TVloop Blog

Don’t look now, but CW has quietly become the fifth network among the big four in broadcast. TVWeek has a great article about the incredible rise of CW from an also-ran that carrried WWE Smackdown on Friday nights, to a broadcast powerhouse that is absolutely dominating its target demographic - women ages 18-34.  Bruce Rosenblum, President of Warner Bros. Television, said it best:

“We no longer receive questions from the creative community (or) from the advertisers (about the future of The CW),” said Bruce Rosenblum, president of the Warner Bros. Television Group. “I think the built-in assumption and the expectation is that The CW is here to stay.”

In addition to dumping WWE, the CW also made the key strategic decision to move away from half hour comedies in favor of hour-long scripted dramas targeted at their core demographic.  Enter Gossip Girl, widely considered to be the show that single-handedly saved the network.  It has since been followed by other successes like One Tree Hill, Supernatural, and Smallville - all cut from a very similar cloth.  And most important, the CW is not one to rest on it’s laurels.  Take a look at its blog and you’ll see a full slate of guest starring appearances to continue the momentum.

So how have CW show’s performed in the TVLoop community? Quite well, which makes complete sense given the demographic of the network compared to the demographic of social networks.  Below is a quick overview:

Of all TVLoop shows currently in production with new episodes, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl are ranked 8th and 10th respectively.  But it doesn’t stop there, the shows also do remarkably well from a user engagement perspective.  Here are a couple of additional data points:

• 4 CW shows are in the top 12 for photos uploaded
• 4 CW shows are in the top 20 for wall posts
• 3 CW shows are in the top 12 for number of quizzes taken - One Tree Hill is #1 and Gossip Girl is #4
• 4 CW shows are in the top 12 for episode ratings

So as you can see, for the fifth network, CW holds its own nicely when it comes to TVLoop members.  And they’re only getting stronger as several are consistently in the top 20 of growth apps every week/month.