The CW had to delay four scripted shows produced by minority stakeholders Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount due to the writers and actors strikes, but it does not expect any further impact from the labor impasse.That’s the view from Perry Sook, CEO of CW parent Nexstar Media Group, who addressed the strike and other topics during an hour-long quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts.“The farther the strike goes on, they get pushed further and further into 2024,” Sook conceded about the four scripted shows initially slated for 2023-24. And yet, slots given to acquired titles that were produced pre-strikes will give The CW “the most scripted as a percentage of our schedule of any of the Big 5 broadcast networks going into the fall,” Sook maintained. “We also have some more high-profile and noisy reality shows, which will bring attention to the network as well. So, we kind of like our chances in this chaotic environment. When others are afraid, we tend to take some big swings.”Financially, The CW is still in the red due to its previous emphasis on scripted dramas, though Nexstar has pledged to turn it profitable by 2025.The CW is starting to resemble Fox, according to Perry Sook, CEO of the network’s parent, Nexstar Media Group.“If you think about it, over time, with the same number of hours of weekday programming and its growing live sports portfolio, The CW is increasingly looking like Fox,” Sook said on the company’s quarterly earnings call. The addition of Mike Biard, a longtime Fox vet who recently was appointed COO of Nexstar, Sook added, means “we have the team to get us where we want to go.”Addressing the strike by writers and actors, Sook said, “We are confident it will not hurt our forward progress at The CW. The majority of our fall slate was material already developed and for unscripted.”Nexstar acquired a 75% stake in The CW last fall, with previous 50-50 partners Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery each retaining 12.5% shares in the network. Strategically, The CW is in the midst of a major revamp. Out are the pricey, young-skewing dramas on which its brand was built over the previous 15-plus years. In are value-priced, broader-audience shows, with the company predicting the network will achieve profitability by 2025.Sook described the company’s approach to content spending, particularly in the sports arena, as a “Moneyball” strategy, a reference to the Michael Lewis book about the financial savvy of baseball’s Oakland A’s. The CW acquired rights to LIV Golf earlier this year, reportedly without an upfront rights fee, and then added ACC sports and a NASCAR series. “We’re competing in the same league as the Big 4 networks, but we’ve got to do it smartly, and crawl, walk, run,” Sook said. “We’re going to take some smart bets and calculated risks.”Sook’s comments came after Nexstar reported second-quarter results that beat Wall Street analysts’ forecast for earnings, with total revenue matching expectations.
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