TV
The real reason for the end of DC’s Arrowverse on The CW comes to light
The head of The CW reveals the reasons why the DC superhero television universe was shelved.
The Arrowverse, The CW’s shared universe of DC television shows, has come to an end with the broadcast of the final episode of The Flash, its longest-running series. Now the real reason for the end of this universe of television products, which has experienced many ups and downs, cancellations and criticism for its questionable quality, has come to light. This has been explained by Brad Schwartz, the head of The CW after taking over from Mark Pedowitz, the network’s CEO for many years and always a supporter of the DC superhero universe.
The demise of the Arrowverse: Reasons and motives
And is that the Arrowverse was born as the main argument to turn The CW into a profitable network: “They were the hallmarks of The CW for a long time. As we look forward and try to make this network bigger and profitable, frankly, as much as we all love those shows and they had their time, they’re not working on linear,” the executive said, noting one of the problems of the television universe.
Another major setback has always been the budget, so the network has been forced to cancel series as they close story arcs, all to achieve a grid of programs that are cheaper to produce. The case of Superman & Lois is very special, because although it does not belong directly to the Arrowverse, its two main characters came from there, specifically from Supergirl and the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
And that’s because The CW doesn’t have the streaming rights to previous seasons of shows like Superman & Lois or Gotham Knights, with Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman series airing directly on HBO Max, which has had a direct economic impact on The CW and the Arrowverse: “We don’t have the rights to prior seasons. It was frustrating for us because you can’t tell people to go catch up on Superman & Lois and it’s on HBO Max and it’s the 30th priority there. It’s tough. If you want to be in business on a show and connect that show to audiences everywhere, you need to have the whole library,” concludes Brad Schwartz.
Source | The Hollywood Reporter