For The CW, It's Do or Die
Right now, The CW launched its 3rd season with the premieres of both Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. It doesn't matter. Wednesday, veteran hit America's Next Top Model will kick off its 11th cycle. It doesn't matter. And later this month, Smallville and Supernatural will return to fortify the Thursday lineup. It doesn't matter. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday really don't matter.
Which brings us to Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008. President of CW entertainment Dawn Ostroff has waited for this day. She has bided her time long enough. This, for her, muct be the day she stares her critics in the eyes and says, well, you know. Ostroff and her fellow CW execs have kept 90210 bundled up like a high level CIA document. She's been criticized time and time again for her mismanagement of the network. The idea that two small networks could combine and form one bigger, more prosperous network seemed like an appealing one. The results, to this point, have been horrible. She has been criticized for her treatment of shows that don't fit the CW's target demo, such as Reba and 7th Heaven. She has been criticized for running America's Next Top Model over and over and over again. She has been criticized for not being able to develop anything that anybody would be somewhat remotely interested in watching. Some might even criticize her for waking up in the morning and getting out of bed to run the network.
The CW has never been at a lower point than they are now. They were completely off everyone's radar in the summer, and their primetime lineup this fall consists of only 4 nights of competitive - by CW standards - programming. Make no mistake about it, something has to make this sinking ship float. Everything else on the ship is merely a passenger, a blip on the radar screen. Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, and whatever else the network trots out there is a blip. I don't say that to be offensive. I've seen all of those shows and they aren't bad by any means. But make no mistake, in terms of The CW surviving and growing, they are borderline irrelevant. Every fan of The CW should watch 90210. Every fan of The CW should pray that it is a success. The fate of the sinking CW ship and Captain Dawn lies in that one famous zip code.
Disclaimer: This entry is an opinion reflective only of my opinion. It does not reflect the opinions of other contributors to this blog.
Which brings us to Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008. President of CW entertainment Dawn Ostroff has waited for this day. She has bided her time long enough. This, for her, muct be the day she stares her critics in the eyes and says, well, you know. Ostroff and her fellow CW execs have kept 90210 bundled up like a high level CIA document. She's been criticized time and time again for her mismanagement of the network. The idea that two small networks could combine and form one bigger, more prosperous network seemed like an appealing one. The results, to this point, have been horrible. She has been criticized for her treatment of shows that don't fit the CW's target demo, such as Reba and 7th Heaven. She has been criticized for running America's Next Top Model over and over and over again. She has been criticized for not being able to develop anything that anybody would be somewhat remotely interested in watching. Some might even criticize her for waking up in the morning and getting out of bed to run the network.
The CW has never been at a lower point than they are now. They were completely off everyone's radar in the summer, and their primetime lineup this fall consists of only 4 nights of competitive - by CW standards - programming. Make no mistake about it, something has to make this sinking ship float. Everything else on the ship is merely a passenger, a blip on the radar screen. Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville, Supernatural, Reaper, and whatever else the network trots out there is a blip. I don't say that to be offensive. I've seen all of those shows and they aren't bad by any means. But make no mistake, in terms of The CW surviving and growing, they are borderline irrelevant. Every fan of The CW should watch 90210. Every fan of The CW should pray that it is a success. The fate of the sinking CW ship and Captain Dawn lies in that one famous zip code.
Disclaimer: This entry is an opinion reflective only of my opinion. It does not reflect the opinions of other contributors to this blog.
Great Article!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you. The CW will live or die on 90210. It needs a sereis that does very well, even by the Big 4 standards. ^ million would be good, but 7-8 million would be great.
The CW needs to start moving closer to NBC (#4) instead of fighting off MyTV, year after year.
The start was just ok, 18-49 was strong but I was expecting closer to 6 million than 5. The most redeeming thing to take from the ratings is that there was no substantial viewer tuneout during the 2 hours. If it maintains something close to this average throughout the season The CW will be pleased...
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