The CW is down in the ratings this season -- and it has something to do with the fickleness of its young audience.
The question is whether its viewers are fickle about the CW's shows, or just how they watch them. It's a question that resonates for anyone who wonders about the future of television viewing.
The CW, born five years ago from a union of Warner Bros.' WB and CBS's UPN networks, targets 18-to-34 year old women with a mix of fun, fashion and melodrama.
This season, every one of its returning shows is dow.
Are CW viewers just getting older, and losing interest in who hooks up with who after five seasons of "Gossip Girl"? Or -- as the CW argues -- are they making that mass transition you've heard so much about, eschewing television for the internet?
The only network born in the digital age is betting big on the latter, staking its future on streaming deals that it says are already paying off.
To support its case that its audience is migrating from the old screen to new ones, the CW notes that at any time 7 percent of its viewers watch shows on its website, CWTV.com.
The streaming deals, announced in October with Netflix and Hulu, have added to the network's financial stability and made it less reliant on ratings. The Netflix deal alone is expected to earn the CW up to $1 billion, providing a fresh revenue source beyond advertising.
The need to provide Netflix and Hulu new episodes gives co-owners Warner Bros. and CBS an impetus to make more episodes, even if their ratings disappoint.
Like many younger-skewing networks, the CW considers itself a 21st century product at the mercy of 20th century ratings tracking.
Many beloved series -- the CW's "Supernatural" and NBC's "Community," among them -- boast fervent online followings that don't translate into TV viewers. (NBC just forged a Hulu deal of its own for "Community.")
The CW says it reaches out to viewers wherever they are, from their TVs to their iPhones, even if Nielsen doesn't track them.
"This new audience watches things where they want and when they want," said Rick Haskins, the CW's executive VP of marketing and digital programs. "Very early on with the CW, we decided to go where the consumer is."
In a painful irony, this season is filled with thriving network comedies, led by young women. And though it aims at that precise demographic, the CW hasn't benefited from the trend -- because it doesn't offer any sitcoms.
