Fox Launching New Shows in Summer ,instead of Fall... (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

Just heard a radio report about this. Apparently this decision is being made thanks to lower than average ratings in Fall of 2002.

Gee, could Sports be the main reason why their lineup has suffered? People can't see their favorite shows due to football, so they go elsewhere.

I mean, they have that extra FX network. Use that to put new Fox shows that sports pre-empts, and you won't have a problem.

 

[Joel Mack]

Gee, could Sports be the main reason why their lineup has suffered? People can't see their favorite shows due to football, so they go elsewhere.

Gah!!!!!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Fox pre-empted Fastlane multiple times, and moved it around. And it gets very good ratings.

I just can't buy that sports hurts TV shows, there just isn't any good evidence to support it.

Frankly, Fox just isn't a network that has a loyal audience that will try out new shows each fall. CBS and NBC do.

Honestly, Fox is a bit of a joke of a network. Lots of shows about animal attacks, accidents, police incidents, and so on. There is a reason 'The Simpsons' has made fun of Fox so many times over the last decade.

If Fox wants to be a network that people turn to when looking for new comedies and dramas each year, they need to reinvent themselves. That cannot be done overnight; they need to produce a quality product and try to build some 'anchor' shows that they can leverage other shows against.

 

[Jason Seaver]

If Fox wants to be a network that people turn to when looking for new comedies and dramas each year, they need to reinvent themselves. That cannot be done overnight; they need to produce a quality product and try to build some 'anchor' shows that they can leverage other shows against.

Which they’ve done in the past. This fall was especially hard, since two of Fox’'s three most established shows (The X-Files and Ally McBeal) left the air.

Fox's biggest liability is probably what I love most about it – their regular series are almost all, to a certain extent, unusual. They don’t have anything as plain as CBS's Monday line-up; heck, John Doe is the closest thing they have to a regular cop show. It's a high-risk/high-reward strategy, and when it fails (as it often inevitably will), they're left with either filling time with cheap "reality" shows or running That 70s Show four times a week until the back-ups are ready.

 

[MickeS]

I agree that Fox is very much a joke network still, despite several excellent shows throughout the years. Last week they had a show called "Man versus beast" on, something about people trying to pull a plane faster than an elephant... what the hell?

They also have a lot less programming than the other networks. They have 10 primetime hrs mon-fri, while the others have 15 + late night talk shows. They're not gonna build an audience if they keep making people having to switch to other channels to watch TV more than 2 hrs/day.

 

[Jason Quillen]

I think this is a good move for Fox, as long as its late Summer. Fox always keeps the known variables in the TV holding pen until after the World Series. So the unknowns, like Firefly and Fastlane, usually get a few weeks early on to develop but then they're put head to head with other networks big shows and they don't hold up then factor in sports preemptions and people just give up the new shows.
With Fox starting these new shows earlier in the summer they'll get more time to develop, a few weeks hiatus for Baseball (if they're doing terrible they could get axed then) and then November sweeps when the real calls on a shows fate can be made.
Do I think sports preemptions directly lead to a show being canceled? Not alone, but combined with everything else going on in fall TV preemptions dont help. At least this way Fox can get more time for these unknown shows to grab an audience.
JQ