Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
tca 2018
-
'Outlaw King': Who Is Florence Pugh, aka Robert the Bruce’s Awesome Wife?
-
'The Kids Are Alright' Creator on Michael Cudlitz's Transition from 'Walking Dead' to Family Sitcom
-
Why 'Salt Fat Acid Heat' Host Samin Nosrat Thinks You Need to Use More Salt
-
'Charmed's Cast and Creators Are Paying Homage to the Original While Trying to Build Something New
The CW may love Netflix as much as you do. At the network’s day at the Television Critics Association, President Mark Pedowitz addressed how the network’s deal with Netflix has effected its fall premieres as well as what the network’s fall plans are for the ambitious Arrowverse.
The CW’s deal with Netflix is one of the most interesting streaming deals currently on television. While new seasons of CW originals are on the air, The CW has the exclusive rights to stream these shows on its platforms. But eight days after a new season concludes, the whole season goes to Netflix.
“We saw this last year with Riverdale. There was a 147 percent increase in terms of new season premiere,” Pedowitz said.
“We’re hoping to see the same for Black Lightening. In prior years we’ve seen the same for Supernatural. So there is an effect coming back to the fall for our shows in terms of how people watch them,” he said.
When asked if The CW has ever considered creating a standalone subscription-based streaming service like CBS All Access or Netflix, Pedowitz noted that it’s been considered but the network doesn’t plan on moving forward with that idea. At the moment, The CW prefers to keep its streaming presence free but with ads. “We do not have enough girth to offer the consumer something of economic value,” the president said.
Pedowitz also revealed some news about this year’s Arrowverse event. The previously announced Batwoman character will be introduced mid season this year though the series isn’t set to premiere until 2019. As for whether or not Batman will make an appearance, it’s complicated. Because the character has been mentioned before in this universe, he technically exists in the Arrowverse. But that doesn’t mean Batwoman is going to be the Batman corner. “There are no plans at this point in time to put Batman in it,” he said.
As for when this year’s big Arrowverse crossover event will be, look out for The Flash‘s 100 episode. “I believe the crossover event is the 100th episode,” Pedowitz said.
There are currently no plans to end any of The CW’s five DC shows, which fits in with The CW’s aggressive growth plans. Though Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Jane the Virgin, and iZombie are all coming to an end this year, The CW currently has 17 original series, the largest number of original series its ever had. The network’s original series have even increased by 20 percent, largely because of The CW’s expansion to Sunday nights.
That’s one of the biggest stories from The CW’s executive session. This year will mark the first time the network has put programming on television’s biggest day. On Sunday, October 14 the network will be premiering Supergirl Season 4 at 8 p.m. followed by the premiere of the Charmed reboot at 9 p.m. That will put the network in competition with Sunday Night Football, Fox’s animation block, and whatever the cable networks have planned for Sundays.
The remainder of the fall TV season will be exceptionally DC heavy. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, The Flash, and Black Lightning will dominate Mondays and Tuesdays with superhero goodness. This fall will also see the final season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as well as the premiere of the football-focused high school drama All American and The Vampire Diaries spinoff series Legacies. No matter what’s playing in The CW’s future, you can be rest assured it will be delightfully insane, dramatic, and oh-so-addicting to watch.
