The CW will expand its primetime schedule to include Saturdays when the 2021-2022 broadcast season begins this fall, meaning that the home of the Arrowverse will be a seven-day-a-week network for the first time ever.
The network — which is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group and WarnerMedia — announced this new development today, May 13. “For the upcoming 2021-22 season, The CW Network will expand its primetime schedule to include Saturday, growing to become a full seven-day-a-week broadcast network for the first time in its history, it was announced today by Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and CEO, The CW Network,” the official press release reads. “When the new season launches this fall, The CW will offer 14 hours of primetime series each week, Monday through Sunday (8:00-10:00pm ET/PT).”
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The CW’s first Saturday night of primetime programming is set to take place on Oct. 2. The network will kick things off with the first night of the iHeartRadio Music Festival, which will run from at 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT. The second night of the festival will air in the same timeslot on Sunday, Oct. 3. The CW will announce its regularly scheduled Saturday primetime lineup at a later date.
The CW explains that the efforts to expand its primetime schedule were lead by Betty Ellen Berlamino — the network’s Executive Vice President, Network Distribution — and Ann Miyagi, its Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Berlamino and Miyagi “worked closely with all of the network’s key affiliate partners to secure clearances across the country.”
“As The CW expands and thrives, so do our affiliate partners, and everyone sees the tremendous value and the clear excitement behind the opportunity to brand and identify as a seven night network on both a national and local level,” said Berlamino. “The addition of more original programming to our Saturday primetime line-up coupled with our stations ability to now program the Monday through Friday daytime block is a win-win for all parties.”
“Becoming a seven-night-a-week network has been a long-standing goal for everyone here at The CW, and in an extremely tight broadcast environment, the ability to expand our primetime by two more hours each week is a dynamic shift that will be gladly welcomed by our clients and the agencies,” added Rob Tuck, The CW’s Executive Vice President, National Sales “Following the recent industry trend which has seen considerable contraction on a linear basis, The CW will buck that trend this season by adding a new night of original programming, creating new opportunities for us going forward.”
Source: The CW
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