• by Paul Gough , May 20, 2004

Fox will present a schedule this morning that blunts the impact of the traditional fall season opening with three major waves of new programming - in the summer, November after baseball and in January.

While the other networks have been toying with a year-round schedule - holding back some shows for January - Fox has committed a lot of resources to a 52-week development process in an effort to boost Fox's ratings but also stem the erosion of network ratings. Fox began the process last year but it pushed it into overdrive this year, with six new shows including two dramas that will premiere in about a month.

"When we're talking about a revolution, we're talking about it in every sense of the word ... not just rolling out some new shows in June or getting some reality on the air," said Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman during a conference call with reporters earlier this morning. "This is a wholesale change."

The June through September schedule includes "North Shore" and "The Casino" on Mondays, "The Jury" on Tuesdays, "Quintuplets," "Method & Red" and the second edition of "The Simple Life."

Fox's second season will begin in November following the World Series. Returning shows include "The Swan," "That '70s Show" and the Sunday night comedy schedule. New shows include "The House," "The Billionaire" and "The Next Great Champ," a boxing reality series. Fox will also give a second chance to the critically acclaimed but lightly watched "Arrested Development."

Berman said that it wasn't a tough decision to renew "Arrested Development," which had been on the bubble because of its low ratings despite its pedigree.

"It's beloved by every person working at the network," Berman said. "It's not often that you have a piece of material that everyone feels so strongly about, its creative integrity and its groundbreaking nature."

Fox did throw a twist, sending last summer's sleeper "The O.C." to bat in the 8 p.m. Thursday timeslot against "Survivor" and the "Friends" spinoff "Joey." Berman said that the show has a huge following among its youthful audience that gives Fox an opportunity on Thursdays that it didn't have before.

"American Idol" and "24" will return beginning in January, with "24" getting an uninterrupted run in its fourth 24-hour-day season and a two-hour debut and finale.

Jon Nesvig, president of ad sales, said that the 52-week schedule had been greeted with "a great deal of enthusiasm" when given an airing in front of advertisers in the March development meeting.

"One of the things that the advertisers have been asking for in the upfront process is more information about what's going to be on the air," Nesvig said. "This is in direct response to their desire as to what will be on the air during the course of the year ... This will be nothing but a help to the sales department"

Fox comes into the upfront a different network than it was a year ago, when it was riding high on the strength of the unexpected strength of "Joe Millionaire" (the highest-rated show of 2002-03 beyond the Super Bowl) and the first regular-season run of "American Idol." Those two powerhouses gave Fox its first sweeps victories and brought it within a hair's breadth of NBC in the seasonlong adults 18-49 race. The network had a lot of momentum going into the upfront, with the first (albeit smaller-scale) plan for original dramas and comedies in the summer.

But a year later, fortunes have changed for Fox. The ill-advised second "Joe Millionaire" flopped. "American Juniors," which was supposed to hold a spot for "American Idol," crashed and burned. And though "The O.C." caught on with viewers, another high-profile primetime soap opera - "Skin" - seemed to fall before the leaves did. Fox seemed like it could challenge NBC again this year and be well-positioned for the 2004-05 season without the Peacock's "Friends."

While that doesn't seem as likely today, Fox had some stellar moments last year. "The O.C." brought Fox a fair amount of eyeballs and helped carry it through the rest of the year. Post-season baseball, which died in the ratings the year before, featured dream matchups with the three most popular teams and great games.

And evoking those higher ratings for postseason baseball, Berman said it would be a springboard this year for some more adult-themed shows.