“In this marketplace we’re in, with the writer’s strike, live sports is becoming so much more important,” said Braverman. “We lost dollars on our broadcast prime entertainment inventory, because those dollars were either shifting out of prime, or they were going to live sports or digital.”
New players in town
The CW will look to build on its sports presence in 2024, with basketball airing through the beginning of March Madness and LIV Golf beginning early in the year and running through the remainder of 2024. Meanwhile, NASCAR’s Xfinity series arrives on The CW in 2025.
“We’ve learned each sport has their own little upfront, and right now is the football window,” said Braverman. “While ACC is very powerful in football, the ACC is known to be a basketball conference, and we expect to see the same success in basketball that we’re seeing in football.”
