There’s a joke thrown around The CW offices: “We have more fans than viewers,” the network’s president of entertainment Brad Schwartz told TheWrap in a recent interview.
It’s a good line, one that alludes to the network’s dedicated fan bases that routinely make small-audience shows like “Nancy Drew” and “Gotham Knights” trend on Twitter. But it’s also a joke that nods to why the network is in the middle of such a massive transition following its 2022 acquisition by Nexstar. For Schwartz, The CW’s future is dependent on both retaining the passionate audience that’s been loyal to the brand over the past 20 years, and diversifying so it can compete with its network peers.