The CW Daytime

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The CW Daytime is the former official branding for an afternoon programming block that was broadcast on The CW. It was originally branded as Daytime WB, which aired on one of its predecessors, The WB, from January 2, 2006 to September 15, 2006. The CW programmed the slot from September 17, 2006, until September 3, 2021.

Officially, the network preferred affiliates to air the program featured from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in each time zone, though some affiliates aired it in differing timeslots, mainly stations with much more successful afternoon schedules with other programming which found the CW's hour stunted their ratings. The CW Plus stations in the Central and Mountain Time Zones also aired the show an hour earlier or later, depending on the local time zone.

In the fall of 2021, The CW expanded to a seven-night-a-week schedule with the addition of two hours on Saturday evenings. In exchange, the network returned the weekday hour of programming to its affiliates, ending the 26-year commitment between The WB and The CW to weekday afternoon programming.[1]

History[]

Origins[]

The logo for Daytime WB. Used in 2006.

The CW Daytime originated as a block on The WB called Daytime WB, which launched on January 2, 2006. The block's creation traces back to the former holder of its timeslot, Kids' WB, which began sharing several of its programs with Cartoon Network following the Turner Broadcasting System's 1996 merger with WarnerMedia. Cartoon Network soon began to compete in-house with their Toonami block, and later, Miguzi in 2004. Additional competition in the afternoon timeslot from Nickelodeon and Disney Channel soon pushed out Kids' WB's prime broadcast competitor, Fox Kids, from weekdays, and the complications of broadcast regulations on children's programming soon had netlet stations pushing for different options to retain advertising revenue, including from The WB. This mainly included broad-appeal programming such as talk shows and sitcom reruns, and The WB's affiliate base began agitating to move away from weekday children's programming.

On May 31, 2005, The WB announced the discontinuation of the weekday Kids' WB block effective at the end of the year on December 31. Kids' WB continued to air weekdays after this, but with a more obvious push of its existing audience towards Miguzi and the Saturday morning Kids' WB lineup during the transition. After Daytime WB debuted, Kids' WB's Saturday block was expanded by one hour, running from 7:00 a.m. to noon in all time zones.

Move to the CW[]

The block moved to The CW, which replaced The WB in its merger with UPN on September 18, 2006, under the unofficial brand The CW Daytime. On-air promotions for the afternoon block (which aired quite rarely) did not refer to the block by a formal brand name. The only description given by the network's website in the past was that it was a "Monday-Friday afternoon block from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET/PT) as well as a Sunday encore block from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT) outside of prime time." The Sunday block (formerly branded prior to The CW's launch as "EasyView," a component of The WB's "Big Sunday" schedule) was discontinued in September 2009 when the network gave back the five-hour evening lineup on Sundays to its affiliates in order for them to carry syndicated programs and feature films after the failure of MRC's brokered programming with the network for its Sunday primetime lineup during the 2008-09 season.

In the 2010s, the majority of The CW's stations aired NBCUniversal-syndicated talk shows such as The Steve Wilkos Show and Maury during daytime hours outside of Jerry Springer, along with court shows and other talk programming from other distributors. After around 2010, The CW's website and social media channels made no mention of The CW Daytime in any form, and outside of promos distributed to the network's affiliates and occasional network promotions in primetime (usually only at the start of the television season), the responsibilities and burden of promotion were largely held by the producers of the program featured in the timeslot. It was effectively a minor, yet compulsory element of the network's schedule for affiliates to carry. The programs were also never available through The CW's website or apps for later streaming.

Starting in the fall of 2008, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution began holding the program responsibilities for the block.[2] At that point, when Toonzai block premiered, 4Kids broadcast an annual preview special prior to the launch of the new schedule in September. The debut of Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight from the CW4Kids block aired in early September 2009 to promote the series. Another preview special aired in 2010 upon the rename of the block to Toonzai, as well as the pilot for Tai Chi Chasers in 2011.

Reduction to one hour[]

On September 7, 2009, the Warner Bros.-distributed The Tyra Banks Show moved from first-run syndication exclusively to The CW Daytime, with a repeat "best-of" episode airing in the first hour of the block, while a new episode aired in the second hour.[3] Tyra Banks announced the discontinuation of the series in December 2009, with the program ending its run in May 2010.[4]

For the 2010–2011 season, the network aired one repeat "best-of" episode of Banks' show each day until September 16, 2011 – as The CW had cut its weekday daytime down to one hour that season, retaining the 3:00 p.m. start time (the 4:00 p.m. hour was given back to The CW's affiliates, the vast majority of whom filled the slot with syndicated programming). For the 2011–2012 television season, Dr. Drew's Lifechangers, a daytime talk show produced by Warner Bros. subsidiary Telepictures (which also produced Tyra), aired an original episode in the first half-hour, and an encore in the second until September 14, 2012, following the show's cancellation due to Pinsky focusing more on his nightly series Dr. Drew On Call on HLN.[5] Since that point, the "CW Daytime" branding ceased to be referred to in any on-air form by the network and the show airing in the slot was referred to as '(program name), on The CW'.

Tribune Broadcasting offerings[]

The Bill Cunningham Show (produced by Tribune Broadcasting and ITV Studios), which had been airing mainly on Tribune's stations (along with a few owned by Local TV and Raycom Media) during the 2011–2012 season, replaced Lifechangers on September 17, 2012.[6]

On May 27, 2016, in interviews with local Cincinnati media, Cunningham stated that he would no longer continue with The Bill Cunningham Show into the 2016-17 season due to a grinding taping schedule and a three-year extension that he could not agree to, leaving the fate of the network's daytime slot in doubt.[7]

On June 20, 2016, the replacement series for Cunningham was named. The Robert Irvine Show, featuring Food Network personality Robert Irvine, was also produced by Tribune, this time in association with Irwin Entertainment, and debuted on September 12, 2016. Tribune's agreement to program the timeslot ran concurrent with a new five-year CW affiliation agreement, ending in September 2021.[8][9] However, the show had very low ratings and almost no promotion, and Tribune decided not to continue production of the series in the 2018-19 season.[10]

Waning years[]

On June 13, 2018, an article from Broadcasting & Cable named the replacement for Irvine; reruns and unaired episodes of Jerry Springer, which stopped producing new episodes in spring 2018. The CW also had a contractual right to ask for newly-produced episodes, though this was never executed. It is unknown what arrangements Tribune Media made with NBCUniversal Television Distribution and The CW to allow the Jerry Springer reruns to air.[11] At the time of the agreement, Tribune was in the process of an acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group (which was later terminated outright); both broadcast chains had concurrently served as the largest syndicated group of stations carrying Jerry Springer. The same arrangement continued for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, with those repeats often serving as a complement to Springer's new syndicated courtroom series Judge Jerry (the default schedule for The CW Plus featured those repeats as a lead-in), and after Tribune's merger with Nexstar Media Group, which now makes up the largest affiliate base for the network.

Nexstar renewed their CW affiliation agreement on May 20, 2021, several days after the network exchanged the weekday afternoon block for two hours in primetime on Saturday evenings, freeing Nexstar (and all of the network's affiliates) from the responsibility of airing that hour as of September 3, 2021.[12]

Former programming[]

References[]

  1. ^ Porter, Rick (14 May 2020). "The CW to Expand to 7 Nights for First Time Ever". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Warner Bros. to Take Over Daytime Programming for The CW". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. May 5, 2008. Archived from the original on May 8, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  3. ^ Albiniak, Paige (November 21, 2008). "Tyra Banks's Talk Show Shifting From Syndication To CW". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  4. ^ People Magazine Staff (December 28, 2009). "Tyra Banks Says Goodbye to Talk Show". People. Time Inc. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  5. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 10, 2011). "CW to Carry Dr. Drew Daytime Show". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  6. ^ Albiniak, Paige (February 10, 2012). "Exclusive: Tribune's 'Bill Cunningham' to Take Over CW's Daytime Slot This Fall; Conflict talker will air at 3:00 p.m. across the country". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  7. ^ Samarghandi, Amir (27 May 2016). "Bill Cunningham quits TV". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  8. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (June 20, 2016). "Robert Irvine to Launch Talk Show on CW Daytime Lineup (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (June 20, 2016). "Robert Irvine To Host Daytime Talk Show On The CW Stations". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  10. ^ Albiniak, Paige (December 18, 2017). "Studios Shopping Shows Ahead of NATPE 2018". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  11. ^ Albaniak, Paige (13 June 2018). "'Jerry Springer' Moving to The CW This Fall". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  12. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (20 May 2020). "CW, Nexstar Renew Affiliation Deal in New York, Los Angeles and 35 Top Markets". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
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