CW gives up on Sundays - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 05-05-2009, 06:27 PM

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

CW will be out of the Sunday programming business entirely as of next season.

The web confirmed late Monday it is in advanced talks with its affils to give up five hours of network time, 5-10 p.m., on Sunday, which has long been a weak spot for CW and its WB Network predecessor. CW said it decided to make the move in order to focus all of its programming resources on its Monday-Friday slate.

CW said backing out of Sunday entirely would be good for the network as well as for its affils. The low Sunday numbers drag down the net's weekly and season-long ratings averages, while affils are stuck with being off the primetime radar on the night and saddled with a weak lead-in to late newscasts.

Although local TV advertising sales have been hard hit by the economic downturn, stations would still rather have more control over the Sunday program lineup and the ability to keep more of the advertising time rather than be saddled with low-rated network fare.

It's understood that most CW affils are in the process of cutting deals for an expansive movie package from MGM on a barter advertising basis. That means stations pay no money upfront and will be able to hang onto as much as six to eight minutes of the 14-15 minutes of ad time in each hour, compared with three minutes of time in the network-supplied movie. And the titles in the package for the upcoming season are said to be a higher caliber of pics than the titles CW has been supplying affils.

In a statement, CW said the Sunday shuffle "would provide a new revenue opportunity for the stations, while at the same time expand upon our successful weekday strategy from this year, which resulted in ratings growth among our target audience."

Doug Gealy, prexy and chief operating officer of Acme Television, which owns five CW affils, said the decision to give the time back to the stations was the best move the CW could make under the circumstances.

"It's an opportunity for stations to counterprogram what the networks are doing with local programming, movies and off-network and in some places there might be opportunities for local sports," Gealy said. "If (CW) strengthens themselves Monday through Friday we'll all be better off."

Gealy also noted that the sudden availability of primetime real estate on CW affils will be a boon to the syndication biz. "Syndicators are going to be lining up to fill those time periods," he said.

CW took a half-step toward exiting the Sunday scene this season when it cut a deal that called for Media Rights Capital to provide all the programming for the 7-10 p.m. primetime block and help with the ad sales. But that deal proved disastrous when the first of the modestly budgeted shows that MRC delivered -- small-town drama "Easy Money" and fantasy dramedy "Valentine" --drew woefully low ratings despite decent reviews for "Easy Money," which starred Laurie Metcalf and Judge Reinhold.

By late November, CW scrapped the MRC arrangement in favor of a hastily put together movie package deal with MGM, using mostly older and lesser-known titles that the Lion had available on short notice. Not surprisingly, those titles haven't done much better than the MRC shows on a national basis for CW. Last week, for example, CW's 8-10 p.m. airing of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" drew a mere 1.2 million viewers and .3 rating/1 share in the adults 18-49 demo.

CW also inherited from its WB Network predecessor the 5-7 p.m. block that was carved out in 2002 for network reruns, as a way to help the WB amortize its programming costs. In recent years, those hours have been filled with a hodgepodge of CW fare and programs from the vaults of the net's parent companies, CBS Corp. and Warner Bros.

Scoobiedoo30 · 05-05-2009, 06:35 PM

so does that mean The Local Station's WNOL-CW38 will air Local Programming from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm T Time.

bencasey · 05-06-2009, 12:06 AM

Now if we can just get them to give up on the crap they show on the other five nights as well.

Mr. Television · 05-06-2009, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bencasey

Now if we can just get them to give up on the crap they show on the other five nights as well.

lol

Brent88 · 05-06-2009, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bencasey

Now if we can just get them to give up on the crap they show on the other five nights as well.

It would make more sense to give up the dying Friday Night but this is The CW which never makes sense.

With them dropping Sunday and only having 10 hours a week they BETTER not have repeats. They have 2 repeats right now, 90210 on Wednesdays(which is already way too weak in originals and is a complete waste of the Model lead-in) and Model on Fridays.

Mr. Television · 05-06-2009, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent88

It would make more sense to give up the dying Friday Night but this is The CW which never makes sense.

With them dropping Sunday and only having 10 hours a week they BETTER not have repeats. They have 2 repeats right now, 90210 on Wednesdays(which is already way too weak in originals and is a complete waste of the Model lead-in) and Model on Fridays.

The CW will be dead in a couple of years. I'd bet on it.

comedyfreak · 05-06-2009, 04:16 AM

One step closer to becoming extinct.

JulieSomoski · 05-06-2009, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clint Eastwood Fan

The CW will be dead in a couple of years. I'd bet on it.

A couple years? I given them one more year to get their act together. If they can't do it, then that'll be the end.

bencasey · 05-06-2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clint Eastwood Fan

The CW will be dead in a couple of years. I'd bet on it.

One can only hope. Then NBC can at least go back to being 4th instead of 5th!

TVFactFan · 05-06-2009, 09:49 PM

So when will the great DRAMEDY "The Game" be on??

LOL

catlover79 · 05-06-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bencasey

Now if we can just get them to give up on the crap they show on the other five nights as well.

Chain Gang Member · 05-07-2009, 11:13 AM

Reaper-Gone this year(ran out of ideas for episods)
One Tree Hill-Gone this year(two main characters are leaving the show so why not just let it go with a good finale)
Gossip Girl-I give it a year or two
Smallville-Gone next year(End should be Lois & Clark get together and he joins Justice League)
90210-Give a year or two

Can't predict other shows since I don't watch the rest

05-05-2009, 06:27 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,449	CW gives up on Sundays http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1 CW will be out of the Sunday programming business entirely as of next season. The web confirmed late Monday it is in advanced talks with its affils to give up five hours of network time, 5-10 p.m., on Sunday, which has long been a weak spot for CW and its WB Network predecessor. CW said it decided to make the move in order to focus all of its programming resources on its Monday-Friday slate. CW said backing out of Sunday entirely would be good for the network as well as for its affils. The low Sunday numbers drag down the net's weekly and season-long ratings averages, while affils are stuck with being off the primetime radar on the night and saddled with a weak lead-in to late newscasts. Although local TV advertising sales have been hard hit by the economic downturn, stations would still rather have more control over the Sunday program lineup and the ability to keep more of the advertising time rather than be saddled with low-rated network fare. It's understood that most CW affils are in the process of cutting deals for an expansive movie package from MGM on a barter advertising basis. That means stations pay no money upfront and will be able to hang onto as much as six to eight minutes of the 14-15 minutes of ad time in each hour, compared with three minutes of time in the network-supplied movie. And the titles in the package for the upcoming season are said to be a higher caliber of pics than the titles CW has been supplying affils. In a statement, CW said the Sunday shuffle "would provide a new revenue opportunity for the stations, while at the same time expand upon our successful weekday strategy from this year, which resulted in ratings growth among our target audience." Doug Gealy, prexy and chief operating officer of Acme Television, which owns five CW affils, said the decision to give the time back to the stations was the best move the CW could make under the circumstances. "It's an opportunity for stations to counterprogram what the networks are doing with local programming, movies and off-network and in some places there might be opportunities for local sports," Gealy said. "If (CW) strengthens themselves Monday through Friday we'll all be better off." Gealy also noted that the sudden availability of primetime real estate on CW affils will be a boon to the syndication biz. "Syndicators are going to be lining up to fill those time periods," he said. CW took a half-step toward exiting the Sunday scene this season when it cut a deal that called for Media Rights Capital to provide all the programming for the 7-10 p.m. primetime block and help with the ad sales. But that deal proved disastrous when the first of the modestly budgeted shows that MRC delivered -- small-town drama "Easy Money" and fantasy dramedy "Valentine" --drew woefully low ratings despite decent reviews for "Easy Money," which starred Laurie Metcalf and Judge Reinhold. By late November, CW scrapped the MRC arrangement in favor of a hastily put together movie package deal with MGM, using mostly older and lesser-known titles that the Lion had available on short notice. Not surprisingly, those titles haven't done much better than the MRC shows on a national basis for CW. Last week, for example, CW's 8-10 p.m. airing of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" drew a mere 1.2 million viewers and .3 rating/1 share in the adults 18-49 demo. CW also inherited from its WB Network predecessor the 5-7 p.m. block that was carved out in 2002 for network reruns, as a way to help the WB amortize its programming costs. In recent years, those hours have been filled with a hodgepodge of CW fare and programs from the vaults of the net's parent companies, CBS Corp. and Warner Bros.

05-05-2009, 06:35 PM	#2
Scoobiedoo30 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Jun 27, 2002 Location: KENNER, LOUISIANA Posts: 27,654	so does that mean The Local Station's WNOL-CW38 will air Local Programming from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm T Time.
	__________________ Who Dat

05-06-2009, 04:16 AM	#7
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,060	One step closer to becoming extinct.
	__________________ www.facebook.com/comedyfreak

05-07-2009, 11:13 AM	#12
Chain Gang Member 1st Female Triple Crown Champ Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Watching Three's Company & Wrestling Posts: 8,926	My Prediction Reaper-Gone this year(ran out of ideas for episods) One Tree Hill-Gone this year(two main characters are leaving the show so why not just let it go with a good finale) Gossip Girl-I give it a year or two Smallville-Gone next year(End should be Lois & Clark get together and he joins Justice League) 90210-Give a year or two Can't predict other shows since I don't watch the rest
	__________________ Mickie is the best woman to step inside the ring http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOTh3hVT0HU

05-06-2009, 12:06 AM	#3
bencasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: Long Beach Posts: 1,692	Now if we can just get them to give up on the crap they show on the other five nights as well.

05-06-2009, 09:49 PM	#10
TVFactFan Member Forum Junkie Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 99,070	So when will the great DRAMEDY "The Game" be on?? LOL