• Media Life, Friday, August 18, 2006 12:45 PM

"Just a couple of years ago, it was inconceivable that Fox would be heading into the fall season with the strongest prospects of any of the broadcast networks," writes Kevin Downey in Media Life. It was even more unlikely that it would do so with two back-to-back season wins behind it. But that's right where it stands less than a month out from the new season, he writes--poised to win its third broadcast season in the eyes of media buyers. And wherever it is in January, "Fox can expect the midseason return of "American Idol" will push it back into No. 1 if it isn't there already." This fall, the strategy is to deploy hits such as "House" as both lead-ins for its rookie series and platforms to promote the new lineup. Fox will also roll early, debuting some of its new shows next week to make up for the baseball playoffs in October, which break up its fall schedule. "Our strategy is to premiere our shows early so they get traction before baseball and to use baseball to give those shows a second push," says Preston Beckman, evp of strategic program planning and research at Fox. "We'll then come back in January with our two big guns, "American Idol" and "24," and then make any adjustments to take advantage of those two shows."

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