Fox Opts Against Setting Fall Schedule Ahead of Upfront

Fox is shaking things up this upfront season by not actually releasing a fall schedule. Bucking the norm, the broadcast network renewed a slate of dramas and comedies and added new series, but during its presentation Monday afternoon, it won't be telling advertisers when those shows will actually air. "We’re going to focus on a portfolio [upfront] show, and that’s what we did. We have a feeling you guys will have a schedule well in advance of when you need it; we’re pretty confident about that," Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier told reporters Monday morning. Collier continued: "We felt when we decided to do a portfolio upfront [combining entertainment, sports and news into a single presentation] we would take a new approach, and we’re doing just that. We talked about our portfolio and the way buyers are buying across it, and we thought to focus today on the linear grid was not the right way to go. We’re so proud that it’s a complementary situation between the broadcast network and streaming, so we decided not to focus on the schedule today.” The company is heading into the fall season as the No. 2 network in the coveted adults 18-49 demo, losing the ratings crown to NBC this season after two years on top. Fox is adding three new dramas, two animated comedies and one new unscripted series to its lineup in a strategy that the company said expands program ownership. The network has also set Next Level Chef as its post-Super Bowl 57 time slot on Feb. 12, 2023, which Collier called “the most powerful launch pad for entertainment.” When picking which program should follow Super Bowl 57, "we looked very closely at the Super Bowl and also the NFC Championship because they’re such unique events and so useful as launching pads, and what we’ve seen is putting an alternative show, and not launching a new show, but bringing back an existing show for a season premiere is the most productive way to use that platform and to help grow a young asset, so that’s exactly what we’re doing with Next Level Chef,” said Dan Harrison, evp, strategic program planning, Fox Entertainment. Last time Fox had the Super Bowl, the network took the opportunity to launch Season 3 of The Masked Singer, which was at the time the No. 1 entertainment show in the adults 18-49 demo. (That honor now belongs to NBC’s This Is Us.) 9-1-1 still MIA Fox renewed 9-1-1 spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star for Season 4, but there's no word yet on the flagship series, which the network is still in negotiations to renew, alongside medical drama The Resident. "We’re in good faith negotiations with [producing studio] 20th, and based on our long history with that company, we think we’re in pretty good shape," said Collier. Update: During its upfront presentation Monday afternoon, Fox announced it had renewed both 9-1-1 and The Resident. The network also picked up The Cleaning Lady for Season 2 and comedies Call Me Kat (Season 3) and Welcome to Flatch (Season 2). “Fox Entertainment enters the upfront—a week literally built for broadcasters to align with advertisers—as the only company, no matter the platform, with advertising at its core. Advertisers have been our focus since the start of this company, and we’re proud that this too is proof of Fox’s differentiation,” said Collier in a statement. “As you’ll see during our presentation, building barriers between our best content and our brand partners simply isn’t our business model.” Sunday has long been Fox’s animation franchise, and that’s hard to see anything changing there. The company had previously picked up The Simpsons through Season 34, and renewed Bob’s Burgers for Season 12, Family Guy for Season 20, The Great North for a third season and Housebroken for a second. Two new animated series, Grimsburg and Krapopolis, (from Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon) are coming this fall. Krapopolis, announced last upfront season, is the first animated series curated entirely on the blockchain, and will launch with a digital marketplace including NFTs. On the unscripted side, The Masked Singer is coming back for Season 8, Crime Scene Kitchen for Season 2 and Hell’s Kitchen for Season 21. Fox is doubling down on its relationship with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, expanding its production slate with production venture Studio Ramsay Global. The company will debut new series Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars, and Season 2 of Next Level Chef landed the post-Super Bowl 57 time slot. “Launching a culinary business is challenging enough. Building it into a successful enterprise is an entirely different animal. Gordon has accomplished both many times over,” said Rob Wade, president, alternative entertainment and specials, Fox Entertainment, in a statement. “One of the world’s elite chefs and the embodiment of a true entrepreneur, he will tap into his deep well of culinary skills, acute business acumen and ability to take risks in this new series to challenge, mentor and inspire our contestants to bring out their best and find his next protege. Fueled by the momentum of Next Level Chef, Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars is the perfect show to next come out of the gate as we continue to grow Studio Ramsay Global together.” Monarch, the country music drama postponed from midseason, will air this fall, as will crime anthology series Accused from Homeland and 24 executive producers, and missing persons drama Alert. New seasons of Fantasy Island and Lego Masters, previously set for this summer, will now air during the 2022-23 season, and Lego Masters is expanding with a multiple-night event Celebrity Lego Masters: Holiday Bricktacular. This is the first fall in several years that Fox won’t have Thursday Night Football, which is moving exclusively to Amazon Prime beginning in the 2022 season. New Tubi content Leaning into the strength of AVOD, Fox is also expanding its Tubi slate with a host of new content. Three animated films, Pastacolypse, Millennial Hunter and Bib Bruh, will be produced by Bento Box Entertainment, Fox Alternative Entertainment plans to release 12 new documentary projects over the next year. Fox reported that Tubi’s total view time (TVT) increased 50% and had record quarterly viewership this past quarter. Tubi delivered 18 of its top 20 TVT days in the past quarter and now has more than 42,000 titles in the past quarter. The streamer also secured renewed distribution deals with Amazon and signed a custom deal with Samsung’s smart TVs. Fox’s 2022-23 schedule (New programs in ALL CAPS) 9-1-1: Lone Star, Access, ALERT, Beat Shazam, Bob’s Burgers, The Cleaning Lady, Crime Scene Kitchen, Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, Family Guy, Fantasy Island, GORDON RAMSAY’S FOOD STARS, The Great North, GRIMSBURG, Hell’s Kitchen, Housebroken, KRAPOPOLIS, Lego Masters, The Masked Singer, Masterchef, MONARCH, Next Level Chef, The Simpsons, So You Think You Can Dance, Welcome to Flatch

TV Upfronts

Fox Opts Against Setting Fall Schedule Ahead of Upfront, Adds New Gordon Ramsay Series

Next Level Chef lands coveted post-Super Bowl 57 time slot

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Mollie Cahillane