Did The CW Make the Grade? We Hand Out its End of Season Report Card!

The Good: As a result of what has been reported as a very lucrative deal with Netflix, the CW is no longer reliant on Nielsen ratings to generate a profit. Which let’s face it, is music to a Network bean counter’s ears when one is in the tricky business of attracting an audience (18-34 year-old women) whose viewing habits have very quickly jumped from the small screen to the digital one (See: Hulu, CWTV, Netflix among others). In other positive news, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES continued to suck viewers in with its ambitious storytelling and genetically blessed cast, while The CW’s attempt to recapture some of that GILMORE GIRLS meets EVERWOOD magic resulted in a much-deserved second season renewal for the delightful HART OF DIXIE. Which brings us to…

The Bad: DIXIE aside, The CW’s first slate of shows under the watchful eye of not-so-newly-minted Network President Mark Pedowitz was nothing short of a disaster. Chosen one Sarah Michelle Gellar’s RINGER didn’t quite become the mainstream hit the Network was hoping for, while THE SECRET CIRLCE failed to cast a spell on the sizeable — by CW standards that is — audience delivered by its VAMPIRE DIARIES lead-in. Also of note, ONE TREE HILL ended a remarkable 9 season run with a whimper instead of a bang, the Network continued to drop the ball when it came to finding a replacement for its aging AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL franchise, and don’t even get us started on those ratings — or total lack thereof — for Canadian import THE L.A. COMPLEX. That said…

Prognosis for the Coming Season: Is surprisingly positive! Not only are we fully on board with the Network’s most diverse and exciting lineup of shows since its inception (Full disclosure: Having seen them both, we’re already counting down the days until episode two of both ARROW and more surprisingly, THE CARRIE DIARIES), we applaud Mark Pedowitz’s savvy decision to hold off on premiering his new slate of shows until October in an effort to both minimize reruns and the blitzkrieg that is the flurry of Fall competition.

Grade: C+