MediaBuyerPlanner: Rather than face the possibility of the disruption of its mid-season hit show 24 due to the writers strike, Fox has made the decision not to air the drama at all this season.
“It’s not a decision we wanted to make, but it’s one based on how we feel the viewers expect us to schedule the show,” Preston Beckman, Fox scheduling chief, is quoted as saying in Hollywood Reporter. The decision, made only three days into the strike, was prompted by the heavy marketing money that has already been spent to promote the show, including promos during the World Series and on a giant screen in Times Square.
Delaying could have cost the network “a lot of money,” says Beckman. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, originally slated to run in tandem with 24, will now take 24’s Monday, 9 p.m. time slot, beginning Jan. 13.
When House runs out of original episodes, Hell’s Kitchen will take the cushy time slot following American Idol on Tuesdays at 9 p.m., beginning April 1.
ABC, on the other hand, still plans to air its heavily serialized Lost in mid-season. It will run the eight episodes that have already been produced – 10 short of the 18-episode order.
NBC is expected to announce its new mid-season schedule soon; CBS and ABC are reportedly still working on theirs.
Network executives point out that, if the strike ends soon, they will go back to their original mid-season plans.
The article includes other strike-related programming developments, along with Fox’s complete new schedule.
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- Networks Bulk up on Nonscripted Fare as Strike Begins
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- Strike between Writers, Producers Possible as Early as Tonight
