One of the more interesting trends in live sports broadcasting recently has been smaller broadcast networks like The CW and Ion have started to air games.
On Wednesday, reports surfaced that The CW’s president Dennis Miller would be stepping away from the post at the end of the month. He will reportedly be succeeded by The CW president of entertainment Brad Schwartz.
In his two years at the helm of the network, Miller ushered in a live sports strategy that now has The CW airing 500 hours of live sports annually. Those deals include ACC football and basketball, LIV Golf, NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, WWE NXT, and ‘Pac-2’ football games with Washington State and Oregon State.
The Nexstar-owned broadcaster set the stage for other smaller broadcast networks like Scripps’ Ion to begin airing live sports. For its part, Ion now owns rights to the WNBA and NWSL.
Per a report in Variety, The CW’s expansion to live sports opened the door to sponsorship deals with major corporations such as Verizon, Subaru, and Walmart.
Despite the success story, it seems The CW is entering a period of cost-cutting. The network eliminated its chief revenue officer position earlier this month after telling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it would streamline its organizational structure. Miller’s exit could be part of that plan.
Nevertheless, Deadline reports that The CW is still on track to reach profitability by 2025. Live sports will certainly be a large part of that strategy as a way to supplement a schedule of daytime procedurals, courtroom dramas, and young adult programming.
As more live sports properties look to supplement their primary media rights deals with smaller agreements for lower-wattage programming, networks like The CW can offer an attractive home.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.