It may not be considered one of the big networks, but the Television Critics Association still allows The CW to get up and talk about its ratings performance and programming lineup. Network president Mark Pedowitz admitted, “We had a pretty good fourth quarter” noting his network’s 10 percent increase in total viewers. The net’s 18-49 and 18-34 demo numbers remained flat this fall. He blamed the Nielsen system for not fully tracking the number of viewers in the latter demo because it overlooks people tuning into shows using digital platforms. He shared that the network’s median age has risen to 41, something that NBC’s Bob Greenblatt laughed at during his TCA session. “I’d like to thank Bob for giving us a shout out for doing what we set out to do,” Pedowitz held firm. He set out for The CW to try and capture a wider audience across a younger and older generation of viewers. Now what you really want to hear about comes next; Pedowitz spent some time discussing the status of longrunning series like Supernatural, freshman shows such as Beauty and the Beast, and he also talked up new midseason entry The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to the hugely successful HBO series. It’s all after the break.
- On Supernatural: “ We are pleased with how Wednesday night completely has worked out with Arrow being a bona fide hit and Supernatural actually gaining viewers back again. I think creatively the show’s in a great place. There is always a good shot that it will come back.”
- On the futures of Nikita, 90210 and Hart of Dixie: Season renewals have not been decided yet but he stated, “I’m a big believer in giving fans, as you can tell by what we did for One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl, a very satisfactory conclusion between a retrospective and a satisfactory ending. I think it’s something that we, as a television industry, need to do, because people who stick with a show for that period of time and invested that time deserve that sort of a gift.”
- On Nikita, specifically: “When we moved it to 8 o’clock [on Fridays], it actually started to perform better… it’s performing on par to our expectation. I’m a fan of the show; I like the show. But again, it’s performing at par.”
- On Hart of Dixie, specifically: “We’re very pleased where it is going creatively.”
- On Beauty and the Beast: “We’re very pleased in terms of where it’s going creatively. It’s basically on par with Secret Circle in the fourth quarter with total viewers. We believe the show has a very long run in front of it. We’ve made no announcements about a second season. But based on the passion of the fans both on the E! Online and the People’s Choice Awards, we think we have something in this epic love story between Cat and Vincent.” But Secret Secret was cancelled after a short time of being on air. “I believe the show has more growth potential [than Secret Circle] in terms of its creativity and because we’re centered around that love story,” he issued.
- On Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals starring Joseph Morgan and Phoebe Tonkin: He confirmed it by saying, “You’ll have the melting pot of New Orleans and deal with a lot of voodoo and everything that goes with it.” He said he’s a “big believer that if you have something that works you can use it to incubate other shows.”
- On the cancellation of freshman medical drama Emily Owens M.D.: “We’re running all 13 episodes. We’re very proud of the show. For whatever reason, we couldn’t get it fully sampled.”
- On potential shows for next season Amazon (a Wonder Woman origin story), The Selection (a Hunger Games-esque drama), and the adaptation of Koushun Takumi’s novel Battle Royale: “We’re waiting to see the script and we’re busy casting Diana. Hopefully the script works the way we want,” he said regarding Amazon. “The script just came in and it’s very well done,” he said of The Selection, which is based on a series of novels by Kiera Cass. Later: “At this time, we’re not planning to do anything with Battle Royale.”
- On The Carrie Diaries: He describes the show as an “origination story” and he hopes that the “simplicity of the 1980s” will lure an older audience to the show.
- On introducing comedies to The CW’s lineup: “I’m getting more comfortable with it. Our schedule is stabilizing, so in ’13-’14, we’ll continue our development and hopefully by ’14-’15 we’ll be able to put some on.”