The CW to Air Canceled Hallmark Series

The CW will soon be the home of a fan-favorite drama series. On Tuesday, it was announced that the network has picked up the ten-episode first season of Ride, a drama series that originally aired on the Hallmark network. The series, which was canceled by Hallmark earlier this fall, stars Nancy Travis as a matriarch of a rodeo dynasty who tries to save their Colorado ranch. The cast of Ride also includes Tiera Skovbye, Beau Mirchoff, Sara Garcia, Jake Foy, and Tyler Jacob Moore.

Ride will air on The CW beginning on Monday, January 22nd. At the moment, it is unclear if a second season of Ride will spin out of this pickup, as the network reportedly has no plans to order more episodes at this point.

Who Owns The CW?

The network has undergone a number of changes since it was purchased by Nexstar, leading to a number of original shows getting canceled and pivoting towards acquired and unscripted programming in hopes of reversing massive amounts of debt. As Nexstar revealed earlier this year, The CW still has a long way to go, with the network drawing in a net loss of $78 million just in the second quarter of 2023. As Nexstar executives hinted in the company’s quarterly earnings report, the goal is to build The CW back up in a “Moneyball”-like strategy. Nexstar reportedly hopes for The CW to be profitable by 2025.

“We’re competing in the same league as the big four networks, but we’ve got to do it smartly, and crawl, walk, run,” Nexstar CEO Perry Sook revealed. “We’re going to take some smart bets and calculated risks.”

What Shows Has The CW Renewed?

The CW has renewed a select few of its original scripted series, which are expected to debut at some point in 2024. This includes a shortened fourth and final season of Superman & Lois, as well as new seasons of Walker, All-American, and All-American: Homecoming.

“It was very easy to focus on those four as our biggest shows and best performers. And then it was also easier to have conversations with CBS and Warner about ‘How can we make these shows work for everybody?’ because there was a successful track record,” The CW president of entertainment Brad Schwartz said in a recent interview. “CBS and Warner Bros. know what they make on them internationally, know what they make from their Netflix and HBO sales. We know how they do for us. They can project what a library of 60 or 70 episodes is going to make for them forever. You can put all the math together and be like, ‘Is there a path for us as partners?’”

What do you think of The CW picking up Ride? Will you be tuning in to the series? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, Ride will premiere on The CW on Monday, January 22nd.