When Warner Bros. and CBS announced the merger of the WB and UPN on the morning of Jan. 24, 2006, the industry was shocked. There had been no rumblings that it might happen, as the two sides behind the deal somehow managed to keep it a secret. Those two networks had been competitors for 10 years, going after the same audience and had really been at each other’s throat.
People were astonished!” Now, the CW has hit its 20th anniversary — living twice as long as its predecessors. And although the network has evolved under its new Nexstar ownership, for most of those first two decades the CW was known as the home for young adult-oriented series, including “Supernatural,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “One Tree Hill,” “Riverdale,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “All American” — which just wrapped as the final drama from that two-decade era. That first year was difficult, Ostroff recalls, as no one understood what “CW” meant (it was the first initials of CBS and Warner Bros., but everyone thought it was “Country/Western,” she recalls).
It was a real challenge,” she says. That included audience confusion, as viewers weren’t sure where to find their favorite WB and UPN shows anymore. In some markets, the WB affiliate became the CW, and in other cities, it was the local UPN station that made the transition.
The series made waves starting with its marketing campaign, which promoted the show with the phrase “OMFG” on billboards and in TV spots. Ostroff left in 2011, and Mark Pedowitz took over as the CW president. He familiarized himself with the network’s series by watching every episode, reading every script and then flying across North America to visit producers and talent on sets and over dinners.
It created a connection.” A year after Pedowitz joined, the CW launched “Arrow” — which would soon turn into a sprawling franchise with “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Black Lightning” and “Batwoman,” all from Berlanti and Warner Bros. Neither show were ratings hits, but Pedowitz remembers being asked at the time why he kept both shows on the air: “I said, ‘I really like them and I can keep them on the air.’ And we did,” he says. Plus, he now believes, “There was much more life left in ‘The Vampire Diaries’ universe.” Yet, the CW was able to survive and thrive thanks to its output deal with Netflix, which started in 2011 and allowed the network to become profitable through licensing.
Pedowitz looks back at his nearly 12 years running the CW with great memories. As the leader, you try to move it in the direction of the culture that you want to lead in,” he says. They create the culture.” And for 20 years, the CW viewers have agreed.
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