When The CW put out orders for nine new pilots, many wondered how any of them could fit into a schedule that would likely also consist of popular returning favorites. That question was answered yesterday when it was announced that The CW was expanding its original programming to Sundays.
Beginning next season, Mark Pedowitz’s younger-skewing broadcast network will expand originals to six nights a week when it launches scripted (or unscripted) fare on Sundays. The new schedule will launch in October when The CW unveils its 2018-19 lineup.
The CW last programmed on Sundays from 7-10 p.m. when it first formed as a joint venture between CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television in 2006. The Sunday programming ran until 2009, when it reverted to affiliate programming in the fall of that year. (Los Angeles affiliate KTLA, for example, currently airs repeats of The Goldbergs and Two and a Half Men on the night.) CW exec vp network distribution Chris Brooks and senior vp and general counsel Ann Miyagi worked closely with key affiliate partners to secure clearances across the country, including Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Broadcast, CBS Television Stations and Nexstar Media Group.
For Pedowitz, who recently inked a contract extension, the decision to expand comes as the network is brimming with scripted and unscripted originals. Since he took the helm in 2011, the network has upped its midseason offerings to five scripted shows, compared with only two in the exec’s first year. Additionally, Pedowitz has beefed up The CW’s summer schedule with three or four unscripted shows as he pushes the network to a more competitive year-round slate of originals.
With the extra night, The CW’s programming slate will grow from 10 to 12 hours starting in the fall as the network looks to build upon recent viewership gains. Season-to-date, The CW is up 3 percent in total viewers (though it’s flat year-over-year among adults 18-34 and 18-49) with seven days of delayed viewing. That doesn’t count digital viewership, where the network is particularly strong. The expansion arrives as The CW has yet to renew any of its 15 original shows but most of them are likely to return, especially with the extra night in play.
Here is what Pedowitz had to say about the expansion:
“By expanding to six nights, The CW is now able to give our fans even more of the series they’re so passionate about. Broadcasting remains the foundation of our multiplatform approach to bringing our programming to viewers. Over the past seven years, The CW has added more than 80 hours of original scripted programming to its schedule — now that number can continue to climb, as we grow our broadcast lineup, and continue to add content on every platform. I’d like to thank Chris and Ann for being instrumental in making this happen, and to thank all of our station groups for being such terrific partners as we add Sundays to our primetime schedule this fall on all our affiliates across the country.”
This season, Pedowitz continued to stick with nearly all of The CW’s scripted originals, handing out abbreviated episode counts to shows including Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Legends of Tomorrow, The 100, The Originals and iZombie, among others.
