For CW, it’s been a brisk transformation

This was a quick change, sort of like Superman in a phone booth or The Flash anywhere.
Less than two years ago, CW was the network of superheroes and such. Superman was in Smallville, Jughead was in a gang, Batgirl was in charge, The Flash was in a hurry.
And now? The network is a mash-up of cops, crooks and Canadians (lots of Canadians), plus golfers, wrestlers and more. It has shed most of its old shows, with a few exceptons, including “Walker” (shown here), which returns soon. It also shed its brand image.
“What is NBC’s brand?” Brad Schwartz, the CW program chief, asked the Television Critics Association. “What is CBS’ brand? What is ABC’s brand? What is Fox’s brand?”
Those are the big-four networks in broadcast TV, each with a broad bunch of shows. Schwartz wants it to be big-five.
He’s doing it on a tight budget, but quite briskly, with more changes coming in late March and early Apri. Also, there’s the network’s surprising entry into sports.
“That happened fairly quickly,” Dennis Miller (not the comedian, but the CW president with the same name) told the TCA. Until recently, “we had no sports.”
Then came LIV, the new professional golf league that was being avoided by many networks, partly because of its links to a Saudi monarchy known for rights abuses.
The CW signed a five-year deal with LIV. “The phone started ringing and said, ‘Oh, you’re doing sports; let’s talk,’” Miller said.
Soon, the network had five-year deals with WWE (for its “NXT” wrestling series) and ESPN (to take over coverage of many Atlantic Coast Conference football and basketball games), plus a seven-year deal with NASCAR (for the Xfinity series).
It also tried sports talk/documentaries. “Inside the NFL” moved to CW after 46 years on cable or streaming; “100 Days to Indy” starts its second season April 26, following preparations for the Indianapolis 500.
Next year, that will add up to 500 hours of sports programming and 450 hours of other shows. Those others are the ones that must be done on a budget
In the past, CW had full-budget shows aimed at young viewers – who, alas, had drifted away from broadcast networks. A decade ago, Peter Liguori, the head of a station group, argued that CW “should not program to people who don’t watch television.”
Still, the CW owners (Warner Brothers and Paramount) were content. They could produce the shows for CW, then profit from overseas and streamer sales.
That ended when Discovery bought Warner Brothers and wanted to shed CW. In May of 2022, rhe network began dumping its shows. On Oct. 3, 2022, Nexstar (a station group) gained 75 percent ownership, with Paramount and Warner Brothers splitting the rest.
Schwartz was put in charge, scrambling for less-expensive shows. That has included:
— Four continuing shows that negotiated acceptable costs.
“Walker” (the “Walker, Texas Ranger” reboot) will have two reruns March 27, then launch its season on April. 3. “All American” returns April 1, with its spin-off (All American: Homecoming”) expected to follow, this summer.
Then “Superman & Lois” will have a 10-episode season in the fall. That’s its final season, but the others could continue.
— Canadian shows, which brought Schwartz a previous triumph. When he launched the tiny Pop network, he included the Canadian comedy “Schitt’s Creek.” After a slow start, it won nine Emmys (including best comedy) in its sixth and final season.
The CW had dabbled with Canadian shows – “Coroner,” “Burden of Truth,” “Family Law,” etc. — during summers and the pandemic. Now it moved them to the main season.
Some of those were already airing in Canada, including “The Spencer Sisters,” “Children Ruin Everything,” “Son of a Critch” and “Sullivan’s Crossing.” Schwartz plans to have “Critch” and “Crossing” back, with CW joining as producers.
But “Wild Cards” was nurtured by Canadians and CW, Schwartz said. “That was a show that they found that we fell in love with, and that we developed together.”
It wraps its first season March 20, with no immediate word on a second. Two weeks later, another Canadian/CW show, “Sight Unseen,” debuts after ”Walker.” Like “Wild Cards,” it has a male-female cop team; in this case, however, she’s losing her sight and depending on an agoraphobic techie who views her bodycam.
— Shows from Europe..CW had “The Swarm,” a German-based eco-thriiller, but mainly looks to England. It yanked the dark comedy “Everyone Else Burns” and will try again when a second six-episode season is ready.
Bigger projects are ahead. “Joan” has Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark in “Game of Thrones”) as the real-life head of a British crime family. “Sherlock & Daughter” has a young American (Blu Hunt) move to London when she learns that Sherlock Holmes may be her dad; David Thewlis and Dougray Scott play Holmes and Moriarty.
— American dramas. “The Chosen” – focusing on Jesus and the people around him – had already received favorable attention elsewhere; then CW ran the fiirst three seasons.
Coming is “The Librarians: The Next Chapter.” It reboots a TNT series, now with Jessica Green and Christian Kane as time-traveling librarians.
— Reruns. CW has Hallmark’s “The Ride” on Mondays and ABC’s “The Conners” on Thursdays. And its movie nights (Sundays and some Saturdays) are a form of rerun.
— Non-fiction. CW has two magic shows, plus an improv one (“Whose Line is it Anyway?”) that jumps around the schedule. “It just performs anywhere,” Schwartz said.
He’s turned Tuesdays into true-crime nights. The current “Crime Nation” will be followed April 30 by “Police 24/7” and “Hostage Rescue.”
Also, Thursdays will switch from comedy to romance on April 11.(One show has Patti Stanger, a matchmaker who started on cable; another has a variation on the lusty “FBoy Island,” now with three guys pondering lots of young women in swimwear.
And this summer will have game shows based on “Scrabble” and “Trivial Pursuit.”
— Occasional specials, including Miss USA, a Republican debate and the Critics Choice Awards. It’s a large mash-up, sort of the way the big-four do it.