The CW’s programming needs for next season suddenly became much less, with network president Mark Pedowitz announcing that the net is picking up all of the series on its current primetime schedule, plus Reign, for a total of 11.
“The CW has become home to some of the most critically-acclaimed shows on broadcast television, with a wide array of fantastic scripted series across the week, ranging from musical comedy, to superhero action, to gritty sci-fi dramas,” said Pedowitz. “As we continue to further our strategy of more year-round original programming, picking up these 11 series for the 2016-2017 season puts us in a great position of having proven, high-quality shows to launch in the fall as well as midseason and summer of 2017.”
Series being ordered for the 2016-17 season include Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Flash, iZombie, Arrow, Supernatural, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The 100, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and the above-mentioned Reign. Premiere dates for each series, which should take place over the course of the year as opposed to all opening in the fall, will be announced at a later time.
That said, The CW also has pilots in contention for next season.
The CW’s parent network, CBS, which owns The CW along with Warner Bros., also expects to renew five of its freshman series, CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves said this week at the Deutsche Bank 2016 Media, Internet & Telecom Conference in Florida.
That includes renewals for Supergirl, Limitless, Life in Pieces and Code Black. A fifth show, Angel From Hell, starring Jane Lynch, was pushed to midseason and pulled from the schedule early in its run, so its return is unlikely. Two other new shows — Rush Hour and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders — have yet to premiere, reported Variety.
CBS has ordered 17 pilots during this upfront season, but Moonves said he didn’t expect the network to pick more than four or five new shows.
Brief Take: With it taking so long for viewers to find series on primetime schedules, and many shows faring well on SVOD and OTT platforms, it makes sense to spend less money on ordering less shows while giving existing shows time to find audiences across platforms.
Read more: Variety
[Image courtesy of The CW]
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