The CW

The CW
Founded	September 17, 2006
President	Dennis Miller
Company	Nexstar Media Group (87.5%) Warner Bros. Entertainment (12.5%)
Notable Series	Arrow The Flash Supernatural The Vampire Diaries Whose Line Is It Anyway?

The CW is a US broadcast network that began broadcasting on September 17, 2006. It was the product of a merger of the networks The WB and UPN. Its acronym comes from the first letters of CBS Corporation (now Paramount Global) and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

History

During the 2006–2007 upfronts, it was revealed that The CW only had two new shows set to premiere in the fall, one of which was a spinoff of a then-current show. Another two new shows were set to premiere during midseason, but one of them, Hidden Palms, was pushed to the summer. In a surprising move, The CW opted to renew low-rated One Tree Hill over the higher-rated and more acclaimed family drama Everwood, possibly in an effort to appeal to younger viewers, which was a target demographic One Tree Hill achieved that Everwood did not.

In its first season, the only new drama launched by The CW, Runaway, was cancelled after only three episodes. At the 2007–2008 upfronts, cult and critic favorite Veronica Mars was not renewed. Also cancelled were long-running shows Reba, Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven.

In 2022, Nexstar Media announced plans to acquire a 75% stake in the CW, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. retaining a joint 25% minority stake. The acquisition was finalized on October 3, 2022. As part of a deal made with CBS during the sale, eight Paramount-owned CW affiliates dropped the network on September 1, 2023 to become independent stations. In late 2023, Nexstar purchased Paramount's 12.5% stake in the CW, increasing its own ownership stake to 87.5%.

In-Depth

• Program Listing: A complete listing of shows that aired new episodes on The CW.

Primetime Shows (2024-2025 Season)

Primetime

New and returning series Children Ruin Everything (Season 3) Inside the NFL (Season 48) Joan Scrabble (Season 1) Sullivan's Crossing (Season 2) Superman & Lois (Season 4) Trivial Pursuit (Season 1) Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Season 13) The Wranglers (Season 1) WWE NXT (Season 18) Midseason series The Force (Season 1) Good Cop/Bad Cop (Season 1) Mysteries Decoded (Season 3) Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Season 11) Sherlock’s Daughter (Season 1) Son of a Critch (Season 3) Wild Cards (Season 2)

Summer series (2025) TBD

Canceled/ended in 2023-24 All American: Homecoming (Season 3) Everyone Else Burns (Season 1) Ride (Season 1) Run the Burbs (Season 2) The Spencer Sisters (Season 1) Superman & Lois (Season 4) Walker (Season 4)

Non-Primetime

Saturday morning children's shows (One Magnificent Morning) Chicken Soup for the Soul's Hidden Heroes (Season 3) Did I Mention Invention? (Season 1) Ready, Set, Pet (Season 1) This Old House: Family Edition (Season 2) Welcome Home (Season 1)

Current Primetime Schedule

Day	7:00	7:30	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30
Monday			Superman & Lois		Totally Funny Animals	Totally Funny Kids
Tuesday			WWE NXT
Wednesday			Sullivan's Crossing		Inside the NFL
Thursday			Scrabble		Trivial Pursuit
Friday			Bob Hearts Abishola	Bob Hearts Abishola	Bob Hearts Abishola	Bob Hearts Abishola
Saturday			College football
Sunday	The CW Movie

Some CW affiliates may pre-empt certain network shows to weekend airing due to carriage of live sports events, special programming of local interest or breaking news coverage. The CW, which previously programmed on Sundays in prime time until 2009 (when it turned its network time slots over to its affiliates to program as they wished), began programming on Sundays in prime time again in October 2018. It began programming on Saturdays in prime time in September 2021 in exchange for the end of its CW Daytime program block (the time slots of which have been returned to its affiliates).

Current Non-Primetime Schedule

Morning

Day	7:00	7:30	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	11:00	11:30
Saturday	Jack Hanna's Into the Wild	Jack Hanna's Into the Wild	Jack Hanna's Into the Wild	This Old House Trade School	Chicken Soup for the Soul's Animal Tales	Did I Mention Invention?

Afternoon and Evening

The CW no longer has daytime programming on weekdays due to the network's decision to return the time slots formerly occupied by the CW Daytime block to its affiliates in exchange for programming two hours of prime time on Saturday nights beginning in September 2021.

Late Night

The CW does not have late night network programming.

Nexstar owned-and-operated stations

Nexstar owns and/or operates the majority of the following CW affiliates:

DMA	Location	Call	Digital	Virtual	Owner
1	New York City NY	WPIX	11		Mission Broadcasting Nexstar (operator)
2	Los Angeles CA	KTLA	31	5	Nexstar
4	Philadelphia PA	WPHL	17
5	Dallas/Ft. Worth TX	KDAF	32	33
6	Washington D C	WDCW	15	50
7	Houston TX	KIAH	38	39
8	San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose CA	KRON	7	4
10	Atlanta GA	WPCH	31.6/19.6	17	Gray Television
11	Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota FL	WTTA	9	38	Nexstar
13	Seattle/Tacoma WA	KOMO	30	4	Sinclair Broadcast Group
14	Detroit MI	WADL	27	38	Mission Broadcasting Nexstar (operator)
16	Miami/Fort Lauderdale FL	WSFL	27	39	E.W. Scripps
17	Denver CO	KWGN	34	2	Nexstar
20	Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto FL	KQCA	23	58	Hearst Television
21	St. Louis MO	KPLR	26	11	Nexstar
22	Portland OR	KRCW	33	32
24	Pittsburgh PA	WPNT	21	22	Sinclair Broadcast Group
50	New Orleans LA	WNOL	15	38	Nexstar

External Sites

• Official website for The CW
• List of The CW affiliates (table) article on Wikipedia