The network made the announcement Thursday as part of a broader revamp of its fall schedule.
The network has long targeted younger audiences with shows like “One Tree Hill,” “Gossip Girl,” and “90210.” But Nielsen reported that CW saw its ratings drop by 17 percent this season, including a 20 percent decrease among young women -- its core audience.
Network executives argue Nielsen’s rating system doesn’t include viewers who watch shows on its website and say they’ve devised a way to gauge online viewership for its advertisers.
The network previewed a new online experience it will offer next season at its upfront presentation in New York. The new site includes game shows, comedies, and animation in addition to other content, according to TheWrap. It’ll also feature choose-your-own-adventure style programing that will allow viewers to decide, say, whether two characters kiss or argue.
That may be troubling to some actors who play unlikeable characters. With the network executives and shows’ writers better able to gauge viewers’ engagement and attachment to certain roles and plots, actors playing unlikable characters may find themselves out of the job.
A spokesman for the network said actors shouldn’t worry. “This is a digital-only program, so no, it won't impact the jobs of any actors working on our TV shows,” Paul Hewitt, who handles publicity for the network, told Back Stage. Asked if the network’s increased focus on online content could create more roles for actors, Hewitt was emphatic “Absolutely,” he said.
Other networks have experimented with creating web-only content, only to scale back their efforts. NBC Universal Digital Studio, which was launched in 2008, shuttered last year despite having some success pairing its series with sponsors. NBC said at the time it was switching its focus back to producing content that supported it programing airing on television. CW seems to be adopting a similar strategy. But with its website drawing as much as 7 percent of its audience at a given time, it may have more success.
The CW was created out of a marriage between Warner Bros.' WB and CBS' UPN networks. Its target audience is women aged 18-34, a younger skew than other networks’ viewership focus.
