CW Proves Superheroic in Adapting to TV Tastes

When the CW network went on the air 10 years ago this month, there was no such thing as streaming video services such as Hulu or Amazon Prime. Netflix still operated with DVD mailers. Facebook was in its early stages, and Twitter was six months old. Over the last 10 years, plenty of changes have roiled the industry and forced CW to adapt and evolve. But perhaps unexpectedly, the emergence of social media and digital entertainment have helped – not hurt – the network. In fact, Rick Haskins, executive vice president of marketing and digital for the Burbank network, said today streaming and social media are important to the network’s strategy. “Both of those things have brought strength to the CW brand and its livelihood,” Haskins said. Created from the ashes of two other mini-networks, the WB and UPN, the network is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment in Burbank and CBS Corp. Warner Bros. had been majority owner of the WB while CBS controlled UPN prior to announcing in January 2006 that those networks would be replaced by one, the CW. The name comes from the first letters of CBS and Warner. When first launched, the network had the distinct charge of going for a narrow demographic of women ages 18 years to 34 years old, Haskins said. In that respect, The CW was more like a cable channel than a broadcast network, he added. Today, the CW is one of the most even of the broadcasters, with 51 percent of the viewership female and 49 percent male. The age demographic has also gone up with some shows now bringing in viewers 18 to 49 years old. “We now have the bench strength to provide entertainment for a larger variety of people and different target audiences,” Haskins said. The network airs 10 hours of weekly programming during primetime, a Saturday morning slot of children’s educational shows and a one-hour daytime strip over 200 affiliates nationwide with a reach into 96 percent of U.S. households. In terms of ratings, the network trails the big four: ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. On Labor Day, for instance, the CW attracted 1.2 million viewers for the 8 p.m. showing of “Supergirl,” one of its more popular shows. In the same time slot, CBS had more than 5 million for the half-hour sitcom, “The Big Bang Theory.” Laura Martin, senior analyst of the entertainment and internet markets at brokerage Needham & Co. in New York, said the CW will likely always remain the fifth network. Overcoming even the fourth, which is Fox, would be tough, she added. However, the CW has a great niche with a younger demographic than the other networks, but that niche limits the size of the target market, Martin said. “I would guess the distribution footprint is not as robust as the other four,” she added. Comic book success Kevin Levy, the head of program planning for the network, said that when the CW started it was known for teenage soap operas that appealed to young female viewers. While that element can still be found within some shows, it is no longer the dominant characteristic of the network’s programming, he added. The breadth of programming has expanded to include action shows based on superheroes such as “Arrow” and “The Flash” and one-hour comedies like “Jane the Virgin” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” Early legacy shows came from the WB and UPN, such as “Smallville,” “One Tree Hill” and “America’s Next Top Model.” The fantasy horror series “Supernatural,” now in its 11th season, is the only legacy show remaining. To Haskins, the success of the shows based on DC Comics superheroes has been unexpected. The first wave of superhero program was represented by “Smallville,” which was part of the original lineup when the network started. Focusing on a young Clark Kent/Superman, the show lasted 10 seasons between the WB and the CW. The second wave of superhero shows started with “Arrow” in 2012 followed by “The Flash” two years later. A spinoff from those shows, “Legends of Tomorrow” premiered in January. “That is the biggest surprise – that our audience cannot get enough of superheroes – and it is a pleasant surprise,” Haskins said. The fourth superhero show, “Supergirl” came to the CW after airing one season on CBS. The appeal of these shows is that they are feature quality programs that are delivered every week, Levy said. The characters are grounded but their adventures are fantastic, and the special effects are as good as anything on television, he added. “For people who are fans of comic books and super heroes or sci-fi or fantasy entertainment, (those shows) are paying off,” Levy said. Digital distribution From Levy’s perspective, the biggest surprise is the changed structure of the television industry. The CW grew up alongside technological advances that have transformed the audience from appointment viewing – sitting down to watch a TV show at a specific time – to one where programing can be viewed anytime, anywhere. “It is a different world we live in now and it has been incredible to be a part of that throughout the years,” Levy said. The CW makes its programming available on a delayed basis over its website and smartphone apps. It is available on demand through the CW On Demand and licensing deals with Netflix. Later this month, the network’s shows will be available on all over-the-top streaming platforms, including Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire TV. Network research shows that the viewers on digital skew young. The average age of a viewer of linear TV is 42 years old while the average age of on digital is 23 years old. “They are watching the exact same programs, just different platforms,” Haskins said. As television networks began to add digital distribution to their models, there was no idea just how big that market was going to be. When the CW made its deal with Hulu in 2011 for programs to be available the day after they aired on the network, there were observers who believed viewers would abandon watching on regular TVs, Haskins said. In fact, what happened was just the opposite, he continued. “The lesson there, was, the larger the footprint, and the more places where people could watch the shows on a digital platform, the bigger the CW footprint became,” Haskins added. The deal between Hulu and the network expired at the start of this season. A new multi-year agreement announced in July with Netflix covers episodes aired last season, and will make shows from the current season available eight days after their season finales. Martin, the analyst with Needham, said the network’s digital strategy was smart. It was also indicative of a long-term plan to keep its content in-house on its own website longer. Millennial lessons As two of the longest employees at the network, Haskins and Levy have had the opportunity to learn a lot of lessons. One of the biggest, Haskins said, is in dealing with the millennial generation. As much as the network would like to have them watch a certain program at a set time on a set day of the week, they are not going to do it, Haskins said. So, rather than fight these young viewers, the CW gives them what they want through online, video on demand and mobile device distribution. “I think by doing that we have built an audience who really likes the CW and likes the shows, and does think we understand them and meet their needs better than most other networks,” Haskins said. For Levy the lesson when it comes to programming is that the audience will tell you what is working. A network cannot bully an audience into watching a show no matter how much it tries to promote it. It is nearly impossible to forecast what will work on television, Levy said. Certainly the CW has had its share of misses. The takeaway is to remain humble during the whole process, he added. “There is a thing that is unpredictable in TV and that lesson persists,” Levy said.