Fox Looks To Original Programs For New Season

Building on its gains in recent years, the Fox network will make big changes to its prime-time schedule this season -- scheduling 90% original programming, including three new comedies and six new dramas.


Fox is making a bigger transition now that its longtime “American Idol” mothership has ended.

The network claims last season to have witnessed its best overall viewing results in three years, partly thanks to its big “Empire” TV show. Helping Fox to market new mid-season shows this year will be the Super Bowl -- always a major ratings booster itself.

Currently, Fox is just a tick above ABC for third place among the top four networks this season -- pulling in an average 2.4 million 18-49 viewers (a Nielsen 1.9 rating/6 share) and some 5.9 million overall viewers, good for fourth place among all TV networks.

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This data comes from Nielsen live program-plus-seven days of time-shifted viewing.

Dana Walden and Gary Newman, chairmen/CEO at Fox Television Group, say the networks will have more first-run programming on its schedule than ever before -- 90% original. Walden said in a upfront press conference: “Our audience is not interested in repeats.”

Newman says its fall schedule will be the most stable in four years, just limited programming changes with three new shows.

Two new drama series,“Lethal Weapon” and “The Exorcist” -- riffing off their respective movie franchises -- will be added in the fall. “Lethal Weapon will start on Wednesday at 8 p.m. with “The Exorcist” going at 9 p.m on Friday.

Animated comedy “Son of Zorn,” is a hybrid live-action/animated family comedy that follows an animated warrior from a Pacific faraway island. It will be added to Fox Sunday animation block of programming, at 8:30 p.m. -- benefiting from a strong “Simpsons” lead-in at 8 p.m.

Other new mid-season shows will include new versions of older Fox dramas: “24: Legacy” and “Prison Break,” a limited series.

Other new dramas include “Star,” a music series about aspiring stars; “Pitch,” about a young pitcher who becomes the first woman to play Major League Baseball; “APB,” a new limited-series police drama with a high-tech twist; and “Shots Fired,” examining the aftermath of racially charged shootings in a small Southern town.

New comedies include “The Mick,” a single-camera comedy about a small-time Rhode Island hustler who assumes guardianship of her sister’s children; and “Making History,”,a series about three friends from two different centuries as they balance time travel.

New reality competition shows include: “Kicking & Screaming,” in which 10 expert survivalists are paired with “pampered” partners and “My Kitchen Rules,” a reality cooking series with celebrity contestants.


FOX FALL 2016 SCHEDULE
(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "GOTHAM"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "LUCIFER" 

TUESDAY
8:00-8:30 p.m. "BROOKLYN NINE-NINE"
8:30-9:00 p.m. "NEW GIRL"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "SCREAM QUEENS"

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "LETHAL WEAPON" (new)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "EMPIRE"

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "ROSEWOOD" 
9:00-10:00 p.m. "BONES"

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "HELL’S KITCHEN"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "THE EXORCIST" (new)

SATURDAY
7:00-10:30 p.m. FOX SPORTS SATURDAY: FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 p.m. NFL ON FOX
7:30-8:00 p.m. "THE OT" / "BOB’S BURGERS"
8:00-8:30 p.m. "THE SIMPSONS"
8:30-9:00 p.m. SON OF ZORN (new)
9:00-9:30 p.m. "FAMILY GUY"
9:30-10:00 p.m. "THE LAST MAN ON EARTH"


FOX MIDSEASON 2016-2017 SCHEDULE
(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "24: LEGACY" (new) / "GOTHAM" (spring)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "APB" (new) / "LUCIFER" (spring)

TUESDAY
8:00-8:30 p.m. "NEW GIRL" / "BROOKLYN NINE-NINE" (spring)
8:30-9:00 p.m. "THE MICK" (new)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "KICKING & SCREAMING" (new) / "PITCH" (new; spring)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "LETHAL WEAPON" / "SHOTS FIRED" (new; spring)
9:00-10:00 p.m. "STAR" (new) / "EMPIRE" (spring)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "ROSEWOOD" 
9:00-10:00 p.m. "PRISON BREAK" (new)

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 p.m. "MASTERCHEF JUNIOR"
9:00-10:00 p.m. "SLEEPY HOLLOW" 

SATURDAY
8:00-10:00 p.m. FOX SPORTS SATURDAY

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 p.m. ANIMATION ENCORES
7:30-8:00 p.m. "BOB’S BURGERS"
8:00-8:30 p.m. THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 p.m. "MAKING HISTORY" (new)
9:00-9:30 p.m. "FAMILY GUY"
9:30-10:00 p.m. "THE LAST MAN ON EARTH"

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