The WIT Analysis: The CW

NEW YORK: Wrapping up its analysis of social-media buzz following the network Upfronts, The WIT reveals that the midseason replacements DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Containment are The CW’s most anticipated new series.

It’s no surprise that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (WBITD), another one from Greg Berlanti, is the youth-skewing network’s most hyped new show, following its success with Arrow and The Flash. The trailer on YouTube and Facebook was seen more than 5 million times and the show sparked almost 24,000 Twitter tweets in the two days following the Upfront. The WIT ranks it as the third most-anticipated show across all networks, following CBS’s Supergirl and FOX’s Scream Queens. And it is the second most-liked show, with 155,000 Facebook likes and 20,000 followers as of May 22.

"The level of hype and positive feedback is probably the highest of all new shows because, unlike the more polarizing Supergirl, the trailer of DC's Legends of Tomorrow delivers and meets the expectations of long-time DC fans,” says The WIT’s Caroline Servy, calling it a “proper superhero action-packed drama with a dash of humor.”

Fans were weighing in on the return of favorite characters—most notably White Canary—and others they would like to see in the show and crossover with The CW’s other DC Comics-based series. “There was positive instant feedback, but little room for a new audience, with first signs of a slowdown in the superhero craze. With so many DC shows to watch and so little time, even some hardcore fans admit to being confused. Social media users also expressed disappointment on the season finales of Arrow and The Flash, and are not sure they’ll stay loyal to the many DC-based dramas next season.”

The second most anticipated new show for The CW is the thriller Containment (WBITD), adapted from the Belgian format Cordon, which examines what happens when a deadly epidemic breaks out in Atlanta and a large city quarantine is quickly enforced. There were 700,000 cumulative views for the trailer on YouTube and Facebook, 11,000 Facebook likes, and a discussion volume of roughly 2,000 tweets on Twitter in the two days following the Upfront. These social media metrics put it in the same company as new dramas like Limitless, The Catch and Lucifer.

From Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals), Containment is likely to appeal to a more mature audience than normally frequents The CW, but was received positively by fans of the network's teen-skewing supernatural dramas. “People are generally excited about the premise and about the more adult and diverse cast,” Servy says. She adds that many comments revolved around stars of Containment who previously appeared in The Vampire Diaries or The Originals, including Chris Wood.

“On the negative side, a handful of series experts question the CW's ability to adapt the good Belgian format, while a larger share of social media users are concerned about the showrunner's tendency to add ‘irrelevant romances’ to the plot,” Servy says.

The third new show announced by The CW is the music-infused hour-long comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CBSSI), which received much lower viewing figures and interest in social media, according to The WIT’s analysis.

"People certainly find the premise crazy, either in a good or bad way…the musical component also divides the audience, some predicting an early cancelation, others hoping for a similar fate as Galavant's positive outcome or Jane the Virgin, which had received terrible social media feedback before its TV premiere last year.”

Check out World Screen's guide to the network fall season here.