The baby of the broadcast bunch is shedding its teenage girl image and opting for fare that appeals to a broader audience.
The CW told advertisers at its annual Upfront presentation in New York on Thursday that “As you might have noticed, it’s a very different CW,” as President Mark Pedowitz put it.
“We just finished our most-watched season in three years, and our schedule is as strong as it has ever been, with more vibrant and more diverse programming. Next season, with super-hero action shows like “Arrow” and “The Flash,” epic fantasies like “The Vampire Diaries” and “Reign,” the apocalyptic worlds of “The Messengers” and “The 100,” and the outrageous comedy of “Jane the Virgin” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” we will build and expand our audience even more, and keep our momentum going with the kind of high-octane, high-impact entertainment that our viewers love,” he added.
The network will now have two DC Comics-based series on the air, along with a midseason entry focused on zombies.
And they’re splitting the two comic-based series during the week. “The Flash” will air Tuesdays, while “Arrow” keeps its Wednesday slot.
In a move that raised a few eyebrows, the network chose to keep under-performer “Beauty and the Beast,” while axing “The Tomorrow People.”
“We have situations where shows such as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ have great upside potential for our owners, so we look at these things as a way to get them out there,” Pedowtiz told the press ahead of the presentation.
And while the network passed on “Supernatural: Bloodlines,” which had a backdoor pilot earlier this season, the show will probably still get a spinoff.
“We had six really good pilots this year. We felt that ‘Supernatural’ just didn’t quite get there, though we do know that people would come to it based on what we saw that night,” Pedowitz said before the presentation. “I’ve already spoken to the creator and the studio. They know that we want to develop once more next season, a ‘Supernatural’ spinoff. What it is and what it isn’t yet is still in the air.”
Read More: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
THE CW’s 2014-2015 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE ORIGINALS (New Night)
9:00-10:00 PM JANE THE VIRGIN (New Series)
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE FLASH (New Series)
9:00-10:00 PM SUPERNATURAL
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM ARROW
9:00-10:00 PM THE 100
THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
9:00-10:00 PM REIGN
FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?
8:30-9:00 PM WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (Encore Episode)
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
Tags: