How DC Comics Superheroes Transformed The CW

At the beginning of this decade, The CW was facing a very different crisis. As “Gossip Girl” was ending its run in 2012, the primarily female-skewing network was searching for its successor. These included unsuccessful attempts at reviving “Melrose Place,” a “Sex in the City” prequel and the Sarah Michelle Geller-led “The Ringer,” an attempt to cater to “Buffy” fans from the WB era. But under Mark Pedowitz, who succeeded Dawn Ostroff in the spring of 2011 as the network’s president, The CW made a strategic shift towards DC Comics, which was owned by one of its co-owners in Warner Bros.