The CW's ratings are slowing, and not even 'The Flash' can stop it

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“Supergirl” made a successful migration to The CW after spending its first season on CBS. It premiered to a 1.1 rating in adults 18-49 on Monday, tying for the best performance on the network this week. That’s the good news.

Now the bad news. Outside of “Supergirl” and a pretty steady return for “Supernatural” on Thursday, The CW has had a somewhat rocky start to the season. The network’s other three superhero shows all debuted lower than their previous seasons, and its two new series have thus far not kept pace with the shows that aired in the same spots last season.

Through two weeks — with not all of its shows on the air yet — The CW’s originals are averaging a 0.73 rating in adults 18-49 (live + same-day), virtually even with the shows in those same timeslots had last year. (“Reign’s” performance on Fridays isn’t included here since the network’s Friday lineup this season hasn’t premiered yet.)

That figure, however, masks some other issues. The network is down in four of the seven timeslots where it’s aired original programming thus far and flat in a fifth. Here are its averages through two weeks of programming last season and this season.

“Supergirl” and its 1.1 in adults 18-49 is a big upgrade over the previous occupant of its 8 p.m. Monday slot, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” — which opened with just a 0.3 last season. “Supernatural” has similarly improved Thursdays at 9 (0.8 vs. 0.45 for “The Originals” last season), but that’s more than offset by the loss from its move away from Wednesday, where “Frequency” has thus far managed only a 0.35.

If you take away the “Supergirl”/”Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” swap, the rest of The CW is down 19 percent thus far. Even flagship show “The Flash” (-14 percent) is down, while “Arrow” (-33 percent) is down more, having failed to regain any audience from its finale last spring to the new season.

The “why” is harder to pinpoint. Most veteran series have returned to lower ratings this fall, and declines for “The Flash,” “Arrow” and “Legends of Tomorrow” fit that pattern. (“Supernatural’s” first episode was off only slightly from last season, 0.8 vs. 0.9).

“Frequency” and fellow rookie “No Tomorrow,” however, have been sore spots. Most new shows this season have drawn ratings at or above their network’s average. “No Tomorrow” and “Frequency” are currently drawing less than half The CW’s average, and ratings typically don’t rise much, if at all, after the first few weeks of a show’s life.

While on-air ratings are down, The CW is also staking out new ground in digital delivery of its shows. The network’s offerings stream only on The CW’s website and app, as a prior deal with Hulu for next-day streaming expired earlier this year and wasn’t renewed. (Hulu said at the time that “The Flash” and “Arrow” were the only CW shows that brought “meaningful traffic” to the site.)

Anecdotally, it appears that a good number of Hulu users have made the switch (reluctantly, in some cases) to the network’s player. The CW gets to keep whatever ad revenue it makes from streaming on its own app (which wasn’t the case at Hulu), so that’s a plus, albeit not necessarily a huge one.

There’s also the question of whether the subpar performances we’re seeing now will actually matter come renewal time. “The Flash” and “Arrow” don’t figure to be going anywhere unless the floor completely drops out, and “Supernatural,” “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Supergirl” all look safe for now as well.

The CW also has a new five-year deal with Netflix that will make full seasons of its shows available to stream eight days after their finales. The network’s previous deal with the streaming giant is often credited with helping keep low-rated critical favorites like “Crazy Ex” and “Jane the Virgin” on the air. Maybe it can do the same for “No Tomorrow” or “Frequency.”

Then again, even The CW has to be concerned when its new shows average a combined 0.25 among adults 18-49 in just their second week on the air, without the near-unanimous critical acclaim of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” The network has renewed all but two of its scripted series in the past two seasons. Based on early returns, it will be tougher to match that record this time out.