The CW has established an annual tradition at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour of renewing all or most of its primetime lineup in one fell swoop. And while the network isn’t presenting at this year’s gathering in Pasadena, Calif., it still kept its streak intact by picking up 13 of its shows for the 2020-21 season.
All American, Batwoman, Black Lightning, Charmed, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Dynasty, The Flash, In the Dark, Legacies, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Roswell, New Mexico and Supergirl have all been renewed, the network announced today.
That’s every series currently airing on the network, aside from the shows that had been previously announced as concluding following this season: Arrow, Supernatural and midseason series The 100.
The network has also ordered 13 additional scripts of its midseason freshman series Katy Keene, a Riverdale spinoff, which premieres Feb. 6.
The renewal covers Season 2 of Batwoman and Nancy Drew; Season 3 of All American, Charmed, In the Dark, Legacies and Roswell, New Mexico; Season 4 of Black Lightning and Dynasty; Season 5 of Riverdale; Season 6 of Supergirl and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow; and Season 7 of The Flash.
“These early orders for next season give our production teams a head start in plotting out story arcs and a jump on hiring staff, and this also provides us with a strong foundation of established, fan-favorite CW shows to build on for next season,” said The CW president Mark Pedowitz in a statement. “We’ve been thrilled with the creative direction of all three new series, and even though we are in the very early stages of our new full stack streaming strategy, which allows viewers to catch up on our new shows from the beginning, we’re already seeing incredibly positive results from our multiplatform viewership for Nancy Drew and Batwoman.”
Pedowitz is referencing the network’s digital strategy shift this season, as its Netflix deal has lapsed and The CW’s parent companies, CBS and WarnerMedia, are prioritizing their in-house OTT offerings.
Starting with Batwoman, Nancy Drew and Katy Keene, the network has secured in-season streaming rights on its digital platforms, meaning that all episodes of its new shows’ current season—known as the full stack—will be available on cwtv.com and The CW app until 30 days before the start of the next season. At that point, the series produced by Warner Bros. TV (Batwoman and Katy Keene) will move to HBO Max, while the CBS TV-produced Nancy Drew will be available on CBS All Access.
Meanwhile, for The CW’s legacy series—shows that began airing on the network prior to this season—only the five most recent episodes will be available on the network’s digital platforms, which will then continue migrating to Netflix eight days after the season finale airs.
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