Arrowverse and Riverdale Veteran Greg Berlanti Reacts to The CW's Changes

Berlanti says that the changes were "obvious form a few years ago".

By Nicole Drum

The CW has undergone some major changes in recent years when it comes to its programming. The network, once the home of numerous original series — including the Arrowverse, a group of DC-inspired television series including Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl — has, since being acquired by Nexstar in 2022, begun to see more licensed or co-produced content. Just three original series, Superman & Lois, All American: Homecoming and All American remain and of that trio, only All American will return for the 2025 television season. Now, Greg Berlanti, the producer behind the Arrowverse and Riverdale is opening up about the network's changes and says they were obvious to see coming.

"We have a few that are about to come on for their last seasons. We have All American, that was picked up for an additional season that we'll start shooting again this summer. And then we have two on the NBC fall schedule, one called Brilliant Minds which hasn't premiered yet, and one Found which premiered last year at the end of the year," Berlanti told Deadline. "It was obvious from a few years ago that CW would do less programming so we come in and we figure out what stories we want to tell. The joy of being at Warner Bros. is we can make shows everywhere."

Walker and Supernatural Star Jared Padalecki Calls Out CW's "Cheap Content Strategy"

While the change in content strategy at The CW is something that Berlanti has adapted to as he continues to make shows on other networks, Walker and Supernatural star Jared Padalecki recently called out the network for what he called their "easy cheap content" strategy in the wake of Nexstar's takeover.

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"I talked with the head of CBS and the head of Nexstar/CW, I talked with the other [executive producers] on Walker and I think it was a multivariate kind of issue," Padalecki said when asked about Walker's cancellation earlier this year. "My understanding is — and again, this is just what I'm told — that Nexstar is going a different direction with The CW. I mean, they have an hour of Trivial Pursuit and an hour of Scrabble coming up. I don't know why you wouldn't just download the app or grab a board game and play with your friends, but they're clearly just — what's that great quote? It's like, 'if somebody tells you who they are, ask questions. If somebody shows you who they are, believe them.'"

He continued, "I feel like The CW that I was a part of last year is not The CW that I was a part of under [former chairman and CEO] Mark Pedowitz for that entire almost 20-year stretch. They're just changing the network around, where it's not really going to be a TV network as much as it's going to be, 'Here's something fun for an hour that you'll never watch again, but hopefully you watch it. And it's cheap!' And I hate to say that, but I'm just being honest. I mean f-ck it. They can't fire me again. I'm just being brutally honest. I think it felt to me like they were looking for really easy, cheap content that they could fill up time with."

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