The CW
The CW Television Network (commonly referred to as the CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network that is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75-percent ownership interest.[3][11] The network's name is derived from the first letters of the names of its two founding co-owners CBS Corporation and Warner Bros., with CBS Corporation being merged with the second iteration of Viacom to form ViacomCBS and Warner Bros. being owned by Time Warner, later AT&T's WarnerMedia. Nexstar closed its acquisition of a controlling interest in the network on October 3, 2022, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery (CBS Corporation and WarnerMedia's respective successors) each retaining a 12.5-percent ownership stake.[3][4][11]
This article is about the television network. For other uses, see CW (disambiguation).Type
United States
Burbank, California, U.S.
English
Nexstar Media Group (75%)
Paramount Global (12.5%)
Warner Bros. Discovery (12.5%)
January 24, 2006
September 18, 2006
The CW debuted on September 18, 2006, as the successor to UPN and the WB, which had respectively shut down on September 15 and 17 of that year. The CW's first two nights of programming – on September 18 and 19, 2006 – consisted of reruns and launch-related specials. The CW marked its formal launch date on September 20, 2006, with the two-hour premiere of the seventh cycle of America's Next Top Model. The network's programming lineup is intended to appeal mainly to viewers between the ages of 18 and 34, although from 2008 to 2011, the network shifted its programming to appeal to women in that demographic.[12][13] As of August 2017, the network's audience was evenly split between men and women.[14]
The CW runs programming seven days a week: airing nightly in prime time, along with a Saturday morning live-action educational programming block produced by Hearst Media Production Group called One Magnificent Morning.
The CW is also available in southern Canada on pay television providers through stations owned-and-operated by Nexstar and on affiliates owned by others that are located within proximity to the Canada–United States border (whose broadcasts of CW shows are subject to simultaneous substitution laws imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, if a Canadian network holds the broadcast rights); it is also available through two Nexstar-controlled stations that are classified in the United States as superstations – New York City-based de facto flagship[a] WPIX and Los Angeles-based secondary flagship KTLA.
Additionally, the network is available in northern Mexico through affiliates located near the Mexico–U.S. border (such as KFMB-DT2—San Diego/Tijuana, KECY-DT3 in El Centro, California, KVIA-DT2 in El Paso, and KCWT-CD with simulcast network KMBH-LD2 in McAllen/Brownsville, Texas) on pay television providers. In both Canada and Mexico, some free-to-air CW affiliate signals originating from the U.S. are receivable over-the-air in border areas depending on the station's signal coverage.
Related services[edit]
Video-on-demand services[edit]
The CW provides video on demand access for delayed viewing of full episodes of the network's programming through various means, including via its website at CWTV.com and its mobile apps for iOS and Android devices (with programs streamable over Wi-Fi and cellular networks), a traditional VOD service – the CW on Demand – that is available on most traditional cable and IPTV providers, and through content deals with Hulu, iTunes and Netflix.[204][205]
In January 2007, the CW began streaming full-length episodes of several of its programs on the CWTV.com website. The most recent episodes of the network's shows are usually made available on the CW app and the CW on Demand the day after their original broadcast. Due to restrictions imposed through its deal with the streaming service, streaming of the most recent episode of any CW program on Hulu is restricted until eight days after their initial broadcast, in order to encourage live or same-week (via both DVR and cable on-demand) viewing, with day-after-air streaming on either service limited to subscribers of Hulu's subscription service. The CW previously imposed a three-day delay after an episode's original airdate before making its programs available on its website and through the Hulu subscription service (then known as Hulu Plus). However, changes implemented by the network on March 15, 2012, to reduce copyright infringement of its programming content through illegal streaming and downloading internet platforms resulted in that delay being reduced to eight hours after a program's original airing through both services.[204][205][206] Like the video-on-demand television services provided by the other U.S. broadcast networks, the CW on Demand disables fast forwarding for content provided through the service.
In October 2011, the network entered into digital distribution deals with streaming services Netflix and Hulu. The four-year Netflix agreement allowed its customers to instantly watch more than 700 hours of previous seasons of the CW's then-current scripted series, while Hulu inked a five-year deal, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from four of the five major networks (except for CW sister network CBS).[204][205] The Netflix deal was estimated to be worth $1 billion, providing a much needed lifeline to the money-losing CW network and solidified its future as a valuable asset for then-co-owners CBS and Warner Bros.[207] The Netflix deal was renewed in 2016, updated to allow the streaming service to provide entire seasons of CW shows a week after their airing. The Hulu deal was discontinued at this time.[208] In 2019, the CW and Netflix opted not to renew the deal. The respective studios of CW shows would instead sell to streaming services individually.[53] Beginning in 2020, WarnerMedia streaming service HBO Max (later rebranded to Max under Warner Bros. Discovery) would be the exclusive streaming home for Warners-produced CW shows.[209]
On October 24, 2012, the CW entered into its first video-on-demand distribution deal with a pay television provider through an agreement with Comcast that allows customers to watch the four most-recent episodes of the network's primetime shows on the cable provider's Xfinity On Demand service, along with next-day episode content. The CW On Demand, which is accessible to subscribers at no additional charge, debuted on Comcast Xfinity systems nationwide on October 25.[210]
High-definition feed[edit]
The CW's master feed is transmitted in 1080i high definition with 5.1 surround sound. All transmission of the network's programming moved to the format in June 2012, with the network's prime time lineup being presented in HD since March 2012 (when America's Next Top Model became the final CW program to convert to the format), with the exception of certain specials produced prior to that point (such as Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, a holiday special carried over to the network from the WB) and select movie presentations. The network's Saturday morning E/I block, One Magnificent Morning, is also broadcast in HD, with the final SD program, the two-season daytime talk show The Robert Irvine Show converting to the format for its second and final season in September 2017 (and in turn ending U.S. broadcast television's standard definition age).
The network is available in HD on most of its full-power affiliates, while availability of high definition content on subchannel-only or cable-exclusive affiliates varies by market; in some of these cases, the over-the-air signal is available only in standard definition (a 16:9 widescreen feed transmitted in 480i SD is presented on some over-the-air affiliates to meet minimum requirements for presentation), with the station offering an exclusive high definition feed to pay television providers. Some affiliates transmit CW programming in 720p HD due to technical considerations if the network is carried on a digital terrestrial subchannel of a station affiliated with another major network or if a primary feed CW affiliate carries more than one subchannel. Since June 2012, the CW Plus feed is also transmitted in HD, and the network has asked those affiliates to carry it in high definition wherever possible. With CBS beginning to use 16:9 framing for all of their graphics on September 24, 2018, the CW was the last major network that continued to use 4:3 framing for all graphics, before switching to the 16:9 framing for all of their graphics in August 2020.
CW Seed[edit]
CW Seed (originally called CWD or the CW Digital Studio) is a production arm that provided original content created exclusively for digital platforms focused in the areas of animation, game shows, comedy, and digital personalities.[211] Previously existing as a section on the CW's main website, CW Seed was spun-off to a separate domain in 2013 as a streaming platform.[212][213][214] The free media app became available on several devices, including Roku and Amazon Fire TV.[215][216]
CW Seed produced various web series, including Vixen, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and Constantine: City of Demons.[217][218][219] On January 8, 2020, CW Seed acquired U.S. streaming rights to 14 series from BBC Studios.[220] In September 2020, the platform added over 300 hours of programming with additional seasons for existing shows, and new series such as 90210, Lost Girl, Nikita, and XIII: The Conspiracy.[221] The CW Seed app and website were reabsorbed into the CW's in April 2022.[222]
