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The CW Chooses Its Undertaker

Brad Schwartz is taking over the last-place broadcast network that has become little more than a linear money pit, and the numbers are only getting worse. Those Greg Berlanti-produced Y.A. shows and DC Comics adaptations are likely coming to an end under new owner Nexstar, and ultimately, the economics of the entire network probably aren’t sustainable.

Brad Schwartz
New CW Entertainment president Brad Schwartz. Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Matthew Belloni
November 7, 2022

You’ll be forgiven for cringing a bit as new CW entertainment president Brad Schwartz made the rounds in trade interviews this week. “I think we’re going to try having breakthrough content that brings in large audiences,” he said. “And we’re just going to have to figure out a way of doing it efficiently.” It’s always tough when the guy hired to gut the place tries to explain his strategy in the fluffiest and most optimistic terms. But with apologies to station group owner Nexstar, which just acquired 75 percent of the CW, the economics of “bringing in large audiences” to a last-place linear broadcast network don’t really make sense.