By Kate Blake- Editor MV
FOX gave us fans a boat load of new promos yesterday with all of their shows highlighted- including the return of season 7 for 24. The CW has been 100% focused on marketing their new series- finally giving One Tree Hill fans a couple of TV spots this past week- with everything else focused on the launch of the new 90210, Privileged and the second season of Gossip Girl. If you watched the network you would think GG was a huge hit. Truth? It brings in about the same number of viewers as Supernatural and half the viewers of Smallville. The boys on Thursday night have together the highest ratings for any night of the week on the CW and these two shows get nominal attention and coverage from the network. Did you know that both Smallville and Supernatural received Emmy nominations for technical categories? There is a small thing on both websites but nothing major. FOX has video in their official Youtube channel with the cast and producers of Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles calling the tech guys and congratulating them on getting nominated in similar categories.
This week the CW released two new wallpapers to go with the promo pieces they put together for the spring upfronts- not using new artwork and promo photos that we were promised would be forthcoming but by recycling images from season 2 for Supernatural and the new Smallville artwork dates back 4 years to the original Tom Welling and Erica Durance photoshoots. You can check out the new Smallville wallpaper at OSCK.
Season 4 Wallpaper- Above
Season 2 Promo Photo Below
Do they not want the ratings these two shows bring to the struggling network? Do they wish they could dump the shows and put more crap on in their place? If so- let Warner Brothers know- thousands of fans of both Supernatural and Smallville would be happy to lobby the SciFi Channel and guarantee them 4 million or so viewers per week that they can sell ad time to.
I am still waiting for a trailer that says- SERIES PREMIERE Sept. 18, 2008! It hasn’t happened yet. Not even a teaser with no new footage.
Thanks so much for writing and posting this article. I am an avid Supernatural fan and it still baffles me that the CW doesn’t promote one of the most beloved shows on TV right now! They promote the overly dramatic shows about spoiled rich kids and their drama *I may be out of line describing it that way… I’ve never actually bothered watching One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl…etc* Supernatural is about family, it’s about two brothers on the road fighting the good fight. It is very well written and the acting is superb… Jared and Jensen are very fun to watch, it’s not just good looks with those two. The demographics for SPN are extremely wide ranged, I went to Eyecon, a SPN convention, this past April and even though most of the attendees were female, the ages ranged from 16 to 80, it was awesome! The CW promotes to YOUNGER viewers and I don’t think that is fair, I am 21 years old and none of the shows they promote appeal to me.
Supernatural moving to another network, has my vote… but Kripke did sell his soul to the CW for a few years, so I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Thanks again for this!
I agree! the CW has dropped the ball in promoting their most “stable” show on the network!
WAKE UP CW AND SMELL THE GRAVE DUST!!!!!!
I wouldn’t be so sure that everyone who loves SPN is going to be heading for Sci-Fi channel anytime soon. Fans of StarGate Atlantis are pretty hot over their show getting the axe last night, and there’s already talk of a boycott.
For shame, CW.
*sighs*
*sighs some more*
You can contact the CW at feedback@cwtv.com if you would like to request new promo photos for season 4. I did so weeks ago.
AMEN! Supernatural fans have been complaining about the lack of promotion for our show since day one. I mean I see GG and 90210 previews and commercials left and right. I have YET to see ONE commercial promoting the return of Supernatural, and for that matter, Smallville. What the hell is wrong with The CW? Why don’t they want to promote these shows? I don’t get it. The fans do all the promotion for the show. A friend of mine and I have created our own website for Supernatural and there are a lot of other fans that have done the same. It doesn’t matter what we do or how much we complain to The CW, and we have complained, they haven’t changed one bit. They seem to be all about the teenie bopper soap opera type shows. Now if we were put on Sci-Fi….that would be AWESOME.
Wow! The CW really puts a lot of work into promoting Supernatural and Smallville, huh? *comment drips with sarcasm*
That sucks and I’m pissed that they didn’t do a new shoot with new promo photos again. I really wanted to see new photos of Jared and the guys together. Not the usual convention photos, something professional and cool.
That’s the second year they don’t have a promo shoot for Supernatural, even if this time at least there are no new photos at all. Last year we got a brand new shoot for the show and it was of whatsherface 1 and whatsherfaces 2 aka the new girls, both gone now.
This year is all about Dean, I was scared that they would do promos with just Ackles in it.
So this all sucks, but…that’s what Kripke got for kissing Dawn Ostroff’s ass and messing with a winning formula with those two new girls, losing a lot of viewers along the way.
Kripke did what the network asked and yet still no promotion.
So whas it worth it? I don’t think so.
Please dont forget that Jensen and Jared are working their cute little butts off to make the show. There is no time for a new photo shoot when you are already working 14-16 hour days, almost daily. Give them a break!!!! Yes, I think the CW is way too focused on their “new” shows that seem to have no storyline, just sex scenes. I won’t watch those. “Supernatural” is the only show I watch on the CW.
This sucks that the CW did not have a new promo picture for Supernatural. I was looking forward to seeing new promotion pictures for Season 4.
I have no doubt that CW would just as soon dump these shows for more teen crap. Truth be told, both Supernatural and Smallville were the inherited step-children coming from WB. Whereas CW knows better than to royally mess with Smallville — even they’re not stupid enough to piss off the mega DC — Supernatural doesn’t have that luxury. The show simply doesn’t fit into their very-limited & coveted demographic of teen girls. Neither did Wrestling, and they got rid of that despite the 4 million viewers. So rather than diversify and serve multiple niches of audience (and thus keep up the ratings & ad dollars), the ‘geniuses’ at CW decide to put all their eggs into one teen-oriented basket with Gossip Girl and 90210. If I could get a guarantee that Sci-Fi would pick up Supernatural, then I would be very happy to never tune in the CW as we witness Dawn Ostroff destroy yet another network with limited thinking.
Well it didn’t take long for the Jared/Sam fan to come here and bitch about the new season. Really, let it go. Sam/Jared will have his show, heck, Sam’s still Kripke’s HERO and Sera’s favorite, so drop it already.
As for the promos, I have to agree with Anne. It is pretty disappointing that SN is being ignored all in favor of the new teeny boppers sex is all shows. All I see is the advertisements for Gossip Girl, 90210 and Privileged. WTH? SV and SN are the top rated scripted shows on this poor excuse of a network, and instead of milking them, they ignore them.
News flash CW. Gossip Girl may get the high demos, but it’s still only those couple of million that watch it. Not a good number. Get with the program.
Jesus! That network is really doomed. Couldn’t be worst than this.
We’ve been complaining about the lack of promotion since the CW took over in Season 2. It’s ridiculous(I think Supernatural had higher ratings than Gossip Girl last season, which considering the CW did NOTHING to promote Supernatural and pushed Gossip Girl to an absolutely sickening degree, says something esp when Supernatural is aired against the two top rated shows on TV in Grey’s and CSI). The CW so deserves to tank, I just hope Supernatural will get to finish the 5 seasons Kripke has planned before it does so.
Amen to everything stated above. Any intelligent network would realize what a treasure they have in this show. I did a poll recently that showed Supernatural has viewers ages 4-80. I mean, come on! It crosses all age groups, races, sexes, etc. It has a PASSIONATE fan base who does the majority of the show’s promotion work ourselves. I simply cannot understand the attitude that the network has towards our show. Wake up, CW. You have diamond right under your noses and don’t even realize it!
Once again the CW proves how much they undervalue Supernatural. The show that has the toughest time slot on the network and still manages to be the second highest rated scripted show (right after Smallville)they have. It is unfathomable to me how they can rationalize not promoting this show that actually performs better then their promowhore Gossip Girl.
What is wrong with CW’s promo dept? First they get Smallville’s premiere night for Season 8 wrong and now they give us season 4 photos? Welling and Durance were/are model/actors. How hard can it be to give someone a camera (including a chimpanzee) and get a good shot? And as for the photoshopping . . . Oy! If the CW is that desperate for money, why don’t they give fans a few new photos and have a fan contest to see who can come up with the best promo media? I’ve seen fan stuff that makes what the CW produces (which is nil) for Smallville look like dog barf.
I hope Dawn O is happy. Not promoting your highest rated scripted show is . . . (fill in negative adjective of choice).
I won’t watch GG, OTH, 90210, Priviledged, or the other mind numbing teen angst just out of sheer principle. How much more can there be to an episode when the 2 minute trailer runs ad nauseum 24/7?
I hope that SN (and Smallville if they go for 9) get transferred to another network because the CW makes the Titanic look like the Queen Mary. glub, glub, glub
You’d think Dawn would realize at some point that even though she’s promoting these shows to death – no one is watching them! I’m a teen and SV and SPN are my favorites. Its really annoying to see them be overlooked for things like GG, 90210 and Priveleged, which are basically a whole lot of nothing. Its like the woman is detemined to do eveything she can to gets the only two worthwhile shows on the network cancelled! I hope they do switch networks, even though I doubt they will, because if they weren’t on the CW, I would have stopped watching when Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars got the ax.
If the CW doesn’t want to afford new art for Supernatural Season 4, all they gotta do is ask the fans. Seriously! Hand us four good S4 set photos and we’ll do the rest. There are some intensely creative and gifted fans out there, and the only reason SPN does so well as it does, is *because* fans do most of the promoting.
CW, you continue to amaze me with your myopia. Get a clue. And get a freakin’ proper promotion poster.
Come to think of it … let’s just do it ourselves, huh, gang?
~ Erin
CW you suck go to hell
I really wish that was some new stuff out there to see. And I’ve been waiting with twiddling thumbs for season 4 to start. The only thing that I can come up in defense of the CW is because it is so high they know people are going to tune in with or without promotion. But isn’t it every company’s goal to get MORE viewers.
Someone earlier mentioned SPN going up against Grey’s and CSI. I use to watch all three and when it came down to it SPN won. It’s a great show. And I will watch it past the cancellation of the series (hey isn’t that what DVD’s and marathon’s on Sci-Fi are for?). Granted, if the CW gave as much promotion to SPN and Gossip girl and that Beverly Hills zipcode I would probably be turned off of the show. The only reason why I watch OTH is because I’ve been watching it since season 2 and I would like to see how it ends. Granted I think the writting on that show has gone down the tubes. I would have rather seen something like what they did with Dawson’s with that show but that is nieither her nor there.
I remember flipping through the channels back in October of 2005 I believe. I stumbled on this show and I was like ‘whoa is that Alex from Dark Angel’ and I tuned in. The show was well written and it pulled me in. That was the scarecrow episode with the Pagan gods. I am not a fan of horror and I sat down every week to watch this show since then. It is a great show, but you need to let people know when it is so people can become addicted.
And it is so easy to become addicted. My bestfriend, who watches actively Greek, Wildfire, Seventh Heaven, OTH, Grey’s and Private Practice, I got to watch SPN. And even though it is nothing like anything else she watches, she still does. This show has potential to reach so many more.
But then I’m preaching to the choir here. I just felt like venting a bit. Hope it was interesting for you!
I thought I would stop by and give my support to a wonderful show. Does the CW really think they can “blow” us loyal fans off? Does Dawn not realize that fans can make or break a series? I have read the other comments and the truth rings clear that it is the fans doing her work for the network. I have been graced by the shear intellengence, devotion from the fans. I have yet to see such passionate fans on any other show. I think Dean said it like this-”Deamons I get, people are crazy.” CW really does need to grab this show and run with it. Promotion of the show needs to be a priority. I have reacently had 6 people get addicted to the show, to the point that every single one of them went out to buy season 1 and 2 on dvd. They also plan on buying season 3 when it comes out September 2nd. Dawn, you are crazy for not realizing what a gold mine you have with these two talented actors.
Amen. I’ve gotten 15 people hooked on this show. They are all different ages, from all different backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common now…they’re addicted to this show! They have devoured all the Seasons 1 and 2 DVDs and are just waiting for Season 3 to come out so that they can catch up fully before the Sept. 18th premiere.
This show reached people of all levels. CW is shooting themselves in the foot by not promoting it. They could double their viewership if they only tried even a little bit. Oh well. I guess it’s up to us, yet again. Tell a friend to tell a friend, folks. For me, all it takes is sitting down with someone and watching the first episode together. They’re universally hooked on that alone. The rest is easy as, well, pie.
I love this show. Hands down, better than any show I’ve ever watched, and I’ve watched A LOT in my 38 years. It’s worth the time and effort to promote it myself for the sake of Jensen, Jared, Kripke and every other person who pours their heart and soul into creating this show week after week. I’ll continue to fight the good fight even if Dawn won’t… Long Live Supernatural!
Commenting usually isnt my thing, but ive spent an hour on the site, so thanks for the info
l luv SUPERNATURAL l m like so obsesed and l so have a ……………sssshhhh on Dean