The "Reaper" folk say they aren't distracted by such stuff.
"I think a lot of networks are struggling with just the changing viewership" of TV, said Michele Fazekas, the executive producer who created "Reaper" with Tara Butters.
" 'Gossip Girl' is a show the network is very excited about and has always been very excited about," she added. "We're not competing with them, that's the thing. We're not competing with even their audience."
That's true; the crowd that "Reaper" draws, such as it is, is older and more male than that of "Gossip Girl." But complicating "Reaper's" case are lingering doubts about the long-term health of its network home. Few in the TV industry have had an easy time of it in this strike-plagued season, and on Thursday, a passel of prime-time shows sunk to lowest-ever ratings, including the much-anticipated, post-strike return of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy."
But the outlook is especially grim for the CW, a joint effort between CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. that's perhaps best known as the home of "America's Next Top Model." (Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times, also owns many of the stations that air CW programming, including KTLA Channel 5.) For all the praise heaped on the network's schedule last fall by advertisers and critics, ratings in the CW's core demographic of adults 18 to 34 have plunged 27%, season to date, prompting agents and rival executives to speculate that its corporate partners will soon shutter it.
This may not be the time for the struggling network to take a flier on a first-year series that hasn't set off any fires among viewers.
John Rash, an analyst for ad firm Campbell Mithun, said the CW has had "a challenging year -- at best." The young, media-savvy viewers the network wants are "the hardest to catch and the first to flee repeats, which dominated the media form during the writers strike," he added.
The CW wouldn't make any of its executives available for an interview. But spokesman Paul McGuire said in a statement: "Building a network, establishing a brand and creating hits, especially in today's crowded TV landscape, takes time, and patience is required."
As for "Reaper," the network isn't offering much comfort. McGuire called it a "quality show" but added, "Its future will be revealed when we announce our schedule May 13." Fazekas said the network has remained "very supportive" but noted that in terms of hints about its prospects for a renewal, "We don't have really any more information" than what the network told this column.
