To expand on my earlier comment, as I didn't have time to go into depth then...
That's extreme lol. The Arrowverse still has as many shows in production as it had last year and more than what it had 3 years ago. They also have 2 potential shows in development (wonder girl and painkiller).
They'll have Superman and Lois, Stargirl, Batwoman (for at least one more season), Painkiller, and Flash , Wondergirl ,with LOT keeping its off and on seasonal status.
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So its not as if its all clear sailing from here. They still have something to prove, and the audience will decide if the shows take off.
But no, the Arrowverse isn't going away anytime soon.
It is down to the viewers, yeah, and unless I'm mistaken Black Lightening didn't launch with the greatest of viewers, especially be Arrow and Flash standards. I'd simply put that down to him being a lesser known character, at least outside of the comic book world.
Most people probably originally tuned into Arrow because it was an easy 45mins of action, and you didn't have to think too hard. We were then introduced to Flash, and in turn, Supergirl, who's viewers probably came in because of who the characters were. Legends had a success because it mostly used characters that had already been established.
Painkiller isn't really established, at least as someone who is capable, and can you really have a series about that character? A miniseries, sure, but a whole reoccurring series with multiple seasons? I don't know. The same goes for Wonder Girl, just because she's not a huge name, and we haven't even met her.
If you're suddenly throwing the likes of Kitana, Arsenal, Thunder & lightning into that show, then it's less about Painkiller and more about the team. I know there was some hope of seeing the Outriders(?) on Black Lightning, but there seems little point in cancelling one show just to bring the same characters into another. At this point, I think Painkiller will be another Canaries; we'll get a pilot, and then nothing.
IMO... Black Lightning was/is the best written of the CW/DC shows. And Batwoman was the second best. (Though, Stargirl was pretty good too.)
Stargirl gets my vote as being one of the best written shows at the moment, and I think a lot of that is down to the shows fever episodes; when you've got a show that has 12/13 episodes, the writers can focus on what matters. When you've got a show with 21/22 episodes, the writers have to stretch that out and fill it in with episodes that're either pointless, or ones that nobody really cares for.
I'm pretty sure every episode of Stargirl served a purpose, and had a point to it. The same can pretty much be said for Black Lightning too - because again, more localised, focused, and with fewer episodes. I suspect this is also how Legends is surviving. Granted they don't always have to most coherent or viable episodes, but they're relying on a reduced number of them, and for the moment, it's paying off.
