundtrack of the “Dare to Love, Defy Hate” initiative.
Exclusives
Many top execs who do business with The CW are still searching for answers, but early signs are that Nexstar is aiming to be more affiliate friendly and target programming that targets a broad audience of adults 18-49. Above: The CW’s owners are said to be fans of its Walker franchise.
Rick Haskins and Mitch Nedick follow CEO Mark Pedowitz out the door as Nexstar takes control of the broadcast network.
Will Nexstar Erase Mark Pedowitz’s Legacy From The CW?
After more than 11 years atop the broadcast network, the executive leaves a mark with its diversity and year-round programming schedule.
Television industry leader and technology and media investor Dennis Miller is assuming leadership of The CW from Mark Pedowitz, who, after serving as chairman and CEO for the past 11 years, is leaving to revive his production company.
The CW will premiere the new, original made-for-television movie A Waltons Thanksgiving on Nov. 20. The movie is a follow up to the network’s successful The Waltons’ Homecoming, which was was the network’s second most-watched special of the 2021-22 season.
Under new ownership, the CW will be going for broader and cheaper programming, including syndicated fare acquisitions, with the goal to make the network profitable by 2025.
The CW was only founded 16 years ago, and throughout that short life, it’s been known as both the youngest broadcaster and the broadcaster with the youngest audience. That’s why when Nexstar COO and president Tom Carter stated during a conference call Monday that the average viewer of the network, which is being acquired by the TV station group giant, is 58 years old, the internet had a hard time swallowing the stat. But as Variety has independently confirmed with measurements from Nielsen, the Nexstar exec was correct.
No regulatory approval is needed for the deal, so Nexstar is immediately assuming corporate oversight of The CW. Nexstar Chairman-CEO Perry Sook says that Nexstar will take a “broadcast-first” approach to CW operations, rather than the current consideration of post-broadcast content monetization under the current studio owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global.
The CW on Monday announced that its Grant Gustin-led DC Comics superhero drama from Warner Bros. TV and Greg Berlanti Productions will conclude with a 13-episode final run. The conclusion of one of the network’s most-watched shows will air in 2023 as part of its midseason roster. Production on the final season will begin next month.
“I think any time you hire anyone who is a minority of any kind you have to be prepared to protect them. Because in the real world, we are not protected,” the actress said when reflecting making her debut on The CW series.
Oct. 11 will see the premiere of The Winchesters, the highly anticipated Supernatural prequel that stars Meg Donnelly and Drake Rodger as demon hunters Mary and John, parents of original series leads Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki). Walker: Independence, a prequel of the CW series Walker starring Katherine McNamara, will premiere on the network on Oct. 6.
Tom Swift has swiftly gotten the boot by The CW. The low-rated, Nancy Drew spinoff only launched on May 31. The series, which features a predominantly Black cast, started off as an unconventional backdoor pilot, with only Tian Richards (as Tom) getting an introduction on Nancy Drew last season. The rest of the characters were cast after the project was picked up to series in August. We hear CBS Studios, which is behind Tom Swift, is trying to extend the options on the cast and plans to shop the series elsewhere.
Nexstar Media Group, the nation’s biggest owner of television stations, is close to a deal to acquire majority control of The CW network from co-owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, according to people familiar with the matter. Under the terms being discussed, Nexstar would acquire 75% of The CW, a broadcast network aimed primarily at teens and young adults, with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery each retaining 12.5% stakes, the people said.
The Flash is holding onto its leading lady, now that original cast member Candice Patton has inked a deal to continue on as intrepid journalist Iris West-Allen for Season 9. Patton has been with what is now the longest-running Arrowverse series since its October 2014 launch. But this spring, after leading man Grant Gustin closed his own deal that paved the way for the CW series’ Season 9 renewal, she indicated on her Instagram account that her own future with the show was in flux.
The CW has wrapped upfront negotiations, according to a person familiar with the matter, and expects a rise in advance ad commitments for its digital venues, but sees its primetime broadcast schedule take in similar volume to last year’s market. Variety estimates that CW may have seen primetime volume come in between $440.8 million and $626.9 million, in 2021, compared with $440.8 million and $$597.1 million in 2020.
The reboot’s recent series finale included a callback to the original show, leading to a heated Twitter exchange.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we owned a broadcast network and maybe other cable networks that we layer on top of our local content foundation,” Nexstar Media Group CEO Perry Sook said when asked on a podcast to envision what Nexstar would look like in 2032. Nexstar has reportedly been discussing acquiring a majority stake in The CW. The CW is now a joint venture of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery and Nexstar is one of its largest affiliate groups.
The CW on Thursday announced additional summer premiere dates, including the Stateside debuts of Leonardo (co-starring The Good Doctor‘s Freddie Highmore) and Season 2 of Patrick Dempsey’s Devils. The network’s summertime rollout also includes Season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows spinoff Wellington Paranormal, second seasons of Killer Camp and Mysteries Decoded, and the Australian dramedy Bump.
Stevie Wonder gives a goose to the week’s final shill, yet one can’t help but feel superstitious about a single broadcast network’s relevance in the annual ad scramble.
The network sets a lineup a week after cutting more series than it has in a decade.
The surprise of Magnum P.I. getting cut by CBS is due in part to the fact that broadcasters have sharply cut down on cancellations in the past two seasons.
The CW Downsizes As It Faces Transitional Year Amid Ownership Change And Business Strategy Shift
When the dust settled after a frantic day today, the CW was left with 11 original scripted series — new and returning — on tap for next season. That is down from from 19 (including Stargirl whose future is unclear) picked up for the 2021-22 season last year. While there is contraction across the board on linear networks, the drop at the CW is significant and follows years of expansion that resulted in the network adding two extra nights of original programing on Sundays and Saturdays and also years of the CW rubber-stamping its scripted portfolio with the vast majority of series automatically returning regardless of their ratings performance.
Legacies, the second spinoff to stem from The Vampire Diaries, has been canceled after a four-season run. The series, from creator Julie. Plec, was the last connective tissue to The Vampire Diaries, which at the time the flagship series launched in 2009, was The CW’s most-watched scripted series.
As of April 26, Charmed this season was averaging 650,000 total weekly viewers and a 0.1 demo rating (with Live+7 playback factored in), down from its Season 3 tallies (690K/0.2). Out of the 19 dramas The CW has aired this TV season, it ranks No. 17 in audience and is among seven that muster just a 0.1 rating.
Superhero drama Naomi has lost its fight with fate. The CW offering has been cancelled after one season despite a promising launch. The show’s January debut ranked as The CW’s third-most watched season premiere of the 2021-22 season but its audience has since fallen by more than 40% since then.
Pour one out for the Carringtons — The CW’s Dynasty reboot has been canceled after five seasons. As of April 26, Dynasty this season is averaging 410 total weekly viewers and a 0.1 demo rating (with Live+7 playback factored in), which is right on par with its Season 4 tallies. Out of the 19 dramas The CW has aired this TV season, it ranks dead last in audience and is among seven that muster just a 0.1 rating.
The 4400′s superpowered days are over: The CW has cancelled the reboot after just one season. With its freshman run, 4400 averaged 732,000 total viewers and a 0.1 demo rating (with Live+7 DVR playback factored in); in total audience it ranks No. 14 out of the 19 dramas that The CW has aired this TV season.
The students of Bringston University are back for another school year. The CW announced today that it has ordered a second season of the drama All American: Homecoming. The net reports that Homecoming, which stars Geffri Maya as Simone Hicks, Peyton Alex Smith as Damon Sims, Kelly Jenrette as Amara Patterson, and Cory Hardrict as Coach Marcus Turner, was one of its most-streamed shows on the CW app in its first year.
TV’s annual springtime rite of (anxious) passage known as “Bubble Watch” is coming down to the wire. With the traditional upfront week set to get underway May 16, the five broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW — are poised to decide the fate of roughly two dozen in-limbo series.
The CW announced a new movie, The Waltons’ Thanksgiving, which will debut in the fourth quarter of 2022. A follow-up to 2021’s The Waltons’ Homecoming, the special will feature Bellamy Young, Logan Shroyer and Richard Thomas reprising their roles with Teddy Sears newly joining the cast.
While The CW is known for giving its longer-running series a proper goodbye, this season of Legends ended on a cliffhanger. Sources, however, pointed out that the characters can easily populate other series in the DC Arrowverse so you may see one or two of them in other shows.
That’s a wrap on Batwoman. The Arrowverse series has been canceled after three seasons. Showrunner Caroline Dries announced the news Friday on Twitter. Batwoman this season was averaging about 760,000 total viewers and a 0.2 demo rating (with Live+7 DVR playback factored in), down nearly 20% in audience from its sophomore run and ranking No. 13 in that measure out of the 19 dramas The CW has aired this tvseason.
