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The CW May Face Makegood Situation

Some media buyers are worried that the CW has put itself in a fourth-quarter makegood situation with their clients. The network, six weeks into the fall season, is seeing double-digit decreases for many of its shows.

The network is showing cumulative ratings gains in its 18-34 demographic of 6 percent over The WB and 12 percent over UPN last season. However, Mediaweek points out, that is a skewed picture of the health of the network, as The CW is airing only the “best of the best” from the two defunct nets, which also had several shows with low ratings.

In the meantime, key returning shows, such as 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls and Smallville are down by big percentages (33 percent, 22 percent, and 22 percent respectively).

Perhaps more disturbing to some, the so-called ethnic sitcom block of All of Us, Everybody Hates Chris and Girlfriends, ratings are down 35 percent, 54 percent and 32 percent respectively. The CW airs one of the few blocks of network programming targeted toward African American audiences.

Media buyers believe the problems are the network’s own fault, as during the upfront it offered ratings guarantees of 15 to 25 percent higher that what those shows got last season.

Dawn Ostroff, CW entertainment president, said that with only six weeks of the new season under its belt, it is too early to make concrete judgments. She added that The CW plans to run a second edition of America’s Next Top Model, to bring back the WB’s Beauty and the Geek and sitcom Reba, and add another drama or two.