- Smallville
- Supernatural
- Reaper

All others suck…seriously…suck big time. OK, I’m a 28 y/o Male, so I’m way out of the networks Target demo I suppose, but it really pisses me off that this broad spits in the face of fans who have been with shows like Smallville & Supernatural (I’m sure she would have turned them down if she was in charge of the WB at the time) which happen to be their top 2 scripted shows. Maybe they should look to cater to 18-34 males since those shows actually do the best #’s…including Smackdown. How she stays employed is beyond me!

I caught some of this weeks Jericho rerun and it seems like they replaced all the original music with an irritating generic country music soundtrack (it sounded like there was low voice in the background with the instrumental track cranked up real high). It was so bad I had to turn it off when it was on. I heard the DVDs were something like this too due to CBS being too cheap to pay the original artists for the rights to use their songs.

Dawn didn’t want Jericho, but in an attempt to bail themselves out so to speak, they bring back reruns of Jericho to anchor Sunday nights…what a contradiction that is.

Good job, Dawn…*sigh*

Gusar, Dawn had pressure to bring back REAPER from above. So she kind of had to. You’re right though that it doesn’t fit with her “flow.” So why green light it in the first place?

There is no argument that ratings are no where close to what the WB used to pull. There is no argument that the CW doesn’t lose money like the WB or UPN did. However the reason for the later has nothing to do with Dawn. It DOES have something to do with a person she approved hiring though. So I guess she gets credit for that.

The CW is a tighter run ship than the previous networks. That is all she has going for her. The rest is ratings hell.

I choose to view this as a godsend for me and my friends at my weight watcher meeting. How can we convince Dawn to make new episodes of PUSHING DAISIES the cornerstone for the All New CW network? Maybe we should be mailing daisy seed packages to our new heroine, Dawn.

BTW, I would guess that if you looked up the word misogynist in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Nick C. If I could, I would tell his mother on him.

Then comes this: Dawn will scrape Privileged for, and now brace yourself… Reaper! Not that I have anything against Reaper, and I also know quite a few can’t wait for it’s return, but tell me: What programming flow is there when you have Reaper following 90210??? And what programming flow is there, when the best performers for CW (Smallville, Supernatural, the now gone Smackdown) are those that do not target Dawn’s coveted demo???

That’s why I’ll bother to comment when Dawn is mentioned on this site. Because what she does and what she says makes no sense to me.

I can tell you that I know marketing. This idea is bad marketing. Harvard Business School will be using this as an example of bad marketing in the future. It’s a perfect example of not knowing how to handle “position.” Dawn wants the CW’s position to be “The Network for young women.” Yet her strongest assets were shows that didn’t fit her position. One of the first things a good professor teaches you is that position is a NOUN and not a verb. You can’t position yourself. You can be put in a position.

Defining your position is one of the biggest hurdles for creating a Brand. The CW had a mix of the WB and UPN. The WB had a Brand. They were the network for young people starring good looking young people with witty dialogue (thanks to Buffy and Dawson’s Creek). The Brand of the WB got so strong it became a pop culture reference. UPN on the other hand had no real Brand. It was Trek & urban comedies. If UPN was anything it was a punchline to jokes from Jay Leno to WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY.

It would have been in the best interest of the CW to try and capture the Brand that the WB had. Instead Dawn felt that what she was trying to do at UPN should be done at the new network.

It’s a huge case study of stupidity in the marketplace. It’s entirely an example of not knowing your position in the marketplace and hurting your company because of it. Your idea of a network for all the young was done before, it was called the WB and it was the strongest half of the UPN/WB merger. What did UPN have that was even decent? ANTM? EVERYONE HATES CHRIS? VERONICA MARS? Oh I remember now, it had SMACKDOWN! and ANTM.

I think it was Guy Kawasaki I heard once mention that if a company can’t identify their position in the eyes of the buyer then they can’t improve their position.

As mentioned before by the guys here, SMACKDOWN! wasn’t making it harder to get female viewers for GOSSIP GIRL. If you’re going to replace something have a plan. Have a show in mind.

If every night of the week on The CW is dedicated to attracting young women to watch then what benefit would I, as an advertiser get from buying ad time with The CW on a Tuesday rather than a Wednesday? Its essentially the exact same audience tuning in every night of the week so once I’ve brought ad time with you on a Monday why am I going to want to buy more on any other night of the week? I’d just be reaching out to the same people every night of the week and there’s only so far that can go. More the point by focusing purely on the one demo you dramatically reduce the number and type of products advertisers can sell on your network. Whereas advertisers can look at the Fox line-up for example and find a show that appeals to just about every and any demographic and therefore know they can at some point during the week advertise any product.

Like I said I think The CW are trying to attach a cable mentality to a broadcast network and its not working.

Personally I feel The CW should be setting itself up as the under-25 network (the anti-CBS if you like) with a slate of programs that will produce big 18-34 numbers in both sexes. Perhaps split the week in half? Sunday – Tuesday being the female line-up with Wednesday – Friday making up the ‘testosterone block’.

With all that said I think The CW might in fact be right to pass on shows that have been cancelled on the big four, as much as I might love to have seen certain shows continued I can absolutely understand why The CW wouldn’t want them. Its hard to set yourself up as competition to or as a viable major network when you’re picking up shows that other networks have axed because of bad numbers. There’s also no real guarantees that audiences watching a show on CBS for example would follow it to The CW.

It worked for FOX. Also the NFL pays for itself. If you win a bid, you win. Going after the THURSDAY NIGHT game isn’t a bad idea. Especially if it gives you a playoff game every season.

The CW lacks the money and the exposure of the big four networks so trying to compete with them on ‘their turf’ as it were and competing for the 18-49 demographic is simply setting themselves up for failure. It’s been noted in this thread already that Fox were only able to become part of the big four because they had the money to buy up NFL games – not only does The CW have no new football to bid for its unlikely they’d be able to outbid the other major networks for football coverage. If The CW can’t compete on the wider margin of 18-49 then zeroing in on a specific demographic is the strongest business strategy.

If you’re an advertiser and you want to appeal to the 18-49 demographic then The CW is going to be the fifth (at best) network you look at buying time on and that dramatically limit’s the amount of money they can make. In contrast to that by aggressively pursing the women 18-34 (and younger) demographic The CW has instantly set themselves apart from the other networks and allows them have a much more profitable advertising strategy, they can charge prime advertising rates to reach young women because they’re the only network that specialises in attracting them. With that in mind The CW shouldn’t be overly focused on total viewers or the 18-49 demo, they should be primarily focused on young women. A show like Smallville may very well get good numbers and good 18-49 but if its tanking with young women then The CW shouldn’t be focused on it because that’s not where their marketing strategy is.

Having said that, that doesn’t mean that I strictly speaking agree with this particular strategy. In general I think The CW has gone too narrow and they’re using a cable channel mentality on network television. On cable a channel exclusively aimed at young women works on network television not so much. My suggestion would be that The CW is probably better suited to seeking out young men and women rather than simply women. Become the under-30 or the under-25 network and advertisers will absolutely love you.

SMACKDOWN! SUPERNATURAL, and SMALLVILLE were perfect for the CW if they were trying to be THE NETWORK FOR YOUNG VIEWERS. Instead her myopic view is going to kill the network (it has already started). Basic rules in marketing state you can’t just please one demo. It’s a bad idea. It worked for LIFETIME, but this is a broadcast network.

Personally, I think UPN and The WB were fine on their own, especially The WB as you mention who had SOLID ratings. She’s proving that she’s willing to crash a burn, along with her precious women 18-34.

It’s fine that she wants to target young women, but what about young men? I’m 25. The only shows I watch on The CW are Smallville and Supernatural. The other 6 days of the week I’m watching cable news or Without a Trace / Cold Case reruns on TNT, which could benefit The CW if they picked up or; here’s a thought: DEVELOPED some kind of procedural drama like the other networks have. Yes, there are a lot of them these days, but the format works. If they want to play in the big leagues, the have to develop something similar.

But even if they did that, it’d just be a sad knock off of whatever shows are currently on NBC and CBS because they just can’t do anything right.

What she needs to realize is that EVERYONE watches television, not just 18-34 year-old women. If she would get that through her thick skull, they might get somewhere.

Eric, I agree with you as well. I am a long-time Batman fan. I was excited to see Birds of Prey when it came out, but we all know what happened with that.

I agree that The Graysons could’ve worked, but with a lot of retooling. With Smallville in its eighth season, you’d think they’d be all over a show like that (or The Green Arrow) that would replace Smallville when it goes off the air. If they don’t, they’re in serious trouble. I’m not sure that they’re ready to throw in the towel and let Smallville go though. If they did, what show would be making them money? ANTM and Supernatural?…The bottom line is they HAVE to keep Smallville on the air because they have nothing else.

However, even if they didn’t, Dawn would be stupid not to consider The Green Arrow spin-off because like you said, he’s an established character (Plus, women 18-34 seem to like Justin Hartley, so wouldn’t that be enough?)

I’m not really psyched about a Melrose Place reboot either. I actually used to watch the original with my stepmom every Monday night on Fox. I have to say, it was a guilty pleasure, but:

This is Dawn’s problem: She doesn’t want to target young men, at least from the press releases with the 8 ridiculous sub-headlines, she doesn’t want to pick up other programs from other networks…She just wants to REMAKE them and put them on The CW to try and make everyone think that they’re “original.”

As for her being fired, I thought there were rumors that she was going to be canned? Either way, she needs to get gone or go back to Lifetime and let someone who knows what they’re doing take over.

They started with the Graysons which would have worked off of Smallville. While I think it could have had some success I think a Green Arrow series makes alot more sense. The character already has a fanbase from Smallville and they could easily use a Smallville episode to launch the series. And if they are really adventurious they could push for a live action Justice League series with the other characters who have also already been set up through Smallville.

But The Graysons fell apart so they decide that we need a spin off of Gossip Girl and a remake of Melrose Place. Plus that new show with judges from ANTM. I mean did they learn nothing from Stylista.

Does the CW do anything that is original anymore. This along with all the other mistakes (dropping Everwood and Aquaman … letting Smackdown go … not picking up Jericho … not caring about the great Thursday night line up) adds up to the fact that Dawn O as run her course and the CW needs someone new in charge.

Dawn refuses to pick up shows from other networks. She doesn’t believe it speaks highly of the network’s ability to develop their own programs. Forget that two of the shows she was offered had at one point AVERAGED over 9 Million people for a season. She turned it down. CBS brought it back. CBS offered it to her again, again she turned them down. She’s just stubborn.

That is her real problem. At LIFETIME it was all about proving a network aimed at women would work. Now it’s about a network aimed at young women. She refuses to admit defeat.

Look at the WB. The WB had ratings that would make the CW tremble. They had shows that AVERAGED nearly 7 million viewers a night. SUPERNATURAL when at the WB averaged 4.5 million viewers! It had highs around 6 million. The CW can’t even approach that right now. Heck, SUPERNATURAL wasn’t even a top 3 show for the WB.

SUPERNATURAL didn’t fit Dawn’s plan. She had to take the WB’s top shows though. So with one she refused to deal for a multiple year deal (GILMORE GIRLS) and for SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL she banished them to a night with minimum promotion. Yet, she picked up ONE TREE HILL which had turned into a loser for the WB.

Fire Dawn. Hire someone who understands that the word “position,” is a noun and not a verb like Dawn uses it. Start there. Then make sure they understand that a network aimed at 18-34 is fine, but 18-34 and alienating one sex is not fine. Go after the NFL. It is what made FOX legit.

Sadly, Dawn did all she could to destroy the numbers the WB was pulling.

Any of us who has left a comment here could clearly do a better job than she’s doing.

I’m a Smallville fan, so I do watch The CW. As a viewer of this network, I am allowed to have an opinion because I’ve seen the changes they’ve made with their brand and how they sell themselves.

If you ask me, I would laugh off on concentrating on female viewers and add some programming that might actually appeal to a broader, older audience, which is something she doesn’t want to do.

In fact, what they should do is snatch up MadTV and place that on their Friday or Saturday night since there are already rumblings that another network may want to pick it up after Fox had said they were done.

Will she do something smart like that; something that might actually grab a new audience who may want to see that show? No…because it’s clear she’s an idiot.

Another avenue would be picking up King of the Hill, which was also axed by Fox. There are also rumors that ABC or another network might pick it up. This show could be put on Sundays, just like it was on Fox, which could attract that audience…But again, she doesn’t do things that are logical.

Why’d she decide to drop Aquaman after giving it the greenlight? Why’d she cancel Everwood after deciding it would come back for a fifth season…Ultimately replacing that with 7th Heaven, which she already decided was canceled how many months before the launch?

Anyone with a brain would’ve kept Everwood on the air. Even if the audience wasn’t big, it was devoted. She makes a decision and she backpedals the next…Anyone can see that she doesn’t know what she’s doing…that’s what people are pissed about.

If The CW are serious about wanting to appeal to females 18-34 (and younger) then Smackdown was completely at odds with that ethos. It may have produced a strong rating for them on Friday Nights but what crossover was there with the Smackdown audience and the audience for every other show on the network? I would guess very little and if you make the decision to aggressively pursue the younger female audience then the crossover becomes even less. The CW were never going to be able to advertise Gossip Girl or Stylista during Smackdown and realistically expect it to make that much difference to either shows numbers. Ultimately this is the reason why I don’t buy this idea that has been repeated a bit here that The CW would snap up Thursday Night Football rights from the NFL, they’d be an expensive ratings spike that has no real cross promotional appeal for the rest of The CW line-up. What The CW needs/wants is a teenage girl equivalent to Football although God knows what that would be.

Having said all that if The CW would drop this single minded pursuit of females 18-34 then Smackdown could have been a huge promotional tool for them. Marketed right then I suspect they could have probably seen a slight spike in numbers for Reaper, Supernatural and maybe even Smallville had they advertised them heavily during Smackdown. Maybe the key would have been to create a ‘testosterone block’ built around Smackdown with Smallville etc. attached to it?

Of course regardless of all that I imagine that given the comparatively large gains the MNT have made this season pretty much exclusively on the strength of Smackdown a lot of people within The CW have got to be (once again) wondering why they let it go regardless of the demos.

If you’re going to get rid of a program you should have a good idea of what you’re replacing it with. The idea that getting rid of SMACKDOWN! would somehow help GOSSIP GIRL, etc. is just proof she has no clue. It’s bad marketing. It’s one thing to position it’s another thing to shoot yourself in the foot.

So what now Dawn? A GOSSIP GIRL spin-off? Really? Melrose Place? Really? She doesn’t want SMALLVILLE to go another season. She isn’t interested in picking up MANHUNTER either. I’m sure her new SUPERNATUAL/REAPER lineup in her head is just a “one year set back,” until she can get a remake of SAVED BY THE BELL on the air.

Robert, Dawn has never screwed me, out of work or otherwise. I’ve had my run ins with her for work on numerous occasions and I think she is still living off her success at LIFETIME. Many people have mentioned how the CW isn’t hemorrhaging like the UPN or WB were in terms of money. What many don’t know is that Dawn isn’t the reason for that, but other people at the CW. This makes sense when you look at who was brought in compared to her days as head of UPN.

Dawn is one of those women who has a position of power that doesn’t deserve it. She is like an illusionist. She has certain people believing certain things while in fact she can’t run a broadcast network. She disgusts me in the same way that Ben Silverman disgusts me. They have positions of power they don’t really deserve. They are both killing a network. Since taking over UPN & the CW she has tried to create a network for females 18-34. Meanwhile every questionable decision she has made has turned into the wrong decision. She cancels shows or refuses to meet deals with producers. Then her hand picked replacements fail to meet the ratings of the shows she canceled or refused to make deals on.

You want to know why her network has less in the prized demo? GILMORE GIRLS. The producers wanted a 2 year cushy deal to reward them for their past success. Dawn refused. They lost the producers and kept the show on for 1 season (2006-2007). Ratings dropped on the show, but it was still their top scripted 18-34 demo show for females. So look at her decision there. She doesn’t make a deal with the producers and loses them. The show is hurt in quality and thus in ratings. Then she loses the show entirely and its high female numbers. SEVENTH HEAVEN was also another mess that Dawn created. The show had bad numbers on the CW (in comparison to when it was on the WB) but still had a large amount of 18-34 females. I should also mention REBA was another Dawn failure that also had a large female audience (and thus decent 18-34 demos).

You could argue that GOSSIP GIRL was supposed to replace GILMORE GIRLS with the demo, but where was the replacement for SEVENTH HEAVEN? LIFE IS WILD? Seriously? REBA had no demo replacement. Neither did VERONICA MARS. Remember Dawn was behind the brilliant CW NOW and FARMER WANTS WIFE shows. Neither of which was smart for the 18-34 demo female.

Do I have business run ins with her? Yes. Would business be better for everyone with someone else? Yes. She hasn’t “screwed,” me though. She has definitely screwed CBS and Warner Brothers though.

So fess up, did you get screwed out of work or did someone close to you? I find it difficult to believe you’re just another crazed fan. It’s not your thinking I question — it’s the emotional energy and angst you have behind it!