Is Hulu saving ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Nikita,’ and ‘Hart of Dixie’?

Over the past several years, The CW has long been a laughingstock thanks to many of their shows not exactly pulling in earth-shattering ratings across the board. The network’s response? That they continue to play well on other platforms, including streams on their official website and on Hulu, and these coupled with strong DVR numbers help to show that you cannot always quantify the way in which many young people watch TV these days.

For a while, some have assumed that this was simply PR and industry-speak to gloss over things; however, the network may truly now be putting their money where their mouth is. According to a report from Deadline, the network is actually considering renewing the vast majority of their primetime lineup, including low-rated shows like “Nikita” and “The Carrie Diaries,” thanks in part to their performance on other platforms. One option is giving some of these shows shorter runs to make way for others, but the network is clearly valuing something more than total viewers in making some of these decisions.

To be fair, we previously mentioned that with the exception of the “90210,” “Cult,” and “Emily Owens MD,” the only series we really expected to be canceled was “The Carrie Diaries.” However, this news does give fans in particular of the Carrie Bradshaw series and “Beauty and the Beast” (which is in the same timeslot as “The Secret Circle,” which was canceled last year with higher ratings) a little bit more hope. Think of this as the iPad effect: People are starting to watch TV more and more at their own leisure, which eliminates the purpose of Nielsen data in some ways.

If this news does turn out to be true, then kudos to The CW for really staying committed not just to your shows, but to the strategy in which you make them. After all, you do hear “Hart of Dixie” and “The Vampire Diaries” talked about among more young people that you often see referenced in ratings, and for many teens is simply easier to watch these shows while as a passenger in a car than at home during their free time.

What do you think: is it a smart move for The CW to bring all of these shows back? If you want to read more on the “Carrie Diaries” finale, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: The CW