In the past sixteen years since I watched The CW launch as a broadcast channel, it has carved a niche for itself with teen dramas like Riverdale, The Vampire Diaries, and One Tree Hill. It’s also the place I went to for my dose of the DC Comics Arrow-verse. Over the years, the channel has birthed scores of original shows that not only pioneered small screen superhero entertainment, but also nurtured a myriad of talent and voices. But with Nexstar Media Group at the helm, the landscape is about to change dramatically.
Numerous original series from The CW that I’ve followed, including The Flash, Riverdale, and Nancy Drew, are concluding this year. Other series like The Winchesters, Walker: Independence, and Kung Fu have already been axed as the channel shifts its audience age demographic from 18-34 to a more conventional 18-49 range. To date, only Walker and All American have been secured for the 23-24 television season.
The CW shifting toward unscripted content
The CW, it appears, will be pivoting towards unscripted content, international and outside market series acquisitions, and LIV Golf, moving away from the original scripted series. It’s somewhat ironic hearing CW’s entertainment president Brad Schwartz stating that their “only goal is to build a strong brand and cultivate emotional attachment to the largest audience possible.”
Further, Schwartz added, “We have to pick up shows if we think they can grow, be profitable, have great audience retention and that we can market other shows to.” This is in context of the future of superhero programming on The CW. Even though Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights haven’t officially been axed yet, their future on the network seems uncertain. Schwartz stated, “DC shows were the hallmarks of The CW for a long time. As we look forward and try to make this network bigger and profitable, frankly, as much as we all love those shows and they had their time, they’re not working on linear.”
Profit appears to be the main objective of The CW’s new leadership. Still, it seems strange to abandon the content The CW has become recognized for and start almost completely anew. If the goal is to “cultivate emotional attachment” to grow their audience, wouldn’t it be more sensible to maintain more of The CW’s current roster than gamble on reality TV, a year-old AMC show (61st Street), and various Canadian series unfamiliar to most U.S. viewers?
CW could see major success with reality series content
Nevertheless, Schwartz staunchly supports this decision, claiming both the Canadian acquisition Sullivan’s Crossing and the reality series FBoy Island “could be bigger than anything on The CW last year.” While Schitt’s Creek did become a success through acquisition, it required time to develop its current fan base, time most studios seem unwilling to offer now.
As a fan who has been following the network since The WB and UPN merged to form The CW in 2006, I find this shift disappointing. The channel had a continuous run of DC shows starting with Smallville in 2001 and was one of the few outlets investing in episodic teen shows into the streaming era. Streaming platforms like Netflix and HBO Max tend to offer more serialized teen shows with fewer episodes, which are often canceled after one or two seasons, like the Gossip Girl reboot, I Am Not Okay With This, The Society, and First Kill.
But if most teens and young adults are streaming CW shows rather than watching them live, as Schwartz suggests, it’s understandable that the network wouldn’t want to spend more on costlier series like DC properties. However, this shouldn’t prevent investment in other original shows that amplify queer and diverse voices. Regardless of your opinion of the quality of CW shows, drastically altering the channel’s offerings feels like a colossal error. For many of us, it’s the end of an era and I seriously doubt any other channel or streaming service can or will replicate the distinctive shows The CW is known for.
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