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CW axes farmed-out Sunday schedule

Network will slot in 'Jericho' rerun and movies

Nov 21, 2008

In perhaps the least surprising news of the new season, the CW has canceled its low-rated Sunday lineup produced by Media Rights Capital.

Starting Nov. 30, the network will air repeats of former CBS cult favorite “Jericho” at 7 p.m., followed by a rotation of theatrical movies.

The move, which was announced to affiliates today, comes as little surprise. Ratings for the MRC-produced shows were dismal, and the company had suspended production on several of them just two weeks into their run.

The CW has averaged just a 0.3 rating among its target demo of adults 18-34 this season, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Fox, off 25 percent from last year’s already-low 4.0.

The network had struggled to program the night for two seasons by itself, with shows like “Into the Wild,” “CW Now” and even veteran “Seventh Heaven” failing to gain ratings traction.

It farmed out the night to MRC in order to concentrate its development on other nights, where it has performed better this year. The network’s Monday lineup has soared, and new show “90210” received an early pickup after better last year’s Tuesday timeslot holder.

MRC’s shows never gained much traction with the trio of “In Harm’s Way,” “Valentine” and “Easy Money,” falling to a 0.2 rating in recent weeks among adults 18-49.



Louisa Ada Seltzer is a staff writer for Media Life.




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