The CW will air 14 hours, and on all seven days, starting fall 2021. Saturday night launches Oct. 2 with the « iHeartRadio Music Festival. »
The CW is aiming to go where few broadcasters dare travel these days: Saturday nights. The netlet plans to add a two-hour Saturday primetime block to its schedule this fall, programming a full seven nights a week for the first time in its 15-year history. The CW chairman/CEO Mark Pedowitz announced the expansion on Thursday. The additional two hours will bump The CW’s programming output up to 14 hours a week. (And it might be noted, because The CW doesn’t air news or sports programming, that puts its entertainment programming output either on par or far ahead of the other four major broadcast networks.) Saturdays will launch on Oct.2 with night one of the “iHeartRadio Music Festival,” which airs at 8 p.m. ET (and will conclude on Oct.3, with night two). The CW will announce its regular Saturday programming line-up when it reveals its fall 2021 schedule on May 25. “Becoming a seven-night-a-week network has been a long-standing goal for everyone here at The CW,” said Rob Tuck, executive vice president, national sales for The CW. “In an extremely tight broadcast environment, the ability to expand our primetime by two more hours each week is a dynamic shift that will be gladly welcomed by our clients and the agencies. Following the recent industry trend which has seen considerable contraction on a linear basis, The CW will buck that trend this season by adding a new night of original programming, creating new opportunities for us going forward.” A joint venture between WarnerMedia and CBS, The CW launched in 2006 with a six-night-a-week schedule that mirrored the final primetime footprint of predecessor The WB: Five hours on Sunday (a two-hour repeat block at 5 p.
