''CW Now'' is a news program/news magazine series which premiered on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

on September 23, 2007. It was a

brand extension Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this ...

of the syndicated

Telepictures Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television S ...

news magazine ''

Extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

'', and featured anchors and correspondents from that show, including co-hosts

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on ''Saved by the Bell'', ''Sa ...

and

Tanika Ray Tanika Ray is an American entertainment reporter. She was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Los Angeles, California. Tanika Ray is a pop culture & lifestyle specialist with a holistic view of the cross-sections of culture. Her mission is ...

. The program was devoted to topics of interest to young adults (ages 18–29, the audience targeted by the network), including entertainment news and technology topics, sometimes drawn from ''Extra'' itself, setting up the latter to inexplicably compete with its own weekend edition.

Show description and advertising concept

During The CW's first upfront presentation, network executive

Dawn Ostroff Dawn Ostroff is an American businesswoman. She is the chief content officer and advertising business officer of Spotify, and the former president of entertainment of The CW and former president of Condé Nast Entertainment. Early life and educ ...

announced to advertisers that they would pursue a then-new advertising strategy for the series (resembling the current day concept of

native advertising Native advertising, also called sponsored content, is a type of advertising that matches the form and function of the platform upon which it appears. In many cases it functions like an advertorial, and manifests as a video, article or editorial. ...

combined with an

advertorial An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial." Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946. In printed publications, t ...

), which the network called "CWickies" (pronounced quickies). Under the concept, an advertiser's content would be blended into the program rather than the show taking traditional commercial breaks, allowing the show to make the incorrect claim that it would be "commercial-free" in the traditional sense. Only

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

would truly take advantage of the format with their products blended into every episode of ''CW Now'', and comedian

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis ...

mocked the concept in a "Back in Black" monologue on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

''s September 26, 2007 episode. The "CWickies" concept would also be tried for the commercial breaks between ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...

'' and ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

'' on Tuesday evenings in a more traditional ad format (this time tying in with

American Eagle Outfitters American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., also known as American Eagle, is an American lifestyle, clothing, and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverma ...

aerie Aerie (a variant of eyrie) is the bird nest of an eagle, falcon, hawk, or other bird of prey. Aerie may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Aerie (''Baldur's Gate''), a character in ''Baldur's Gate II'' * Aerie Cl ...

underwear brand), where it also failed to attract interest due to the target audience of each series finding the conversations between actors in "CWickies" ads about aerie and the plot points in those two series unnatural and stilted. The show was produced by

and Warner Horizon Television.

Reception

On the January 20, 2008 episode, ''CW Now'' received a 0.2/0 in the 18–49 demo, earning what was then a rare broadcast network "scratch"

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

where too few ratings participants were watching to allow any tabulation, with the following repeat of ''

Aliens in America ''Aliens in America'' is an American teen sitcom created by David Guarascio and Moses Port that aired on The CW for one season from October 1, 2007, to May 18, 2008. Guarascio and Port also served as executive producers of the show alongside Tim ...

'' attaining the lowest-possible 0.1/0. Against

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

on February 3, 2008, the show indeed hit that same number with a 0.1/0 in the 18–49 demo, a 0.3/0 in the households, and only 349,000 viewers.

Cancellation

On February 8, 2008,

announced that ''CW Now'' would be going on hiatus, though only five days later, it was announced that the February 24, 2008 episode would be the series finale. The show was replaced with encores of ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

''.Breaking News - The CW Adds "Top Model" Encore, Benches "Now"
''The Futon Critic'', February 8, 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cw Now 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s American television news shows English-language television shows Television series by Warner Horizon Television The CW original programming