The CW is Considering a Stand-Alone Streaming Service

With their Netflix and Hulu deals on the cusp of expiration, The CW is reportedly mulling launching their own, stand-alone streaming service rather than re-upping with more established brands.

The network is flush with series that would bring dedicated fans to a potential service: not only four DC Entertainment shows -- plus the online-only Vixen on CW Seed -- but also ratings-challenged cult favorites like Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

The CW is currently in the final year of a four-year deal inked in 2011 with Netflix, while they signed a five-year deal with Hulu that same year. Some CW favorites -- like Veronica Mars, which streamed free on Amazon Prime when the Kickstarter-funded movie was on the way -- have special deals in place independent of the larger network.

Freshman shows like DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend don't have full-season deals in place at all yet, and there had been rumors that The CW would slow the release of their massively-popular DC Comics properties to Netflix in order to give Blu-ray and DVD releases more commercial opportunities.

THR reports that network head Mark Pedowitz told reporters at the Television Critics Association that there are numerous entities interested in the product The CW has to offer and than parent companies CBS and Warner Bros. are exploring both internal and external options for digital delivery.