What’s on The CW tonight? Here is the full The CW schedule for Tuesday, October 27, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

The CW has one national program tonight, and it is two hours of wrestling

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

Tuesday on The CW comes down to a single slot: WWE NXT at 8pm ET, running 120 minutes. Everything else on the day’s schedule is local programming from your own station, which means the national network has nothing to say about the other 22 hours and neither do we. If you came looking for a full night of scripted shows, this is not that night.

NXT is the draw, and it is a long-running one. It is a professional wrestling program that began on Syfy, with 12 series and 777 episodes to date. That is a lot of Tuesdays. The CW airs it at 8pm ET, which puts it up against Dancing with the Stars on ABC, NCIS on CBS and The Real Housewives of New York City on Bravo. Wrestling fans are not really choosing between those. The broader audience is, and a two-hour block is a heavy ask on a night when so many shorter options start at the same moment.

The format is the advantage. A weekly wrestling show gives you a reason to tune in at 8pm ET and a clear stopping point at 10pm ET, with no episode-to-episode catching up required. It airs on three days in the current window (tonight, October 31 and the previous Tuesday), so it is not a nightly fixture. Tonight is the one to catch if you want it this week.

After 10pm ET the network hands the evening back to local stations. What your affiliate puts there depends on where you live, so check your own guide for the 10pm hour. The same applies to the early evening block at 6pm ET.

I’d call NXT a solid, specific recommendation rather than a broad one: three stars, and a pick only because nothing else on the network’s national schedule competes with it.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: Dancing with the Stars
  • NBC: NBA Basketball
  • CBS: NCIS
  • FOX: 2026 World Series
  • PBS: Finding Your Roots
  • ION: Chicago Fire
  • TCM: Arsenic and Old Lace
  • AMC: A Nightmare on Elm Street (from 7pm ET)
  • FX: Independence Day (from 6pm ET)
  • Freeform: Addams Family Values (from 7pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on The CW tonight?

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, The CW shows WWE NXT at 8pm ET and Local Programs at 10pm ET.

Is there a movie on The CW tonight?

Yes: WWE NXT (2026) at 8pm ET.

What time does The CW’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with Local Programs at 6pm ET.

A small network that does a little of everything

The CW, along with FOX, runs the lightest network schedule of the broadcast channels we track. On weekdays it supplies two hours, 8pm to 10pm ET, and leaves the rest of the day to the local station. Across the two weeks we tracked, a typical day on the channel had just seven entries, and most of them were “Local Programs”. What the network does fill, it fills with an odd and fairly cheerful mix: game shows called Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit, a wrestling show, crime dramas, Penn & Teller, police reality and, at the weekend, a surprising amount of sport.

That mix is consistent from week to week. About 86% of airtime went to titles that returned on three or more days, and each weeknight kept the same two shows in the same two slots.

What a day on The CW looks like

On weekdays the network itself does not appear until 8pm ET. Each night then has a fixed pairing:

  • Monday: crime drama. Private Eyes West Coast at 8pm, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent at 9pm.
  • Tuesday: WWE NXT, the full two hours from 8pm.
  • Wednesday: Police 24/7 at 8pm, The Great American Road Rally: Celebrity Edition at 9pm.
  • Thursday: game-show night. Scrabble at 8pm, Trivial Pursuit at 9pm.
  • Friday: Penn & Teller: Fool Us at 8pm, then Totally Funny Animals, unless college football takes the night.

At 10pm local stations take over again.

Weekends are where The CW does most of its own programming. Saturday mornings carry a long run of Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild, several half-hour episodes back to back from 8am, which is why documentary makes up half of the channel’s measured airtime and nearly all of it on weekends. College football follows from noon, and Saturday evenings bring NASCAR coverage or more football, with PBR bull riding sometimes added late. Sundays start with The Hill Sunday with Chris Stirewalt at 10am, and Sunday evenings end with Police 24/7: On the Beat at 7pm and a film at 7:30pm, typically a mainstream comedy such as Miss Congeniality or The Proposal.

There is no network morning show, no national news, no daytime and no late night.

Popular shows on The CW

WWE NXT is a professional wrestling program that began in 2010 and has run for 12 seasons. It is the only CW show that takes the whole of primetime on its night, filling Tuesday from 8pm to 10pm. It is also the most distinctive thing on the schedule: nothing else on the broadcast networks we track carries weekly wrestling.

Penn & Teller: Fool Us is a comedy series that started in 2011 and has run for 10 seasons. It leads off Fridays at 8pm.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is a Canadian series that began in 2024 and has run for three seasons. It anchors Monday at 9pm, after Private Eyes West Coast, another crime drama.

Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit are game shows, paired on Thursdays at 8pm and 9pm.

Police 24/7 is a police reality series, and the one title that turns up twice a week: on Wednesday at 8pm, and as Police 24/7: On the Beat on Sunday at 7pm, leading into the film.

Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild fills Saturday mornings in a long run of back-to-back episodes and is the reason The CW counts as a documentary channel on weekends.

How to watch The CW

The CW is free over the air with an antenna through your local affiliate. Episodes are free to stream the next day on The CW app and website, with no TV-provider login needed. The Roku Channel also streams CW programming free the day after broadcast.

To watch live without an antenna, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo and DirecTV Stream carry The CW. The CW app is for next-day viewing; we found no confirmation that it streams the network live.

Channels like The CW

  • FOX is the other network with only two hours of weeknight primetime, game shows on several nights and a weekend full of college football.
  • ION is another free broadcast channel aimed at crime drama fans, though with long marathons instead of a weekly lineup.
  • USA Network carries more crime drama alongside its own sport.
  • Comedy Central is a better bet if Penn & Teller and Totally Funny Animals are your speed.

Who it’s for

The CW is for viewers who want something easygoing and free at 8pm: a game show, Penn & Teller, an hour of wrestling. It is also handy for sports fans who want college football and NASCAR without cable. It is not the place for prestige drama, network news or anything resembling a full day’s schedule, because the network simply does not program one.

What time is primetime on The CW?

The CW’s primetime runs from 8pm to 10pm ET on weeknights. Local stations take over at 10pm.

Is WWE NXT on The CW?

Yes. WWE NXT fills Tuesday nights from 8pm to 10pm ET.

How can I watch The CW for free?

With an antenna for the live local signal, or the next day on The CW app and website, or on The Roku Channel, all without a subscription.

Does The CW show movies?

Occasionally. Sunday evenings usually have one film at 7:30pm ET, typically a mainstream comedy.

What’s on The CW on Saturdays?

Saturday mornings carry back-to-back episodes of Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild from 8am, followed in the fall by college football from noon and NASCAR or more football in the evening.