The CW replacing Sunday night programming

After months of rock-bottom ratings, the CW will yank its entire Sunday night lineup programmed by Media Rights Capital.

The shows -- including reality series "In Harm's Way" and dramas "Valentine" and "Easy Money" -- will be replaced by repeats and second-run theatricals starting this weekend.

CW COO John D. Maatta announced the decision in a letter sent to network affiliates that stated, "The MRC shows are simply not working."

"Our plan is to program Sunday with distinctive, first-rate programming that can quickly stabilize the night," Maatta wrote. "We will work with you to promote and market this new night, with a lineup that will include quality scripted series and contemporary theatrical titles."

The CW will launch a new block including repeats of "Everybody Hates Chris" and "The Game" (launching with Season 1 of both shows),"The Drew Carey Show" (beginning with Season 2), "Jericho" (starting with the first season) and then a movie. The CW plans to keep this programming lineup for the remainder of the season.

"It's not surprising given it was not very successful and the economics made it pretty difficult for them to continue," said Bill Carroll, director of programming at Katz Television Group. "Part of the challenge with the lineup was nobody knew what it was on a very competitive night of the week. Established product has greater potential to draw an audience."

The CW figured renting its low-rated Sunday evening to independent studio MRC this fall would make more financial sense than trying to launch and market original programming in the extremely competitive evening. But in recent weeks the block has averaged about 700,000 viewers and a 0.2 rating among adults 18-49, making it the lowest-rated programming lineup on the top-five broadcast networks. The MRC performances dragged down the network's overall performance average, discouraged audience flow and frustrated affiliates.

One question is what the CW will do with the troublesome night next season. The network programs only about nine hours a week of originals, leaving half of Friday and the weekend out of play. B&C broke the news earlier today.

UPDATE: An MRC spokesperson disputed the CW announcement, saying MRC was taken by surprise by Maatta's letter and that they’re still actively negotiating with the CW over how to address the Sunday block’s ailing performance.

“MRC is still in negotiations with the CW on all points of their deal,” she said. “Timing, programming, payments, they’re still negotiating every part of the point of the deal. All of the episodes could still air.”

Full text of Maatta's letter:

November 20, 2008

Dear Affiliate:

We are now two and a half months into our new season and some terrific progress has been made. 

Our strategy this year was to focus on Monday – Friday, particularly the early part of the week.  Clearly that strategy has worked, as we are up in our key demographic of women 18-34 by 150% Monday and 41% on Tuesday.  “Top Model” continues to shine Wednesdays, winning its time period on a regular basis, while “Smallville” and “Supernatural” continue to keep us in the game on Thursday versus tough competition. Additionally, we have improved our 18-49 demos by 78% Monday and 8% Monday-Thursday.   

In the process, we are building a distinct and powerful brand of young-female skewing programming with new shows like “Gossip Girl” and “90210” complementing veteran hits “One Tree Hill” and “Top Model.” 

As you know, to focus our efforts on the earlier part of the week, we entered into a time buy agreement with Media Rights Capital to program Sunday night.  While this move has clearly paid dividends for the overall schedule, the results on Sunday night have been below expectations. The MRC shows are simply not working.

To that end, we have made a business and programming decision to protect our network and your local interests on Sunday for the remainder of the season. 

The programs from Media Rights Capital will have their final airing this Sunday, November 23, 2008.   Effective November 30, 2008, The CW will resume programming Sunday nights. 

Our plan is to program Sunday with distinctive, first-rate programming that can quickly stabilize the night.  We will work with you to promote and market this new night, with a lineup that will include quality scripted series and contemporary theatrical titles.  Here is the lineup:

5:00 – 6:00 pm:     EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS/THE GAME
6:00 – 7:00 pm:     THE DREW CAREY SHOW
7:00 – 8:00 pm:    JERICHO
8:00 – 10:00 pm:    MOVIE

Our Affiliate Relations and Affiliate Marketing teams will be in immediate touch with your personnel regarding this important schedule change.   

We will continue to work diligently and find success via the best means possible and move quickly to shore up troubled timeslots.  We will continue to invest in new programming that will evolve into valued primetime assets for you, our affiliates, and our parent companies, CBS and Warner Bros.

We appreciate the partnership we have with you, our affiliates, and we will continue to work closely to take our success to the next level. 

Sincerely,
John D. Maatta