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Quo Vadis CW? Or: a tale of Warner Bros. and CBS Television

6 Oct 2014

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Editors Note: This is a guest article by SpoilerTV Contributor Mac Schaer.

Writers Note: I’m a fan, not an expert. I have no professional experience in bureaucratic network decisions but I’m a long time follower of the decision making process behind various television shows.

Once upon a time there were two television stations, one owned by Warner Bros. and the other owned by CBS. TheWB and UPN. Both networks focused on a similar target audiences: young adults. A demographic usually less attractive for the other big three networks (CBS, NBC, ABC).

Notable shows for the UPN include Veronica Mars, Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise, Girlfriends and Everybody Hates Chris. In theWBs corner we had 7th Heaven, Dawsons Creek, Gilmore Girls, Supernatural, Smallville, Angel and Everwood.

Both networks having a rather unspectacular target audience caused a ratings drop for both, in their entire run both made a $2 Billion loss and the studios behind the networks were put into a more than uncomfortable position.

Following the ratings both CBS and Warner went for a merger, they shut down their respective stations and put their assets into a joint venture: known as theCW.

The merger made sense, UPN already was a pretty enthusiastic customer of WB content. For example the network bought up Buffy-The Vampire Slayer after its fifth season.

Most of the networks shows went on to live another day on theCW, Veronica Mars, Supernatural, Smallville and 7th Heaven being a few examples. The Buffy spin-off Angel was cancelled despite good ratings though, it was rumored at the time that the network decided against Angel and rather brought back 7th Heaven to give the network a more family friendly identity.

Note that these were merely rumors at the time though!

Ever since, theCW served as a home for both CBS produced and WB produced dramas.

The head of the network was Dawn Ostroff, responsible for the primetime schedule and the networks general appearance. TheCW being known as a youth skewing network obviously caused youth themed shows to be green-lit. These days Mark Pedowitz is the new head of theCW.

CBS distributed TBL (5 episodes), Emily Owens M.D (13 episodes), Melrose Place (18 episodes), Star-Crossed (13 episodes), 7th Heaven (22 episodes on theCW, 243 episodes in total) and 90210 (being the only CBS series on theCW to make it beyond 100 episodes with a total episode count of 114).

Meanwhile Warner Bros television distributed a giant lineup of long-living shows on theCW like Smallville (107 episodes on theCW, 218 episodes in total), Gilmore Girls (22 episodes on theCW, 153 episodes overall), Nikita (73 episodes) only being some, this is excluding the MANY other WB distributed shows like Ringer, Hellcats, Cult wich only lived for one 1-2 seasons
Currently CBS has a larger stake in distributing Beauty and the Beast and Reign.

Meanwhile the rest of the schedule (Vampire Diaries, Originals, Supernatural, Arrow, The Flash, Hart of Dixie, The 100) are all distributed by Warner Bros.

At this point it is worthy to ask a question for CBS: what worth does theCW still hold to us?

Is it time for them to just back out of the joint venture?

Their current lineup is underperforming, Reign has dipped majorly on this Mondays season 2 premiere while Beauty and the Beast got renewed for a shortened third season scheduled for mid-season after having a 0.3 average for its second season with “final season” flags pointing at an eventual cancellation.

CBS has two shows ready to premiere on theCW this season. “Jane the Virgin” premieres this Monday and “The Messengers” premiering mid-season.

Looking at the sinking relevance CBS shows hold for theCW (and per extention CBS having a smaller take due to not having much additional merchandise to sell) it becomes questionable for how long theCW can keep CBS shows around


But let’s talk a futuristic ‘what if’ scenario for theCW.

What IF CBS actually backs out? What will happen to the network? Will theCW be shut down the way WB/UPN were? Where will the content move to if such a thing happens?

Obviously the beauty of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu comes to mind when talking the questionable future of scripted content but like so often it sounds more hopeful than it actually is. Netflix picks up limited amounts of shows and so far little to no shows have made the big jump for survival (Community being a pretty rare example).

Will these shows just disappear? Sadly this is a likely outcome, no matter how profitable content like “Supernatural” or “The Vampire Diaries” might be for WB at this point not having a station well watched enough is not going to save either program. Especially since theCWs most successful shows have already crossed the magic 100 episodes mark.

Is it possible for some content to be sold to other networks?

WB is producing a lot of content for other networks. Fringe, Revolution, Alcatraz, The Following, Mom, Shameless, Chuck, Dallas, Longmire and Rizzoli & Isles were/are altogether Warner produced shows sold to competing networks. So does that make it more possible for a female oriented mystery drama like ‘The Vampire Diaries’ to make its way to Lifetime or ABC? For Supernatural to make it to FOX or USA? Personally I’d like to answer this with a ‘eh…maaayyyybbee?’. The genres might fit to the networks and the popular names might help the shows cases as well but would the networks benefit from airing shows that premiered on a completely other network with 70% of the audience not knowing what is going on? It’s a call that would have to be made by the networks producers. I could see “Arrow” making its way to TNT though in case theCW were just to end.

Or a last possibility: is Warner simply going to open a new network or just keeps operating without CBS as theCW? A rather likely idea although it’d beg to question for how long, the merger happened due to the common issue of losing money, operating alone wouldn’t help the situation at all. If anything the network would probably have a harder time re-establishing itself than theCW ever did.

So how does theCW avoid losing CBS?

Simple tactic: renew what you can.

Many fans of these shows have said it and it’s sadly a very real thing, they can’t risk CBS leaving and thus find any whatever small reason to keep CBS shows around. May it be renewing Beauty and the Beast with numbers far beyond good and evil or renewing Reign while under performing in a slot other shows would kill for. The marketing has been heavy on the recently premiered Reign and yet not really much seems to have changed. The marketing either might have missed its mark or simply isn’t as effective as originally hoped for.

But for how long can this appeasing tactic work? If the downwards trend of CBS shows continues the network might one day be forced to pull the plug on the last CBS show.

What could possibly mean the death nail for theCW.

What do you think would be better for theCW, Warner, CBS and its shows?




What do you think about this issue? Please let me know in the comment section

49 comments:

  1. All the people who think they are "smart" for hating the CW are going to show up here lol.
    Personally I think it would be better if the WB goes back to being on its own. They have all the hits in the network while CBS only uses the CW for secondary projects and it's never going to produce anything that represents a real threat to CBS.
    And this is a better analysis than what that ridiculous Tribune guy said. People who agree to him fail to realize the only thing that guy wants is to put his shows on the CW.

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  2. Great read! I agree that it might be the best if the network continues without CBS. Marketing is not gonna do it. Going online is possible but will these revenues really cover the amount of costs made by all the shows? And the CW continuing to renew low-rated shows like BatB and Reign is not a smart thing to do.

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  3. Frozen Oncers(was TeenWolfers)6 October 2014 at 14:14

    I'm really not an expert in this type of thing at all so I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but could The CW switch over to a cable network?

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  4. Have yet to read the article, but this is bugging me haha. What does Quo Vadis mean?

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  5. Frozen Oncers(was TeenWolfers)6 October 2014 at 14:17

    I think it means "Where are you going"

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  6. I mean they are now together for 8 years if it wasn't working for CBS they would've backed out quite some time ago. I think there were made some scheduling/promoting mistakes with the CBS shows and that is the main reason some of the fails.

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  7. CBS chooses to renew those shows not the CW. That's why I think WB should continue on its own.

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  8. Let Warner continue alone. They seem to be going for more superhero themes which is good and seems to be working for them.

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  9. Bring back some of their higher rated shows such as Gilmore Girls,

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  10. Nicolás Festa6 October 2014 at 15:49

    We don't have a way of knowing since it's a mistery how CBS and WB share their profit.

    A show like Arrow it's not all about the ratings because you have merchandise like toys, comics, dvds, etc. Not to mention the push to the New 52 Green Arrow comics.

    How much does CBS make out of Arrow? Does it make any? Is it a 100% WB project?

    What about a show like Reing? Does CBS just rent the time slot? Does WB make some profit of that show?

    I think WB should be back to be WB and use at least one of CBS' timeslots to put another superheroe show. Right now, Arrow is the show that makes more money, since it's a show you can sell a lot of merchandise to a loyal fanbase.

    Maybe a Green Lantern or Nightwing show... Right now, The CW hit the lottery with the DC Shows. Since TVD that they don't get an actual hit.

    After all, it's all about the money... And like Peters told Joel Schumacher "we need something that i can make toys out of": That's what Arrow and The Flash are...

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  11. A cable network seems more of an option than CW online. The problem with cable though is the CW would have to fight to get on the tier one cable package like USA,TNT,Lifetime etc.

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  12. Target the failing CBS shows and try to improve their ratings.

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  13. I think that The Messengers could be a potential hit, even if it's from CBS and not WB.

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  14. I hope so, it sure sounds interesting. Although I'm not sure what the target audience of that show is going to be.

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  15. Actually CBS is involved as a co-producing studio in almost every CW show (means they get a small take out of that while WB gets most out of it due to being the main studio and the distributing company) BUT Arrow. CBS has literally no involvement in the production of Arrow


    If they get anything it's probably very little

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  16. Thanks :D
    It might be 8 years but most not-working joined ventures end after years of cooperation due to one company seeing that on long term it`s not going to benefit them.


    I want CBS and Warner to stick together and while I would agree that they barely market BatB they did hype the s**t out of Reign this and last year. Marketing and slot wise Reign is...well...pretty well catered to

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  17. exactly, if only Timer Warner and Warner Bros. were still one company...


    but I could see it go that direction, not sure wether it'd work though. That option would be truly down to luck.


    Most loyal CW watchers are too young though, that's probably part of the reason it hasn't happened yet.

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  18. no one is smart for hating theCW, it's actually one of the few most interesitng networks out there.
    It's really heavy on serialized dramas unlike other networks wich are heavy on procedurals.


    And despite hating romance I ALWAYS end up with theCW due to their fantastic genre picking.

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  19. BatB is completely out of their promotion radar, but still the fanbase is loud and pushes the show.
    Reign got so much attention this summer that it seemed even unhealthy for the show. They did everything right for Reign, except the time slot . I hoped they would pair Reign with The Originals, think they would be a good pair. Looking at the Monday 9pm slot it would be really good for Reign.
    But shows like Star crossed and Emily Owens didn't got the focus they needed.

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  20. Christopher DeBono6 October 2014 at 18:10

    This ^
    I find I end up watching everything on the CW thanks to their genre shows. Even the more random ideas (like Jane The Virgin) find a place in my TV viewing habits.

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  21. exactly, it's the only network that doesen't rely to heavily on "what currently sells best" and rather focuses on various genres and giving them a CW touch

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  22. I think The Messengers could be a hit on another channel. Young People watch The CW and having seen this, I can say it's not for 14-15 year old. I mean that's not what I would've watched at that age lol.

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  23. in theCWs defense BatB premieres in January so there's no need to start the promotion now


    as for Star Crossed, I saw some posters hanging around I agree on Emily Owens though, not just underpromoted

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  24. There's also the fact that CBS could start developing shows that better appeal to the CW audience. Reign probably will even out, but it's not getting any help from a tired Vampire Diaries as its lead-in or from being scheduled opposite Scandal. I would flip the timeslots of the two shows and see what happens.

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  25. Last year the BatB promotion was underwhleming as well, if I recall good. Wouldn't be to surprised if they shift BatB and Reign together to Fridays. Especially if Reign further slips.
    They didn't gave a real chance to Emily Owens and that hurts really hard, it had solid ratings towards the end.

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  26. I really don't remember BatBs campaign from last year, I'm usually pretty aware of promotional campaigns but BatB flew under my radar.
    I was more shocked with the Reign overexposure


    I loved Emily Owens, a solid Scrubs/Greys mix that could have turned out to work in the long run

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  27. I agree but a lot of people think they are smart and have better "taste" for hating The CW. They seem to forget all the networks produce crap, not only the CW.
    Also I watch the network for the same reasons. A show like The 100 would have never aired in any other network, not even SyFy.

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  28. Yep EM had great potential. the cast mostly worked(except J Hartley), but fall in the death slot with slowly dying 90210 if I remember well.
    Sadly Reign is dying now, the fans departed after Mary chose Francis. And not even this promo campaign helped it.

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  29. I think it's going to skew older than the typical CW audience!!!

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  30. Reign and Jane the Virgin should swap cause they will both hit 0.3 before the years end. At least this way JtV has a chance. I say cancel RG and BATB and get JtV and TM good time-slots.

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  31. Bring back The WB that's it.

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  32. Very interesting article Mac. TV politics are the only politics I'm interested in haha. Would love to read more from you

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  33. The new season has just started. Why are we being stressed about our fave shows when they're barely out of the gate for whatever season they're on. For me, the only show I care about is REIGN. It's so well acted and well written and something a whole lot of people look forward to. You can't just show one episode and decide it doesn't deserve a 3rd or 4th season, etc. NOT FAIR. You have pitted REIGN up against football that should be kicked off because of its television domination all weekend long. Put it on a sports channel! Not everybody wants to see football! Advertise more for REIGN. It deserves to be shown on commercial time also. I have no clue as to the partnership thing, but just for the sake of the network, work it out already! Fans want very much to see it REIGN for a very long time. THANK YOU!

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  34. What about the option of CW producing better shows? I mean, there hasn't been a lot TO watch. They barely came back with anything for the fall lineup, which was disappointing. Besides that a lot of the shows simply suck. Reign, which you mention had plenty of promotion. It has since it aired in the first season. The problem is that show has a terrible writer who doesn't know what she is doing. The show started out strong and promising with nice ratings, but somewhere around the mid-season it took a nose dive and you saw that reflected in the ratings. They wasted so much time to build up a love triangle they didn't want to follow through with for basically no purpose. It really didn't help the story further, it just left people confused. Then during the break they promoted the hell out of the fact that they dropped the love triangle and said again and again it was never going to happen. Fair enough, it's their show and they can write what they want, but you have to take into consideration that 50%+ of the fans (if you look at basically ANY of the official first season polls on E! and many of the other media sites) supported the fallen couple. The show never really recovered after the chose to end it in the show, and I wasn't surprised that many didn't bother coming back for the second season. Why would you? If they would have just written the show WITHOUT a triangle in the first place or kept it going longer, I bet you the show would have had slightly more viewers. I say slightly more, because yeah, the writing of the show in general is a bit ridiculous and the love triangle isn't the only issue the show has. They drop and pick up plots like crazy. At this point I doubt the ratings will ever come back to what they were. Sad too, because I loved the fact that a historical show got picked up by the CW in the first place. I'd love to see more of them, just with better writers.

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  35. I agree with this. I think CW does tend to have better story ideas than other networks. It's nice to get on a channel that doesn't feel like they have to have 25 different crime shows. I don't think Reign will make it and I don't like that one much anymore, but I would love to see more historical shows come on, I think it was amazing of them to pick it up in the first place because they never really did something like that before, even though I felt like the writing itself sucked.

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  36. You know, that doesn't stop ABC Family and their popularity though. Pretty Little Liars for instance has tons of fans and you can't even always get that channel on a basic lineup (I know I didn't have it on my basic plan). They even made it so you couldn't watch shows for free online and had to be a cable subscriber to watch and even that didn't break them like I thought it would.

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  37. The CW might put out lots of crap but they also put out some of the most "fresh" programming to be found anywhere on broadcast, except for a couple shows on each of the other nets I think The CW might still win when it comes to sheer imagination. Which I find important. Unless The WB makes an epic comeback, I hope the best for The CW, I hope they last as long as possible and I hope whatever execs want The CW to be shutdown get fired. The CW claims that a lot of the shows are profitable because of the way they do business... if that's true I say leave them be, CBS and Warner Bros should first at least try new advertising techniques to draw new viewers before considering shutting it down, the network's same basic look and feel (in advertising) is the same as when it launched and it's always been off-putting even to me, a fan of the network.

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  38. I'd say it would be smarter to swap The Originals and Reign. Monday nights are for failures and The Originals is absolutely going to fail there. But Reign is already failing and TO could make a comeback if it was paired with its parent show. Sending Reign to die peacefully on Mondays and relegating TO to a 9pm slot - where it always belonged if we're honest - could be the best option instead of tanking both shows.

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  39. Our CBS station lost the right to show CBS shows come January 1, 2015... guess who got it? The CW channel... no word on where the CW and the shows will go yet where I live. Very annoying!

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  40. Reign is suffering the same fate that happened to S2Batb. I was preempted by football and placed on other night without so much as a mention by the CW network! Any of these CW show were shown the same disrespect as Batb was shown last season they wouldn't fair well either! Good or bad thanks to all the fans of for standing by their shows without us the PTB's wouldn't make money!

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  41. I say let WB go alone, or bring back TheWB. A cable network would work well, I mean maybe something like ABCFamily has, where shows still can get full season orders like Pretty Little Liars, so they wont have to suddenly make all shows be 10-13 episodes total.

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  42. Why Would I Tell?7 October 2014 at 10:26

    I haven't seen the WB profit from the CBS merger, all the shows that have been big successes and keep the boat afloat have been WB shows, all the shows that have sunk have been CBS.

    I feel like if WB split again back to it's own and took it's shows back with them like SPN and TVD, TO, The Flash - with options for the CBS shows like Reign and former UPN shows like ANTM it still has - to jump ship it to the WB if they want - then WB could make a good run of it again. I was upset at the original WB merger cause my option was, nothing was wrong with the shows on the WB, they had great taste for amazing quality shows, shows that were family based yet creatively written.

    Take Smallville and Supernatural, both ultimately "family centered" shows survived the merger, Smallville went 10 years and gracefully exited stage left.

    Supernatural is the last living WB show, a show that had to battle Dawn Ostroff's "sparkle pop" vision for her CW network, along with Dawn's attempts to kill Supernatural by giving it death days and time slots - and yet it is a proven successful launcher for newborn shows, is about to start it's 10TH SEASON and has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

    Imagine if the WB reformed? Supernatural could be the only show in TV history to jump 3 networks and two mergers. It just goes to show the powerful picks the WB made, we need that back in our lives.

    WB - Watch the frog. :)

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  43. Appreciate your article and the information you have shared about the relationships between the networks. Very interesting!

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  44. Heart of Dixie defended itself? Emily OWen was just horrible!! Even Gossip girl did ok... lf Reign can;t compete on Mondays then it will prove it shouldn't have been renewed

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  45. I think they will let go SPN before going back too The WB it had a great Run but who knows they will let the whole network go and all the shows are going I hope not but you know Hollywood they suck sometimes.

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  46. Some of the WB content could be used to revamp TBS.

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  47. LMAO you're one of like the 5 bitter Mash shippers on Tumblr who always go on about how Reign is terrible now because of Bad Writing, etc. right? Do you realize how you've given yourself away by ostensibly commenting on an article about the CW and CBS/WB and then turning it into a looooong personal grudge rant against Reign because of shipping grievances, it's hilarious. :D I bet you wouldn't think the show was So Terrible With Its Writing if only the shipping had gone your way. Come on. People always think their taste is more objective than it is but we are all influenced by simple preferences LBR.

    Personally I love Reign and I hope it sticks around. It's one of my favorite shows on TV right now. I've never thought that ratings and/or popularity are an objective or absolute measure of quality anyway, but I do hope the show gets enough viewers to get renewed.

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  48. Food for thought, a lot of CBS-produced shows in the CW are distributed by WB. Meanwhile shows like Reign have both CBS TV and WB TV listed as co-producers with the former serving as distributor.


    I think in a way, both get a win-win situation especially if much of their programming are co-productions by both of them.

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