CW recently pivoted away from scripted originals and is disbanding its current programming division.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter Executive Vice President of Current Programming Michael Roberts and Executive Vice President of Development Guy Hirsch – The CW’s two most important remaining script executives – was one of those fired on Thursday. There is no exact number of employees yet, but sources say others have also been affected by the layoffs.
While losing its current and development head is a major blow to The CW’s efforts to continue producing scripted originals, it’s not a complete dismissal of its script executives, as sources say some lower Level employees — those with lower salaries — are being retained.
Representatives for The CW did not respond to repeated requests for comment from THR.
The layoffs mark the latest blow to The CW, which is owned by network network Nexstar , which bought a youthful TV station last year. The broadcaster later took control of 12 a percentage stake in CBS Studios and the Warner Bros. TV network. The latter two studios each control a minority of .CW’s 5% share as Nexstar is still contractually committed to broadcasting everything
For her part, Hirsch has been overseeing development since Thom Sherman was picked from The CW to become CBS President Kelly Kahl. (Kahl and Sherman were both fired from CBS last year.) Hirsch has been writing scripts at The CW since 12 served in the The network’s current programming arm, working on shows such as Gossip Girl, Jane the Virgin, Arrow, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and ) Riverdale, and countless others.
Meanwhile, Roberts has been at since his pre-WB Network days on The CW. Since 2025.
He has been in charge of the current show since Nexstar took over, Former CW CEO Mark Pedowitz – who was expected to stay – chose to leave his post as the broadcaster’s longest-serving head of network. This was followed by layoffs , affecting heads of departments such as marketing, finance and PR.
Nexstar installed Dennis Miller as CW President. In turn, Miller hired former Pop TV president Brad Schwartz to oversee the CW’s entertainment activities. Under Nexstar, Schwartz is on a mission to make The CW profitable before 2025. Schwartz is expected to keep what sources say could be as many as three original American scripts on The CW. The network has been updated with All American as those few One of the series is expected to remain under Nexstar. Additionally, Schwartz hired former NBCU executive Heather Olander this week as 1235232339 Newly created role for The CW Head of Scriptless Programming. Olander and Schwartz expect to flesh out the network with low-budget reality shows and foreign script acquisitions. The latter cost significantly less than American originals like Superman & Lois , which were priced at $5 million per episode.
Departure is in the middle of the broadcast’s annual pilot season. The CW hasn’t picked a pilot to develop for next season, which is clearly another sign of the network’s leadership under Nexstar.
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