• Ad Age, Thursday, December 1, 2005 10:45 AM

Following weeks of speculation over where Fox would schedule the next season of "American Idol," its powerhouse amateur-hour show, the network announced yesterday that it would keep it where it's always been, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. This clears the way for rival networks to complete their lineups for the upcoming season, as no one wants to go directly against the seemingly unstoppable Fox extravaganza. NBC, which is in a rebuilding mode, has been particularly eager to settle on a schedule. With an "Idol"-less Thursday, there's a possibility that NBC will move its freshman hit, "My Name Is Earl," to that night from its Tuesday slot, giving the network an opportunity to reclaim Thursday nights as its own. NBC's enormously profitable Must-See TV, which once revolved around Thursday-night programming, has been in decline almost since the days of "Seinfeld."

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