Until the debut of The WB and UPN (now The CW), FOX was the new kid on the block. And because they were the unproven fourth network, they had some catching up to do in order to be considered a real player.
Unlike the big four networks, The CW only airs 10 hours of original primetime programming each week, which means there’s far less time slots that needed to be filled. Hence the meager renewal and cancellation list below.