CW Network

The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) 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 Global and Warner Bros. Discovery ( CBS Entertainment Group and Warner Bros. Television's respective parent companies) each retaining a 12.5% ownership stake.

The CW debuted on September 18, 2006 as the successor to UPN and the WB, which had respectively shut down on September 15 and 17 of that year. The CW's 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''. The network's programming lineup is intended to appeal mainly to viewers between the ages of 18 and 34, although from 2008 to 2011 the network shifted its programming to appeal to women in that demographic. As of August 2017, the network's audience was evenly split between men and women.

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 (whose broadcasts of CW shows are subject to simultaneous substitution laws imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, if a Canadian network holds the broadcast rights); 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 secondary flagship KTLA.

Additionally, the network is available in northern Mexico through affiliates located near the Mexico–U.S. border (such as KFMB-DT2—San Diego/Tijuana, KECY-DT3 in El Centro, California, KVIA-DT2 in El Paso, and KCWT-CD with simulcast network KMBH-LD2 in McAllen/Brownsville, Texas) 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.

In Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and the Caribbean, many subscription providers carry either select U.S.-based The CW-affiliated stations or the main network feed from The CW O&Os WPIX in New York City, WDCW in Washington, D.C., WPHL-TV in Philadelphia, KTLA in Los Angeles, KRON-TV in San Francisco, KIAH in Houston, KDAF in Dallas, KPLR-TV in St. Louis, KWGN-TV in Denver, WBNX-TV in Cleveland or WGN-TV in Chicago.

History

1993–2006: Predecessors and formation

In April 1993, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 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 (such as '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', '' The Sentinel,'' '' 7th Heaven'', ''Dawson's Creek'', '' Charmed'', ''Smallville'', '' Everwood'', '' Gilmore Girls'', '' Reba'', '' The Steve Harvey Show'', and ''America's Next Top Model'').

Although their simultaneous starts and competition for affiliate stations caused the two networks to appear as rivals, by 1999, they had differing strategies: The WB targeted young women, and UPN 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 ( ABC, CBS, and NBC). 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 known as The CW Television Network. 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. Warners and CBS expected to produce inexpensive shows for the network, which they could sell outside the US. 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 ('' 7th Heaven'', '' Beauty and the Geek'', '' Gilmore Girls'', '' One Tree Hill'', '' Reba'', ''Smallville'' and ''Supernatural'') and six held over from UPN (''America's Next Top Model'', ''Veronica Mars'', ''Everybody Hates Chris'', '' Girlfriends'', '' All of Us'' and '' WWE SmackDown!''). 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 hours for the new network to fill. (The WB carried 30 hours of programming each week because it had a children's program block and a daytime lineup that UPN did not offer; UPN was primarily a prime time-only network with 10 weekly hours of network programming at the time of the network's shutdown.)

2006–2011: Launch and early struggles

Like both 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''.TV Guide