The CW

History

1993–2006: Predecessors and formation

In April 1993, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ended the fin-syn rules that prohibited television networks from owning the rerun rights to programs they broadcast. Fearing that the networks would stop buying programs from independent studios, Warner Bros. Television and Paramount Television each decided to start their own networks.

The WB and UPN both launched within one week of each other in January 1995, just as the Fox Broadcasting Company had started to secure a foothold with American television audiences. The two networks launched to limited fanfare and generally mediocre to poor results. However, over the subsequent 11+1⁄2 seasons, both were able to air several series that became quite popular, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager, The Sentinel, 7th Heaven, Dawson's Creek, Charmed, Smallville, Everwood, Gilmore Girls, Reba, The Steve Harvey Show, and America's Next Top Model.

Although their simultaneous starts and competition for affiliate stations initially caused the two networks to appear as rivals, by 1999, they had adopted differing strategies: The WB targeted young women, while UPN targeted young men. Towards the end of their first decade on the air, the WB and UPN were in decline, unable to reach the audience share or have the effect that Fox had gained within its first decade, much less than that of the Big Three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). In the eleven years that UPN and the WB were in operation, the two networks lost a combined $2 billion. Chris-Craft Industries, Viacom, and Time Warner officials had discussed a possible merger of UPN and the WB as early as September 1995, only eight months after their respective launches; however, discussions ultimately broke down over issues on how to combine Chris-Craft and Tribune Broadcasting's station interests in the proposal to merge the networks, since the two companies' station portfolios overlapped with one another in several major markets. By 2003, however, Time Warner became mired in several debt problems. The company had already been responsible for shutting down Warner Bros.' in-house animation department and for selling off major portions of the conglomerate, such as the 2004 sale of Warner Bros. Records and the rest of Warner Music Group to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

Executives from CBS and Warner Bros. announced on January 24, 2006 that they would respectively shut down UPN and the WB; they would combine resources to form a new broadcast network, to be called the CW. They confirmed that the network would—at the outset—feature programming from both of its predecessors-to-be as well as new content developed specifically for the new network. Warner Bros. and CBS expected to produce inexpensive shows for the network, which they could sell outside the U.S. Then CBS chairman Les Moonves explained that the name of the new network was formed from the first letters of CBS and Warner Bros., joking, "We couldn't call it the WC for obvious reasons." Although some executives reportedly disliked the new name, Moonves stated in March 2006 that there was "zero chance" the name would change, citing research claiming 48% of the target demographic were already aware of the "CW" name.

2006–2011: Launch and early struggles

Like UPN and the WB, the CW targets its programming towards younger audiences. CBS and Time Warner hoped that combining their networks' schedules and affiliate lineups would strengthen the CW into a fifth "major" broadcast network. One week before the network's official launch, on September 11, 2006, a new, full version of the network website was launched, the website began to feature more in-depth information about the CW's shows.

The CW launched with a premiere special/launch party from the CBS Paramount-produced Entertainment Tonight at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California on September 18, 2006, after a repeat of the tenth-season finale of 7th Heaven; the same schedule was repeated on September 19, 2006, with the sixth-season finale of Gilmore Girls. The network continued to air season finales from the previous season through the remainder of the first week, except for America's Next Top Model and WWE SmackDown!, which respectively began their new seasons on September 20, 2006, and September 22, 2006, with two-hour premieres. When Top Model made its network premiere on September 20, 2006, the CW scored a 3.4 rating/5 share (with hourly ratings of 3.1/5 and 3.6/6, the CW placed fifth overall) in the Nielsen household ratings. It scored a 2.6 rating among adults 18–49, finishing fourth in that age demographic and beating the 2.2 rating earned by Fox on that night. The network's second week consisted of season and series premieres for all of its other series from September 25, 2006, to October 1, 2006, with the exception of Veronica Mars, which debuted its third season on October 3, 2006.

Despite having several of the most popular programs carried over from UPN and the WB as part of its schedule, the CW—even though it experienced some success with newer programs that launched in subsequent seasons which became modest hits—largely struggled to gain an audience foothold throughout its first five years on the air. Because of declining viewership for the network during the 2007–08 season and effects from the Writers Guild of America strike, the network announced on March 4, 2008, that it would eliminate its comedy department (dismissing executive vice president of comedy Kim Fleary and senior vice president of comedy Steve Veisel), while also combining its drama and current programming departments into a single scripted programming unit. The corporate restructuring resulted in the layoffs of approximately 25 to 30 employees. It also included the elimination of certain positions, other newly opened positions being left unfilled, and layoffs from the Kids' WB unit, as the block was set to be replaced by the CW4Kids.

2011–2016: New leadership and content shift

On April 28, 2011, Mark Pedowitz was appointed by the network to succeed original president of entertainment Dawn Ostroff; Pedowitz was made the network's first president and assumed broader responsibilities in the CW's business operations than Ostroff had. As president of entertainment, Ostroff oversaw entertainment operations while John Maatta, the network's chief operating officer, handled business affairs; both reported to a board consisted of CBS and Warner Bros. executives. Maatta began reporting to Pedowitz as a result of the latter's appointment as network president. Pedowitz revealed that the core target demographic of the network would not change, though the CW would attempt to lure new viewers. Pedowitz began looking to bring comedies back to the CW after Ostroff had publicly declared that the difficulty of developing comedies for its target demographic was the reason for their removal from the network following the 2008–09 season (with Everybody Hates Chris, and The Game—a spin-off of Girlfriends—becoming the last comedies to be cancelled). The network also ordered more episodes of its original series and ran them consecutively starting on September 12 through the first week of December without repeats. In July 2012, Pedowitz no longer referred to the target demographic of the CW as women 18–34, but rather that it would now be an "18–34 adult network".

Although the network was still not profitable, CBS and Warner Bros. were very successful in selling their CW shows overseas. In 2011, a $1 billion deal with streaming service Netflix became another way to sell CW shows. The introduction of action-superhero series Arrow, based on DC Comics' Green Arrow, received favorable reviews from critics and became a hit with audiences when it premiered. As evidence of the network's refocusing toward a broader audience, Arrow not only premiered to some of the highest viewership totals in the network's history (the third-highest overall as of 2015, behind the series premieres of The Vampire Diaries and The Flash), but it also gave the network its strongest performance in the demographic of males 18–34 since Smallville ended its run in May 2011. The network also found success with its summer programming in 2013 with the revival of the U.S. version of the improv comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which later became a year-round staple on the network's schedule. Arrow continued to perform strongly, leading to a spin-off with The Flash, which surpassed The Vampire Diaries as the highest-rated premiere in the network's history and became the most-watched show on the network. Jane the Virgin earned some of the highest critical praise of any series during the 2014–15 television season, and became the first CW series ever to be nominated for, and win, a Golden Globe Award, with lead actress Gina Rodriguez winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy. Other CW shows like The Flash, The 100, and Nikita would also go on to be nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards categories, and several shows from 2011 to 2019 being nominated for categories in the Teen Choice Awards, Saturn Awards, and others.

2016–2021: Streaming era deals

The network's Arrowverse expanded again with Supergirl being moved to the network from CBS for its second season. The debut of Archie Comics-based Riverdale signaled the network's foray into mining their parent studio's library of IP to create new television series based on recognizable properties. This led to another new DC Comics series, Black Lightning, and a rebooted Dynasty. While it met with poor ratings, Dynasty proved lucrative thanks to the Netflix output deal and international syndication, which earned CBS Studios millions of dollars per episode.

Selling CW series like Dynasty to Netflix and overseas markets was so profitable for Warner Bros. and CBS that the network almost stopped cancelling shows, and expanded its broadcast schedule. On February 14, 2018, the CW announced that it would add a 2-hour primetime block on Sunday nights beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018 (it later added a third hour in October 2023), returning the network to Sundays for the first time since the lease to Media Rights Capital ended in 2009, as well as expanding the CW's primetime slate from 10 hours a week to 12. Discussions with CBS and Warner Bros. about the expansion began as early as July 2017; both gave their approval to the move that December, with the network reaching clearance deals with key affiliate partners in early 2018.

On June 12, 2018, AT&T received antitrust approval to acquire Warner Bros. parent Time Warner, with the acquisition closing two days later. Time Warner was renamed WarnerMedia and AT&T became a co-owner of the CW with CBS.

The CW debuted reboots of Charmed, Roswell, and Originals spin-off Legacies during the 2018–19 season. Despite modest ratings, their renewals—along with the renewal of the entire 2018–19 lineup (absent those series already previously announced as ending)—reflected their value to the network's founding co-owners CBS and Warner Bros., which received the windfall of selling them to Netflix and international buyers. This strategy continued with the 2019–20 season debuts of the new Arrowverse series Batwoman, Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene, and Nancy Drew.

On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their intention to re-merge, with the combined company to be named ViacomCBS. The merger was completed on December 4, 2019, making them officially with AT&T's WarnerMedia co-owners of the CW.

2022: Acquisition by Nexstar

On January 5, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS were exploring a possible sale of either a majority stake or all of the CW, and that Nexstar Media Group, which became the CW's largest affiliate group when it acquired former WB-era network co-owner Tribune Broadcasting in 2019, was considered a leading bidder. Network president and CEO Mark Pedowitz confirmed talks of a potential sale but added that it was "too early to speculate what might happen". Nexstar CEO Perry Sook in Spring 2022 did not confirm the rumored buyout but stated that he would not be surprised if Nexstar owned a broadcast network.

In May 2022, three months before Nexstar made their purchase official, the CW cancelled ten shows, three times the average number per year that the CW had canceled over the previous decade, including one-season shows 4400 and Naomi, and longtime fixtures including Dynasty, Legends of Tomorrow, Roswell, New Mexico, and Legacies. More shows were cancelled or given final season orders in the following months including Nancy Drew, Stargirl, The Flash, and Riverdale.

In late June 2022, The Wall Street Journal indicated a purchase of the CW by Nexstar was close, and on August 15 Nexstar confirmed it had "entered into a definitive agreement" to acquire a 75% majority share in the network; the remaining 25% would be shared equally by Paramount Global (the former ViacomCBS) and Warner Bros. Discovery (the company formed by Discovery, Inc.'s acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T). Additionally, Nexstar stated that Mark Pedowitz would remain the chairman and CEO of the CW. Though no monetary terms were announced, Nexstar reportedly would not pay any cash or stock up front, and would absorb approximately $100 million of network debt. The Hollywood Reporter stated that Nexstar retained $54 million based on its cash on hand, accounts receivable, accounts payable and other liabilities. As the sale did not entail the transfer of any FCC broadcast licenses, Nexstar immediately took operational control of the network.

Nexstar, in a conference call that took place the day its purchase was announced, indicated a desire to run the CW cost-consciously. Citing research that indicated the network spends "almost twice" the amount other broadcast networks spend on programming, a partial reason for the May 2022 cancellations, Nexstar stated that it planned to seek shows with smaller production budgets or a reasonably-priced acquisition fee, including unscripted fare, syndicated content, and other content that can create profits through broadcast airings. Nexstar also stated that it aimed for the CW to turn a profit by 2025.

2023–2026: Focus on sports and unscripted

On February 1, 2023, the CW appointed Heather Olander as the head of unscripted programming, a position under which she reports to Schwartz. In a shift away from scripted programming, it also let go of Executive VP for Current Programming Michael Roberts, and Executive VP for Development Gaye Hirsch, among other layoffs on the following day. The CW appointed Chris Spadaccini as the chief marketing officer on February 6, 2023, and Tom Martin as the head of business affairs and general counsel on February 9, 2023. It later appointed Betzy Slenzak as the vice president of unscripted programming on March 30, 2023, and Ashley Hovey as the network's first chief digital officer on April 11, 2023.

On May 18, 2023, the CW unveiled its schedule for the 2023–24 broadcast season, consisting mostly of acquired shows from outside the U.S., and unscripted series. Schwartz criticized the previous co-owners of the network, stating that it would no longer exist for benefiting them, and that the shows left over from the previous regimes did not perform well on linear broadcast. He added that in order to achieve profitability, the CW was focusing on acquired shows and co-productions while expanding its audience. He also revealed that the network was in production or negotiations for a total of 72 shows.

On February 25, 2023, CW Sports was launched by acquiring the rights to LIV Golf and soon expanded by acquiring ACC college football and basketball games, Inside the NFL, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and WWE NXT. In August 2023, Schwartz stated that the network was involved in many upcoming US-produced scripted shows and will focus on getting monetization rights on any scripted content it broadcasts, while producing shows at a profitable price point. He also stated that they were using sports programming for bringing in new and older audiences. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook later stated that, beyond causing the delay of four scripted shows, the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes did not have much impact on the CW's fall schedule, adding that they would not affect the network's future progress.

In January 2024, during the 29th Critics' Choice Awards, The CW launched a new brand identity by DixonBaxi—which updated the logo with a bolder appearance, changed the network's main color from green to red-orange, and introduced a new "stage" device used in promos (formed by extending the C lettering from the logo), as well as a new sound trademark of a struck match. Spadaccini explained that the rebranding was intended to help make the network's brand more consistent and optimized for digital platforms, the word "The" was removed from the logo to streamline its appearance (especially in use cases such as "CW Original" or "CW Sports"). Spadaccini said that the network's name and verbal branding would remain the CW.

Programming

Network programming and scheduling

As of October 1, 2023, the CW provides 18 hours of regularly scheduled network programming each week, over the course of seven days. The network offers 15 hours of prime time programming to its owned-and-operated and affiliated stations, airing from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time on Monday through Saturday nights and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific) on Sunday nights. Outside of prime time, a three-hour educational programming block called "One Magnificent Morning" (which airs as part of the CW schedule through a time-lease agreement with Hearst Media Production Group) airs on Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in all time zones, subject to re-schedulings due to local or CW sports broadcasts.

Similar to Fox, along with network forerunners the WB and UPN, the CW uses the "common prime" scheduling practice, avoiding the 10 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific) hour broadcast by the "Big Three" networks (NBC, CBS, and ABC). The network, unlike the Big Three, does not air any national newscasts, late-night programming, and, since 2021, daytime programming (outside of sports). It also did not run prime-time programming on Saturday nights and during the primetime access hour on Sundays until the 2021–22 and 2023–24 broadcast seasons respectively. Because of these factors, the CW's affiliates handle the responsibility of programming non-network time periods, with the majority of its stations filling those slots mainly with syndicated programming. However, some of the network's affiliates broadcast their own local news or sports programs (either produced by the station itself or through outsourcing agreements with an affiliate of another network), preempting network prime time programming to a specific time period (New York City affiliate WPIX, for instance, preempts CW prime time to the afternoon).

The Hearst-produced Saturday morning block, One Magnificent Morning (which is subject to scheduling variances similar to the weekday hour in some markets, such as in Atlanta and San Diego), is designed to be tape delayed and therefore recommended to air in the same time slot in all time zones. However, it is broadcast one hour earlier on affiliates of the CW Plus in the Central, Mountain and Alaska Time Zones. In Guam, CW Plus affiliate KTKB-LD in Hagåtña airs the CW lineup on a one-day tape delay from its initial broadcast because of the time difference between Guam and the continental United States as the island is on the west side of the International Date Line.

Supernatural (which initially aired on the WB) was the final CW series carried over from either of the network's respective predecessors that continued to be broadcast, airing its final episode in November 2020.

News programming

The CW began to introduce national news programming under Nexstar ownership, in partnerships with sister properties NewsNation and The Hill. It aired its first national news special on December 6, 2023, simulcasting the fourth Republican presidential primary debate with NewsNation. In February 2024, it was reported that the network was developing a Sunday morning talk show with The Hill. The new program was later announced as The Hill Sunday with Chris Stirewalt, which premiered March 3, 2024 on NewsNation, and made its CW premiere on April 7, 2024. The CW would simulcast NewsNation's Decision Desk 2024 coverage of the 2024 United States presidential election on November 5, 2024, and Chris Cuomo-hosted town halls with president Donald Trump on April 30, and on the federal government shutdown on October 15 (headlined by guest Tom Homan).

Local news programming on CW affiliates—if any—is often outsourced to another major network affiliate in the market, usually a sister station via co-ownership or local marketing agreements, or as part of an outsourcing agreement with a third-party. Scheduling of local news often mirrors that of Fox affiliates, with local morning shows intended to compete with the national morning shows on the Big Three networks (and often being an extension of a morning show on a Big Three affiliate), and prime time newscasts within the 10 p.m.–11 p.m. Eastern/Pacific (9 p.m.–10 p.m. Central/Mountain) time slot following network programming.

Only six CW stations have autonomous local news operations, most of which carried over from previous affiliations: WPIX in New York City, WGN in Chicago, and KTLA in Los Angeles started their news departments as independent stations or during early affiliations with other networks including DuMont (KTLA) and CBS (WGN); WISH-TV in Indianapolis (formerly CBS) has been airing local news since 1956, KRON-TV in San Francisco (formerly NBC and MyNetworkTV) has produced local news since 1957, while KUSI-TV in San Diego has aired local news since 1990. KTLA has the largest number of weekly hours devoted to local news programming of any CW affiliate, and any broadcast television station in the U.S., with 94+3⁄4 hours of scheduled news each week.

Sports programming

The CW agreed to a three-year broadcast deal in January 2023 with LIV Golf, a professional golf tour financed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, marking the first-ever national sports broadcasting contract for both the network and the tour. On February 14, 2023, the network said their LIV Golf coverage would be available in 100% of media markets in the U.S., but encountered numerous affiliates that declined carriage of the tour, including all eight owned by Paramount Global. Consequently, LIV coverage in those affected markets aired on Nexstar-owned stations or subchannels, or on other stations via secondary affiliation agreements. Both the network and Nexstar were criticized by the National Press Club for participating in alleged sportswashing by the Saudi government following the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

The CW announced in July 2023 that it had acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to 50 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) college football and basketball games each season through 2026–27, with Raycom Sports producing the broadcasts. In May 2026, the CW and ESPN reached a sublicensing agreement for the CW to broadcast 54 ACC football and basketball games annually through 2030–31, with the games also being broadcast live on the ESPN app.

On July 28, the CW announced it had picked up the media rights to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in a seven-year deal starting in 2025 and going through the 2031 season. The CW will broadcast 33 races annually, along with practice and qualifying events. NASCAR Productions will produce the broadcasts. On April 11, 2024, it was announced that the deal's start was pushed up to September 2024, beginning with the 26th race of the season and regular season finale, the Food City 300.

On November 7, 2023, it was announced that WWE NXT would be moving to the CW from USA Network in a five-year deal that began in October 2024. This marked the first time that WWE programming aired on the CW since 2013, when Saturday Morning Slam aired on the defunct Vortexx children's programming block; the CW aired SmackDown! from the network's launch to 2008. On April 28, 2026, this deal was expanded to include WWE's NXT-branded Premium Live Events, with a total of 20 events over multiple years starting that June.

The CW and Range Sports announced an agreement in January 2024 under which Range Sports would develop content in conjunction with Nexstar and CW Sports, in addition to assisting the CW with talent representation, brand consulting, data and analytics and provide production capabilities for scripted and unscripted programs by using the resources of its parent company Range Media Partners.

Children's programming

On September 23, 2006, the Kids' WB children's programming block—which originated on The WB in September 1995 and continued to be produced by Warner Bros.—was carried over to the CW as part of its inaugural programming lineup; although the network on which it originated ceased operations, the "Kids' WB" branding was retained for the block.

On October 2, 2007, through a joint decision between corporate parents Warner Bros. and CBS Corporation, the CW announced that it would shut down Kids' WB and lease the programming rights of the Saturday morning timeslots to 4Kids Entertainment (which was producing a competing children's programming block, 4Kids TV, for Fox at the time of the announcement). The CW cited competition from children's cable networks and a challenging advertising marketplace as factors in the decision. Kids' WB ended its nearly thirteen year-old run on May 17, 2008 (though some CW affiliates that delayed the block to Sundays, such as Atlanta affiliate WUPA, aired the block for the last time on May 18).

The following week on May 24, 4Kids Entertainment took over programming of the CW's Saturday morning timeslots, with the debut of a new block, The CW4Kids. Its lineup initially consisted mostly of programs carried over from Kids' WB and 4Kids TV, before eventually adding first-run 4Kids-produced shows such as Chaotic as well as new seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The block was rebranded to Toonzai on August 14, 2010 (though The CW4Kids name was retained as a sub-brand to fulfill branding obligations with the network). Toonzai ended its run on August 18, 2012, after 4Kids Entertainment auctioned off their assets in bankruptcy court.

On July 3, 2012, Saban Brands announced that they had acquired the rights to program the CW's Saturday morning timeslots from 4Kids Entertainment in bankruptcy proceedings. The block was relaunched as Vortexx on August 25, featuring programs produced by Saban Brands such as Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and Digimon Fusion. Vortexx also aired notable third-party programming such as WWE Saturday Morning Slam, which marked the return of WWE programming to the network since WWE Smackdown departed in 2008.

On June 5, 2014, the CW announced an agreement with Litton Entertainment (now Hearst Media Production Group) to program a block of live-action series designed to comply with the FCC's educational programming guidelines. Vortexx (which was the last remaining non-educational children's block on the major U.S. broadcast networks) was replaced by One Magnificent Morning on October 4. The block features a mix of wildlife and lifestyle-themed programs, similar to those featured on the Litton-produced blocks aired by ABC and CBS. On January 7, 2016, the CW and Litton announced a five-year renewal for the block, extending it through the 2020–21 broadcast season. Starting with the 2017–18 broadcast season, the block's running time was reduced to three hours. On July 1, 2021, the CW and Litton announced another multi-year extension for the block.

Stations

The CW has over 46 stations owned or operated by its majority owner Nexstar Media Group and current and pending affiliation agreements with 221 additional television stations encompassing 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. possessions. Counting only conventional CW affiliates and over-the-air affiliates of the CW Plus, the network has an estimated combined national reach of 100% of all households in the U.S. (or 330,866,316 Americans with at least one television set); this makes the CW the largest U.S. broadcast network by population reach percentage. As of January 2023, three U.S. states (Delaware, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) and three U.S. territories (American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands) do not have their own locally licensed CW affiliates, largely because those areas are either located within the broadcast ranges of stations in nearby states or served by out-of-market stations via cable or satellite. Delaware is served by Philadelphia's WPHL-TV and Salisbury, Maryland affiliate WMDT-DT2, while New Hampshire is served by four CW stations based in three neighboring states (including Boston affiliate WLVI). New Jersey is served by WPHL and New York City affiliate WPIX.

As a newer broadcast network, the CW maintains affiliations with low-power stations (broadcasting either in analog or digital) in a few markets, such as Boise, Idaho (KYUU-LD). In some markets, including both of those mentioned, these stations also maintain digital simulcasts on a subchannel of a co-owned/co-managed full-power television station. The CW also maintains a sizeable number of subchannel-only affiliations, the majority of which are with stations in cities located outside of the 50 largest Nielsen-designated markets and receive the network's programming via the CW Plus; the largest subchannel-only CW affiliate by market size, as of February 1, 2024, is WZTV-DT2 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Nexstar Media Group is the largest operator of CW stations by numerical total, owning or providing services to 41 CW-affiliated stations, and also is the largest in terms of overall market reach, owning or providing services to CW stations (including its largest affiliates in New York and Los Angeles), covering 32% of the U.S.

Digital multicasting and cable television

Unlike the other major networks, the CW distributes its programming in small and certain mid-sized markets throughout the U.S. (generally those ranked among the bottom 110 Nielsen media markets) through the CW Plus, a separate national feed and programming service that is carried on a mixture of full-power and low-power stations in some markets, and cable-only outlets and digital subchannel affiliations on major network stations in markets that do not have enough commercial stations to support a standalone CW affiliate (several of the CW Plus's digital subchannel outlets originally operated as cable-only affiliates at the network's launch). The programming service offers its own master schedule of syndicated and brokered programming acquired by the network (including some feature films and infomercials) during non-network programming time, although some CW Plus affiliates may also run local newscasts produced by a major network affiliate.

CW predecessor the WB previously had two cable-only affiliate outlets: WGN America, the national superstation feed of WGN-TV at the time, from January 1995 to October 1999 and network-operated the WB 100+ Station Group (the direct predecessor to the CW Plus), which was formed in September 1998 and had several of its cable-only outlets join the CW Plus at the CW network's launch. Not all of the network's cable-only affiliates were CW Plus outlets; WT05 in Toledo, Ohio offered its own schedule of syndicated programs during non-network time that was programmed by its then-owner Block Communications, which also operates that market's major cable provider Buckeye CableSystem (WT05 now exists as "CW13", having been converted into a digital subchannel of Gray Television-owned ABC affiliate WTVG in October 2014). Though the CW is the only network with a station group that includes cable-only outlets, it is actually one of only three networks that have had cable-only stations within its affiliate body (ABC formerly had a cable-only affiliate in Winchester, Virginia-based TV3 Winchester until Gray shut the channel down in December 2013).

Affiliate issues

Some Time Warner Cable subscribers around the country were unable to watch CW programming when the network debuted, as stations in several markets were not able to reach carriage deals with the provider to distribute the local affiliates. In markets such as Charleston, South Carolina; El Paso, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; Palm Springs, California; Beaumont; Waco and Corpus Christi, Texas, where the CW is broadcast on a digital subchannel of one of the market's major network affiliates, there were unsuccessful attempts in getting Time Warner Cable to carry the subchannel affiliates (CW then-co-parent Time Warner had owned Time Warner Cable until it spun off the provider into a separate company in 2009; TWC was later acquired by Charter Communications in 2016).

Some affiliates eventually signed carriage deals with Time Warner Cable, but not all of the CW affiliates received carriage on the provider's basic cable tiers (for example, Syracuse, New York affiliate WSTQ-LP could only be viewed on digital cable channel 266 in the Ithaca market). The largest market without a known affiliate is the Johnstown–Altoona market, whose closest CW station was CBS-owned WPCW (now WPKD-TV, an independent station) in Pittsburgh, which is carried on Charter's Johnstown and Altoona area systems; WPKD-TV was originally targeted to serve that area before it refocused its programming toward the Pittsburgh market in the late 1990s.

On February 2, 2007, Beaumont, Texas CBS station KFDM made its CW-affiliated subchannel available to Time Warner Cable customers in the market on channel 10. On April 20, 2007, ABC affiliate KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas began broadcasting its CW-affiliated subchannel on Time Warner Cable channel 13. On April 21, 2007, KCWQ-LP made its broadcast debut on channel 5 on Time Warner Cable in the Palm Springs area.

One of the network's major affiliate groups, Pappas Telecasting Companies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for thirteen of its television stations on May 10, 2008. Within the petition, Pappas specifically cited the network's low ratings and lackluster performance as one of many complications that had forced it to make the filing. Several of the stations have since been sold either in business transactions with representatives involved in Pappas's bankruptcy proceedings or via station auction processes as the company winds down operations.

Although Pappas had originally stated that none of its stations would be affected at all by the closing, two stations owned by the company that were formerly affiliated with the CW have ceased operations. On May 29, 2008, Yakima, Washington affiliate KCWK (which served the south-central portion of that state) shut down and the station's offices were closed, leaving that area without locally based CW programming and forcing pay television providers to carry Los Angeles affiliate KTLA in order to provide the network's programming to their subscribers. The situation was resolved in April 2009, when Fisher Communications announced that its CBS affiliates in the area, KIMA-TV and satellite station KEPR-TV, would carry the network through DTT subchannel affiliations.

Owned-and-operated stations

CW stations owned by Nexstar Media Group, Mission Broadcasting, or Vaughn Media are considered O&O stations, with nearly 80 stations in markets as high as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia, to lower markets such as Terre Haute, Indiana, Wichita Falls, Texas, Utica, New York, and Evansville, Indiana.

Related services

Video-on-demand services

The CW provides video on demand access for delayed viewing of full episodes of the network's programming through various means, including via its website at CWTV.com and its mobile apps for iOS and Android devices (with programs streamable over Wi-Fi and cellular networks), a traditional VOD service—the CW on Demand—that is available on most traditional cable and IPTV providers, and through content deals with Hulu, iTunes and Netflix.

In January 2007, the CW began streaming full-length episodes of several of its programs on the CWTV.com website. The most recent episodes of the network's shows are usually made available on the CW app and the CW on Demand the day after their original broadcast. Due to restrictions imposed through its deal with the streaming service, streaming of the most recent episode of any CW program on Hulu is restricted until eight days after their initial broadcast, in order to encourage live or same-week (via both DVR and cable on-demand) viewing, with day-after-air streaming on either service limited to subscribers of Hulu's subscription service. The CW previously imposed a three-day delay after an episode's original airdate before making its programs available on its website and through the Hulu subscription service (originally called Hulu Plus). However, changes implemented by the network on March 15, 2012, to reduce copyright infringement of its programming content through illegal streaming and downloading internet platforms resulted in that delay being reduced to eight hours after a program's original airing through both services.

In October 2011, the network entered into digital distribution deals with streaming services Netflix and Hulu. The four-year Netflix agreement allowed its customers to instantly watch more than 700 hours of previous seasons of the CW's then-current scripted series, while Hulu signed a five-year deal, giving the streaming site access to next-day content from four of the five major networks (except for CW sister network CBS). The Netflix deal was estimated to be worth $1 billion, providing a much needed lifeline to the money-losing CW network and solidified its future as a valuable asset for then-co-owners CBS and Warner Bros. The Netflix deal was renewed in 2016, updated to allow the streaming service to provide entire seasons of CW shows a week after their airing. The Hulu deal was discontinued at this time. In 2019, the CW and Netflix opted not to renew the deal. The respective studios of CW shows would instead sell to streaming services individually. Beginning in 2020, WarnerMedia streaming service HBO Max (later rebranded to Max under Warner Bros. Discovery) would be the exclusive streaming home for Warners-produced CW shows.

High-definition feed

The CW's master feed is transmitted in 1080i high definition with 5.1 surround sound. All transmission of the network's programming moved to the format in June 2012, with the network's prime time lineup being presented in HD since March 2012 (when America's Next Top Model became the final CW program to convert to the format), with the exception of certain specials produced prior to that point (such as Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, a holiday special carried over to the network from the WB) and select movie presentations. The network's Saturday morning E/I block, One Magnificent Morning, is also broadcast in HD, with the final SD program, the two-season daytime talk show The Robert Irvine Show converting to the format for its second and final season in September 2017 (and in turn ending U.S. broadcast television's standard definition age).

The network is available in HD on most of its full-power affiliates, while availability of high definition content on subchannel-only or cable-exclusive affiliates varies by market; in some of these cases, the over-the-air signal is available only in standard definition (a 16:9 widescreen feed transmitted in 480i SD is presented on some over-the-air affiliates to meet minimum requirements for presentation), with the station offering an exclusive high definition feed to pay television providers. Some affiliates transmit CW programming in 720p HD due to technical considerations if the network is carried on a digital terrestrial subchannel of a station affiliated with another major network or if a primary feed CW affiliate carries more than one subchannel. Since June 2012, the CW Plus feed is also transmitted in HD, and the network has asked those affiliates to carry it in high definition wherever possible. With CBS beginning to use 16:9 framing for all of their graphics on September 24, 2018, the CW was the last major network that continued to use 4:3 framing for all graphics, before switching to the 16:9 framing for all of their graphics in August 2020.

CW Seed

CW Seed (originally called CWD or the CW Digital Studio) is a production arm that provided original content created exclusively for digital platforms focused in the areas of animation, game shows, comedy, and digital personalities. Previously existing as a section on the CW's main website, CW Seed was spun-off to a separate domain in 2013 as a streaming platform. The free media app became available on several devices, including Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

CW Seed produced various web series, including Vixen, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and Constantine: City of Demons. On January 8, 2020, CW Seed acquired U.S. streaming rights to 14 series from BBC Studios. In September 2020, the platform added over 300 hours of programming with additional seasons for existing shows and new series, such as 90210, Lost Girl, Nikita, and XIII: The Conspiracy. The CW Seed app and website were reabsorbed into the CW's in April 2022.