The CW Explores Alternative Series for Upcoming Original Programming

quotIt39s always been our goal to have as much original content on the air as possiblequot explained the network39s executive vice president of development Gaye Hirsch quotWe39ve always been interested in looking for opportunities in both the alternative and the acquisition spaces with the goal of making sure there is fresh original programming for the audience the affiliates and the advertisers and that we39re not airing a lot of repeats Certainly for our digital audience having as much fresh content available as possible is a benefitamp8221As Hollywood production slowly returns to some sort of normality following the COVID19 shutdown Hirsch reflected on some of the positive aspects of the forced downtime from an acquisition standpoint and found a silver lining quotThere certainly was a bit of an opportunity that came out of the pandemic in that everybody39s production schedules and content were put into disarrayquot she said quotSo there was a certain element to looking for whatever programming made the most sense and could be done in a timely fashionquotquotWhen the pandemic hit we were in the fortunate position of already being in the habit of going out and finding international formatsquot added Cyle Zezo vice president of alternative series and digital programming quotPenn ampamp Teller Fool Us is the bigger example That started as an acquisition and continued into originals Acquisitions on the unscripted side have always been a part of our strategyquotWhen looking for suitable acquired programming both Hirsch and Zezo have their work cut out for them Not only does the program have to work in the US market it also needs to stay on brand quotIn the case of Killer Camp we fell in love with the formatquot shared Hirsch of the original British series that ran on The CW in July 2020 quotWe thought it was wildly entertaining and from a genre perspective we felt it fit very nicely with some of our scripted programmingquotOne of the strategies Cyle and I have been working on in our alternative department is of course finding programming that reaches a wide and broad audience for a broadcast network but also content that feels like a natural fit with what we do in the scripted spacequot she continued quotThis is not to say we want to do the same exact ideas but they should feel like they belong in the family and feel branded to The CW in a way that makes sense for our audience Hopefully one can drive to the otherquotquotThat really sums it upquot echoed Zezo quotWe want to continue programming to the audience we have like the fans of Whose Line and Penn ampamp Teller Fool Us and we think that our upcoming new series Would I Lie To You is a fantastic fit there It39s two teams of people competing against each other some telling the truth some telling lies about outrageous things It39s up to the other team to interrogate them and figure out who is telling the truth and who is lyingquotThe CW has acquired two seasons of the original British version and is currently taking network synergy into account for the celebrity component of the planned US version that will follow quotWe39re always looking for opportunities for synergyquot Zezo explained quotBut particularly with Would I Lie To You the chemistry I believe is critically important when it comes to casting and making sure that the comedy has as much room to develop organically and land We39re going to be taking a hard look at casting to make sure that we39re finding the best comedians who can ground the show and serve as team captains to make the US original version live up to the standards set by the UK versionamp8221quotAdvertising and brand integration are absolutely parts of the equation added Hirsch quotIt certainly doesn39t drive the development but if we have a project that we think would benefit from a partner we discuss it with our branded entertainment team and partner with the producersquotWith so much of The CW39s content performing extremely well in the SVOD and digital space both Hirsch and Zezo are eager to maintain that upward trend quotOur acquisition strategy with unscripted programming has really helped us keep fresh content on The CW and CW Seed apps as well as CWTVcomquot offered Zezo quotThat39s always something we39re thinking about making sure we do have new content digitally for people to stream on our platforms We39ve been very pleased with how they performquotquotIn general we39ve been very happy with viewership both digitally and linearlyquot Hirsch said in closing quotWe39re superexcited about a number of alternative and unscripted projects that we have in developmentquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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The CW Explores Alternative Series for Upcoming Original Programming

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