The CW President Mark Pedowitz Extends Contract

Mark Pedowitz has re-upped his deal to continue as president of the CW. The early contract renewal comes 20 months after he inked his most recent multi-year pact with the network co-owned by CBS and Warner Bros.

Since then, Pedowitz steered the CW as it negotiated a new affiliate agreement with its top station group, Tribune, and inked a big new SVOD deal with Netflix.

Pedowitz, the respected former ABC Studios and ABC business affairs topper, joined the CW in April 2011, succeeding the network’s first programming president Dawn Ostroff. Over the past six years, he has broadened the network’s audience, bringing in more older and male viewers. He has boosted the CW viewership with a string of DC series Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl  and the upcoming Black Lightning.

Black Lightning is one of two new series the CW has on tap for midseason, along with comedy Life Sentence.

Under Pedowitz, the CW also broke into the awards circle with Golden Globe wins for the network’s comedy series Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Additionally, he has shepherded the growth of digital channel CW Seed with the addition of Everwood and new originals like the DC animated series Freedom Fighters: The Ray and Constantine.