Upfront: The CW Stresses 'Flow,' Adds Three Shows
Tuesday to Become Another Female-Centric Night of Programming with 90201, Surviving the Filthy Rich
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/13/2008 8:30:00 PM
The buzzword at The CW is “flow.”
Leveraging the success of Gossip Girl -- which attracted a rabid following of dedicated young female viewers who dissect every plot detail on blogs and fan sites -- the network is launching another female-centric night of programming, scheduling the Beverly Hills 90210 spinoff and Surviving the Filthy Rich, based on the books by young-adult author Zoey Dean, Tuesday nights this fall.
Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill will remain on Monday night. On Wednesday, the latest iteration of Tyra Banks’ America’s Next Top Model will lead into Stylista, the reality version of The Devil Wears Prada, in which 11 contestants vie for a (real and paid) editorial position at Elle magazine.
“For the first time ever, we have real flow across the schedule,” president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff said. “We can bring people in on a Monday night at 8 o’clock and really keep them throughout the night. They’ll have reason to come to us every single night.”
Smallville and Supernatural will air Thursdays. And now that The CW parted ways with World Wrestling Entertainment and Friday Night Smackdown, comedies Everybody Hates Chris and The Game and a rerun of Top Model will move to Fridays.
Reaper will return during midseason.
Not returning are Aliens in America, Life Is Wild and Girlfriends. Unscripted series Crowned, Pussycat Dolls Presents: The Search for the Next Doll and Beauty and the Geek are unlikely to return.
The CW will also get a jump on the traditional mid-September premiere week, debuting virtually all of its new and returning series the week of Sept. 1.
The CW’s viewer profile is decidedly young and female. And while that demographic is one the network obviously courts -- and is happy to have in a media climate that favors the young -- Ostroff is hopeful that at least some of the new programs will appeal to a cross-section of viewers.
“I think every [network] eventually will be more niche then they are,” she said. “We’re being very specific about women 18-34, but that means mothers and daughters, that means women who are in their 20s and 30s and 40s if moms are watching, and they are. A show like 90201, where we’re gong to appeal to the people who grew up watching the show who are now in their 30s and 40s and attract a whole new audience, I think just inherently it’s going to make the network broader.”
The CW’s 2008-09 primetime schedule follows:
• Monday
8 p.m.-9 p.m.: Gossip Girl
9 p.m.-10 p.m.: One Tree Hill
• Tuesday:
8 p.m.-9 p.m.: 90210 (new series)
9 p.m.-10 p.m.: Surviving the Filthy Rich (new series)
• Wednesday:
8 p.m.-9 p.m.: America’s Next Top Model
9 p.m.-10 p.m.: Stylista (new series)
• Thursday:
8 p.m.-9 p.m.: Smallville
9 p.m.-10 p.m.: Supernatural
• Friday:
8 p.m.-8:30 p.m.: Everybody Hates Chris
8:30 p.m.-9 p.m.: The Game
9 p.m.-10 p.m.: America’s Next Top Model (encore presentation)
For complete coverage of the upfronts, click here.
