No Way to Build a Media Brand
This is no way to build a media brand. The CW has farmed out its Sunday night to Media Rights Capital, and this is the line-up. I’m sympathetic with the challenges of programming a second-tier broadcast net against Sunday night football, whatever HBO’s top gun is in any given season, and Desperate Housewives. But the CW has been making some progress — if not a lot of Nielsen ratings points — towards establishing itself as a network for young females that is very open to branded entertainment opportunities. (Yes, I mean product placement and sponsorship. Folks, that’s a good thing.) But this:
- The series all target a slightly older adults 18-49 aud than the rest of CW’s sked — in response to a request made by Tribune, which owns the CW’s major market affils and is looking for better late-news lead-ins. And because it’s going up against “Sunday Night Football” in the fall, the shows all come with a slight female bent.
…sounds weak, old-fashioned (late night news lead-in???) and, worse, off-brand.
Ignore the garish green and occasionally slipshod execution (the store, for instance), and focus on how the CW’s Web site builds strong ties across the music and apparel on its shows.