The CW Is Adding Sunday Nights to Its Schedule

The CW is re-expanding to a sixth night to bring you more of its uniquely branded content.

Starting in the 2018-19 TV season the broadcast network co-owned by CBS and Warner Brothers studios will begin airing original scripted content on Sunday nights, TV Guide has learned. The network used to run six days of original programming when it was first created in 2006. That plan ran for three years until 2009 when it reverted to affiliate programming in the fall of that year.

The additional night will give The CW two additional hours of programming each week, which not only allows it to pick up more shows during pilot season (the network is currently considering nine new series) but will alleviate a lot of the network's scheduling woes. The CW has consistently had more shows than it knows what to do with because of a limited 10-hour-per-week allowance.

TV Guide asked CW boss Mark Pedowitz about the idea of expanding during January's Television Critics Association winter previews in January. The idea has constantly been a discussion among executives, but at the time they weren't ready to pull the trigger.

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"We always discuss whether we should move into a sixth night," Pedowitz said. "At this time there's no determination about whether we're going to do such a thing."

Now that Sunday is a guarantee, Pedowitz and his team will have to decide how they want the additional night to look on their schedule. Pedowitz confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Sundays would be designated for scripted programming, but the network has not made any final decisions about which shows will be featured on that slate, leaving them open to fill it with new or current programming.

If The CW sticks with its "no more than four superheroes on air at a time" strategy, having Sunday programming all year round will not only allow them to pick up more shows, but could save fans from having to wait until April for their favorite series like The 100 or iZombie. Sunday night could also be a potential home for the network's low-rated but critically adored darlings Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which are sharing space on Fridays due to the networks crowded superhero landscape.

The CW's Sunday night outings will begin in October when the network unveils next season's television schedule.