The original point was to provide an option for the WB and UPN affiliates who weren't going to be CW affiliates and who were deathly afraid of becoming independent again. Never mind that their programming was an untested experiment -- 65-episode serials running nightly for 13 weeks -- that was eventually abandoned. Never mind that viewers were increasingly moving away from broadcast television even back then in 2006. Stations needed to make money, and apparently they were utterly convinced they couldn't do that as independents.
Actually, I imagine a lot of the CW's viewers who keep up with the shows watch them on the network's streaming app(s). As for their presence on Netflix...well, the shows are slowly moving to HBO Max and Paramount+. You may want to read this article about the CW's recent show cancellations.
Well, maybe just KSTW, WTOG, and WUPA -- the stations that aren't part of duopolies.