The CW
The CW Network, LLC is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the first letters of the names of its two founding co-owners CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Nexstar acquired a 75% controlling stake in the network on October 3, 2022, with Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery each retaining a 12.5% ownership stake.
The CW debuted on September 18, 2006 as the successor to UPN and the WB, which had both shut down that month. Its first two nights of programming—on September 18, 2006 and September 19, 2006—consisted of reruns and launch-related specials. The CW marked its formal launch date on September 20, 2006, with the two-hour premiere of the seventh cycle of America's Next Top Model. While the network's programming lineup is intended to appeal mainly to viewers between the ages of 18 and 34, recent viewership statistics indicate the average viewer is aged 58 with a 60-40% female to male ratio.
The CW runs programming seven days a week: airing nightly in prime time along with a Saturday morning live-action educational programming block produced by Hearst Media Production Group called One Magnificent Morning.
The CW is also available in Canada on pay television providers through stations owned-and-operated by Nexstar and on affiliates owned by others that are located within proximity to the Canada–United States border ; it’s also available through two Nexstar-controlled stations that are classified in the United States as superstations—New York City–based de facto flagship WPIX and Los Angeles–based de jure flagship KTLA.
Additionally, the network is available in northern Mexico through affiliates located near the Mexico–U.S. border on pay television providers. In both Canada and Mexico, some free-to-air CW affiliate signals originating from the U.S. are receivable over-the-air in border areas depending on the station's signal coverage.
History
1993–2006: Predecessors and formation
In April 1993, the Federal Communications Commission ended the fin-syn rules that prohibited television networks from owning the rerun rights to programs they broadcast. Fearing that the networks would stop buying programs from independent studios, Warner Bros. Television and Paramount Television each decided to start their own networks.The WB and UPN both launched within one week of each other in January 1995, just as the Fox Broadcasting Company had started to secure a foothold with American television audiences. The two networks launched to limited fanfare and generally mediocre to poor results. However, over the subsequent seasons, both were able to air several series that became quite popular.
Although their simultaneous starts and competition for affiliate stations initially caused the two networks to appear as rivals, by 1999, they had adopted differing strategies: The WB targeted young women, while UPN targeted young men. Towards the end of their first decade on the air, the WB and UPN were in decline, unable to reach the audience share or have the effect that Fox had gained within its first decade, much less than that of the Big Three networks. In the eleven years that UPN and the WB were in operation, the two networks lost a combined $2 billion. Chris-Craft Industries, Viacom, and Time Warner officials had discussed a possible merger of UPN and the WB as early as September 1995, only eight months after their respective launches; however, discussions ultimately broke down over issues on how to combine Chris-Craft and Tribune Broadcasting's station interests in the proposal to merge the networks, since the two companies' station portfolios overlapped with one another in several major markets. By 2003, however, Time Warner became mired in several debt problems. The company had already been responsible for shutting down Warner Bros.' in-house animation department and for selling off major portions of the conglomerate, such as the 2004 sale of Warner Bros. Records and the rest of Warner Music Group to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Executives from CBS and Warner Bros. announced on January 24, 2006 that they would respectively shut down UPN and the WB; they would combine resources to form a new broadcast network, to be called the CW. They confirmed that the network would—at the outset—feature programming from both of its predecessors-to-be as well as new content developed specifically for the new network. Warner Bros. and CBS expected to produce inexpensive shows for the network, which they could sell outside the United States. Then CBS chairman Les Moonves explained that the name of the new network was formed from the first letters of CBS and Warner Bros., joking, "We couldn't call it the WC for obvious reasons." Although some executives reportedly disliked the new name, Moonves stated in March 2006 that there was "zero chance" the name would change, citing research claiming 48 percent of the target demographic were already aware of the "CW" name.
In May 2006, the CW announced that it would pick up a combined thirteen programs from its two predecessors to air as part of the network's inaugural fall schedule: seven series held over from the WB and six held over from UPN. Upon the network's launch, the CW chose to use the scheduling model utilized by the WB due in part to the fact that it had a more extensive base programming schedule than UPN, allowing for a larger total of weekly programming time for the new network to fill.
2006–2011: Launch and early struggles
Like UPN and the WB, the CW targets its programming towards younger audiences. CBS and Time Warner hoped that combining their networks' schedules and affiliate lineups would strengthen the CW into a fifth "major" broadcast network. One week before the network's official launch, on September 11, 2006, a new, full version of the network website was launched, the website began to feature more in-depth information about the CW's shows.The CW launched with a premiere special / launch party from the CBS Paramount-produced Entertainment Tonight at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California on September 18, 2006, after a repeat of the tenth-season finale of 7th Heaven; the same schedule was repeated on September 19, 2006, with the sixth-season finale of Gilmore Girls. The network continued to air season finales from the previous season through the remainder of the first week, except for America's Next Top Model and WWE SmackDown!, which respectively began their new seasons on September 20, 2006, and September 22, 2006, with two-hour premieres. When Top Model made its network premiere on September 20, 2006, the CW scored a 3.4 rating/5 share in the Nielsen household ratings. It scored a 2.6 rating among adults 18–49, finishing fourth in that age demographic and beating the 2.2 rating earned by Fox on that night. The network's second week consisted of season and series premieres for all of its other series from September 25, 2006, to October 1, 2006, with the exception of Veronica Mars, which debuted its third season on October 3, 2006.
Despite having several of the most popular programs carried over from UPN and the WB as part of its schedule, the CW—even though it experienced some success with newer programs that launched in subsequent seasons which became modest hits—largely struggled to gain an audience foothold throughout its first five years on the air. Because of declining viewership for the network during the 2007–08 season and effects from the Writers Guild of America strike, the network announced on March 4, 2008, that it would eliminate its comedy department, while also combining its drama and current programming departments into a single scripted programming unit. The corporate restructuring resulted in the layoffs of approximately 25 to 30 employees. It also included the elimination of certain positions, other newly opened positions being left unfilled, and layoffs from the Kids' WB unit, as the block was set to be replaced by the CW4Kids.
On May 9, 2008, the CW announced that it would lease its Sunday lineup to production company Media Rights Capital. As Sundays have historically been a low-rated night for the network during its first two seasons on the air, the move allowed the CW to concentrate on its Monday through Friday prime time schedule, while giving MRC the right to develop and schedule programs of its own choosing and reap advertising revenue generated by the lineup. The Sunday series that were scheduled—two reality series and two scripted series —performed poorly in the ratings, prompting the CW to scrap its agreement with MRC and program Sunday nights on its own starting on November 30, 2008. With no first-run programming available to run on Sundays as a backup, the network added reruns of The Drew Carey Show and Jericho, and movies to replace the MRC-produced programs.
One of the shows carried over to the network from UPN, WWE SmackDown, ended its run on the CW after the September 26, 2008, episode due to negotiations ending between the WWE and the CW on renewing the program. Representatives for the CW later confirmed that it had chosen not to continue carrying SmackDown because the network had redefined its target audience as exclusively females 18 to 34 years old, whereas SmackDown targeted a predominantly male audience. Following SmackDowns move to MyNetworkTV that same season, the Fox-owned network began beating the CW in the Friday ratings every week from that program's debut on the network, though the CW continued to beat MyNetworkTV overall.
The CW generally struggled in the Nielsen ratings from its inception, primarily placing fifth in all statistics tabulated by Nielsen. On several occasions, the CW was even outrated by the Spanish language network Univision. This led to speculation within the industry that CBS, Time Warner or both companies might abandon the venture if ratings did not improve. However, the CW's fortunes were buoyed in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 television seasons thanks to increased ratings among females in the 18–34 demographic and the buzz that some of its newer series had generated with audiences. Executives with CBS Corporation and Time Warner also emphasized their commitment to the network.
On May 5, 2009, the CW announced that it would give the five hours of network time on Sundays back to its affiliated stations that fall, effectively becoming a weeknight-only network in prime time, in addition to the CW Daytime and the CW4Kids blocks. This change meant the Sunday late afternoon repeat block that the CW inherited from the WB was discontinued. Subsequently, in mid-May, 65 percent of the CW's affiliates, including those carrying the CW Plus, signed agreements to air the replacement MGM Showcase movie package on Sundays.