Stonewalling and ridiculous spin from CW boss in playing 10 Questions about a possible outlook
Taylor
Ten Questions for The CW Boss Dawn Ostroff
By Josef Adalian
That giant whooshing noise heard by residents of Burbank, Calif., last
week was the sound of the entire staff of The CW exhaling.
After another painful summer filled with barely-on-the-radar ratings
and rumblings about the future, the first week of September produced
some pretty good news for the folks at the 3-year-old network born
from the ashes of The WB and UPN.
First, its cultural phenom “Gossip Girl” returned to near-record
ratings. Then the super-hyped “90210” delivered network-best numbers
for a scripted series. And while the Sept. 3 return of “America’s Next
Top Model” didn’t wow, it did OK, given some strong unscripted
competition.
At the center of the action: Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment
for the CW. While her network has done a good job of developing
buzzworthy shows, from “Gossip Girl” and “90210” to “Aliens in
America” and “Reaper,” translating hype into ratings has proven a
tougher task.
Are the numbers for “90210” good enough to turn The CW around? Why
didn’t the network pick up the CBS cult fave “Moonlight?” And are any
more remakes of classic shows in the works?
Ms. Ostroff took a few minutes out of her busy week to answer 10 e-
mailed questions from TelevisionWeek senior editor Josef Adalian.
TVWeek: Your parent companies gave The CW a nice vote of confidence
the other day. Given all the media noise about the future of the
network, that had to be nice.
Ms. Ostroff: CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. have been very supportive of
The CW, our brand and our strategy from day one. Both companies
completely understand what a Herculean task it is to start a brand-new
network, especially in today’s media environment. That said, I know
that everyone here, who have put their heart and soul into building
The CW, really appreciated hearing that Leslie [Moonves], Barry
[Meyer], Nancy [Tellem] and Bruce [Rosenblum] share their dedication
to making this network a success.
TVWeek: Let’s talk Zip. What’s your reaction to the premiere ratings?
And what sort of numbers are you looking for with “90210”? What would
you like to accomplish in the time period?
Ms. Ostroff: Obviously, we’re really happy that “90210” opened on
Tuesday as our highest series premiere ever. We’re still a very young
network, and right now, our focus is building a schedule show by show
and night by night. Truly, our primary goal each season is to develop
shows that fit with The CW’s brand identity, connect with our core
female viewers and help create audience flow across the week. And
“90210” accomplished each of those perfectly.
TVWeek: Last year, “Gossip Girl” and “Aliens in America” were among
the most buzzed-about shows pre-season. Ratings didn’t match the buzz.
Do you worry that Nielsen isn’t adequately measuring your target
audience?
Ms. Ostroff: Absolutely. We’re thrilled that the second season of
“Gossip Girl” just premiered with its highest-rated episode ever, but
you truly have to wonder if there are more viewers out there that
aren’t being counted. As digital platforms continue to expand and
online streaming, downloads, DVRs become more and more popular, we
know that our young tech-savvy audience get their entertainment in
many different ways. And I certainly believe that the measurement
system in place doesn’t accurately count every viewer who watches our
shows. Just look at “Gossip Girl.” The show has become a true
phenomenon impacting culture, fashion and media, and its influence on
the retail marketplace is unheard of for a television show. And yet,
we don’t believe that impact is fully reflected in the ratings. Now
more than ever, we all need every viewer to count.
TVWeek: You just lost your head of reality to CBS. Given how crucial
unscripted is to your audience, what are your plans for the genre? Who
will run the department?
Ms. Ostroff: We have a lot of reality in development, and reality will
continue to be a major player on The CW schedule. We’re currently
searching for a new head of reality.
TVWeek: There had been talk that The CW would have a decent amount of
original programming in the summer, but once again, the network
basically went dark for several months. Why?
Ms. Ostroff: With productions interrupted and the development cycle
shortened due to the writers strike last season, we really decided to
focus our energy on the fall rather than summer. We wanted our new and
returning shows in perfect shape for launch. And despite not airing
much summer programming, we strategically scheduled several of our
premieres during the first week of September so we could be clear of
the competitive clutter of the traditional fall launch, and seeing the
strong performances of “Gossip Girl,” “One Tree Hill,” “90210” and
“Top Model,” that strategy paid off. That said, we don’t intend on
“going dark” for three months next year, so we’re already planning on
having a lot more original programming next summer.
TVWeek: You tried to go after the “7th Heaven” audience last year with
“Life Is Wild.” It didn’t work. But do you think there’s room for more
family-focused shows on The CW?
Ms. Ostroff: Family actually plays a big part in almost all of our
scripted shows. Our dramas like “Gossip Girl,” “90210,” “One Tree
Hill” and “Privileged” each have characters that span generations,
from teenagers, young adults, parents, even grandparents—they all have
significant roles and storylines that play out through the season.
“Everybody Hates Chris” is the perfect example where family has always
been at the center of every storyline. So while we may not have what’s
considered “traditional” family dramas, we do focus a lot on family—we
just do it in our own unique style.
TVWeek: “Supernatural” and “Smallville” are solid players for you, and
point out how well sci-fi does with your audience. Did you seriously
consider picking up “Moonlight”? Is the genre a priority?
Ms. Ostroff: We look at all genres during development. Right now, in
terms of new programming, we’re very focused on building The CW’s
brand as a destination for young women. If a sci-fi/fantasy show came
along that was really well done and would appeal to our young women
demo, then we’d certainly consider it.
TVWeek: Would you like to work things out with Tori Spelling?
Ms. Ostroff: The situation with Tori this summer was simply a matter
of timing—that’s it. We’d love to have Tori and any of the original
cast members to appear on [“90210”], but it’s important that their
role be organic to the storylines of our series.
TVWeek: If you could remake any other TV show next season—money and
rights weren’t issues—what would it be?
Ms. Ostroff: To fit our brand, we’d probably look at remaking other
iconic shows, like “90120,” that had a strong impact on young women in
years past, anything from “Melrose Place,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “Ally
McBeal” or “Felicity.”
TVWeek: Brenda? Kelly? Donna? Which one is most like Dawn?
Ms. Ostroff: This sounds like a loaded question. It’s really hard to
say, so I’m going to go with a little of all three, though it probably
depends on who you ask. I think one of the things that was great about
the original show was that the fans could identify with one or several
of the characters, and hopefully fans of the new “90210” will have the
same connection with these new characters.
---
"No, no. Everything's fine here in Happy Valley Land. *la, la, la... I
can't hear you. la, la, la... I got my fingers in my ears* Must be
nice in the George W. Bush bubble.
So with a tired old family-friendly show like '7th Heaven' ending,
they expected to pass the baton to 'Life Is Wild'. But that didn't
gel. So what's they're ridiculous spin? Because '90210' and 'Gossip
Girl' have teens, their mothers and their grandmothers, it "spans
generations of a family" and therefore is a "family-friendly" show to
carry on the legacy. So that's the shows that brought us the "OMFG!"
campaign and some slut girl giving head to a guy in the first eppy of
'90210'. Nice. I'm sure Reverend & Mrs. Camden would approve!
THANK GOD for the wise people at Tribune for scrubbing that ugly rust
spot (known as The CW) off of the idents of their TV stations so they
can actually be appealing for purchase. Maybe CTVglobemedia can buy
and convert them into 'A' stations. www.atv.ca
