Ever since Paramount and Warner Bros. announced their intention to sell The CW to Nexstar, fans knew the big DC party with the Arrowverse and other DC Comics series was officially over. While it's not curtains for all the shows just yet, it's clear that Nexstar is moving on -- and it's not even a DCU program that confirms it.
The CW was a Frankenstein's monster that combined Warner Bros.' The WB and Paramount's United Paramount Network and was never profitable. However, Paramount and Warner Bros. made money on their individual shows, while the network's losses were shared with their co-owner. As part of the deal, Nexstar's new CW is required to take the two studios' shows -- but only for a year. Warner Bros. and CBS are each left with 12.5 percent ownership in The CW, but they may be looking to unload that share as well... because Warner Bros. produced a show that is exactly what Nexstar claims to be looking for and it's still ending. If Whose Line is it Anyway? can't survive, then any remaining big-budget series are on borrowed time. Luckily The Flash is currently filming its final season. It can at least close the curtain on DC's Arrowverse in a way satisfying to the generation of fans who grew up with Arrow.
Nexstar Wants to Target the Kind of Audience Whose Line…? Drew
Nexstar seemed to telegraph their programming changein August by pointing out that despite all the teen dramas on The CW, the average viewer was around 58 years old. The company is also is known for preferring cheaply produced, non-scripted series which appeal to that demographic. This is what makes Colin Mochrie's tweet that Whose Line is it Anyway? is canceled so bizarre. The improv series, in the 12th season of its third iteration, is unscripted. It also appeals to older viewers, many of whom have watched these same comedians since the mid-1990s. The Flash (at least the Barry Allen version) first showed up in 1956, so adults in that age range know that character. But getting them to buy in to the Speed Force and time-travel is, frankly, easier than getting them to buy into the emotional drama. Even though not technically part of the Arrowverse, Superman & Lois might have a chance because everyone likes Kal-El a little. Yet canceling Whose Line is it Anyway? dashes those hopes somewhat because it's a much cheaper series than any of the DC shows.
This move suggests that the split between Nexstar and Warner Bros. / Paramount is about more than just the audience their series targets. It could be anything from bad blood during negotiations to Nexstar's fellow co-owners simply charging too much to license their series. The next thing to watch for is if a non-Warner Bros.-produced improv comedy show pops up on the network in the next few years. Scripted series like The Winchesters -- which is not filming a full season -- and the forthcoming Gotham Knights are already in deep trouble. Bonafide hits like Superman & Lois and Walker may have a future, but even those series are currently in doubt, especially if Nexstar actively wants shows from outside the previous ownership group.
Was It a Mistake for Warner Bros. to Sell The CW?
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Every move made by Nexstar since has been unpopular with The CW fans, but they took on a network that never made a profit and have to change that. Cutting expensive series or even series that may be expensive to license is a sound business strategy. Less sound, however, is Warner Bros.' decision to give up the network. Paramount has CBS -- one of the Big Three -- but Warner Bros. has no other TV networks in their portfolio. Elsewhere, Sony doesn't have their own streaming service... and everyone from Netflix to Disney+ is paying them for content. Still the Arrowverse is an asset, especially when the shows over at Netflix are released to HBO Max. It's just not an asset The CW wants anymore.
Without a network, Warner Bros. could focus on creating TV to license to all the networks. Yet if they end up with no buyers, they're in trouble. If they'd kept The CW without Paramount, Warner Bros. would no longer be able to share the network's losses, but at least they'd still be in the broadcast television game with singular control of the channel. Instead, Nexstar is doing to The CW what Warner Brothers Discovery is doing to their new company: laying people off.
It's a sound business decision to change what The CW is, allowing Warner Bros. and Paramount to minimize their concern with it. But the change is still sad for viewers. The CW, especially over the past decade or so, has been something very special. Nexstar may be able to make the network profitable, but it will come at the expense of the network's character and its audience.