The CW Television Network is keeping its focus on Millennials for its fall TV launches, using genre themes that have worked for the network in the past, such as the dystopian and paranormal with “The 100” and “The Tomorrow People,” the supernatural with “Star-Crossed” and “The Originals,” and historical romance with “Reign.”
To get the attention of its Millennial audience, the network used music and style to push its fall premieres, while highlighting its different twists on the standard TV drama.
Below, Brief provides a rundown of The CW’s plans for continuing its love story with all things supernatural, sci-fi and serialized.
The CW:
The CW is the youngest-skewing network of the broadcast bunch, and the network aims to keep it that way with new shows for targeting its preferred demographic. The CW’s most popular shows in recent years have been about beautiful people living near the beach, beautiful people in love with beasts, beautiful people living in the big city and beautiful people fighting vampires or demons.
To continue its run at the paranormal and the romantic, The CW launches three new series this fall and two more come midseason, that further walk the net’s brand line.
“Reign,” possibly The CW’s most talked-about premiere, follows Mary Queen of Scots in a part-historical, part-romantic look into her teenage years with some sabotage and mystery thrown in. While shows like “Arrow” are aimed at a younger male audience, “Reign” focuses on females. “Reign” fits the market well as a sort of “Tudors” packaged for The CW’s younger viewers, and this period piece also provided a perfect take on style as well.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, some websites aimed at younger females are taking part in a “Royal Fakeover” that temporarily transforms the site into a 16th century scroll. Beauty and style bloggers also have re-created hairstyles from the show, while fashion publications have been focusing on the drama’s elaborate costumes.
“The Originals,” a spinoff of the successful CW franchise “The Vampire Diaries,” centers on the story of the original vampire-werewolf, Klaus, and his dysfunctional family, in New Orleans. This supernatural drama is all about the balance of power in the supernatural world, with a focus on vampire lore. Partnering with the Red Cross, The CW helped set up branded blood drives. Its Twitter and other social media accounts also featured posts using themes of blood and family.
The CW also tied the show’s family theme to its French Quarter setting as “The Originals” Twitter account began introducing its cast of family and rivals through original Tarot-like cards:
In “The Tomorrow People,” The CW capitalizes on the rise of paranormal and dystopian themes in teen fiction (along with midseason premieres “The 100” and “Star-Crossed”), telling a story about high-schooler who finds out he is part of a group called the Tomorrow People – a genetically advanced generation of X-Men-like mutants with paranormal abilities.
With all of these themes in one, The CW is able to tap into the popularity of the types of film and pop culture that has proven popular with teenagers and young-adult audiences. The network teamed with Spotify for the Music of Tomorrow, a branded piece that recommends new music based on users’ preferences. It also partnered with Microsoft Xbox to promote “The Tomorrow People” with a Telekinesis game.
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