Fox Television Network

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:08pm on Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Instead of broadcasting President Barack Obama's primetime speech on September 9, 2009, the Fox Television Network aired night two of the season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance" at 8 PM eastern time.

This is the third straight presidential speech the Fox network has skipped.

ABC, CBS and NBC carried the speech live, as did the big three cable news networks (CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC).

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 2:45pm on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

A Fox TV exec is complaining about Nielsen television ratings, Variety magazine reported on May 18, 2009:

"Fox Networks Group chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra is taking on ratings giant Nielsen Media Research.

Vinciquerra told Daily Variety he's frustrated by Nielsen's recent admission that its TV ratings may be off by as much as 8% -- and believes the company isn't acting promptly to correct the problem."

The full story:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003924.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 11:46pm on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Simon Cowell has some doubts about staying on the hit TV show "American Idol," The Hollywood Reporter reported on April 21, 2009:

"American Idol judge Simon Cowell says he will leave the most popular show on television if it ever slips from the top spot in the ratings.

“The idea that for the next five years, I’d be doing exactly what I’ve been doing for the past five years … the thought is just too depressing,” Cowell said in a recent interview in his trailer awaiting a taping of Idol at CBS Television City. “I’d go nuts, bored out of my mind. You have to evolve, you have to change. I like the challenge of launching something new.”

With Cowell’s deal with Fox expiring at the end of next season, that “something new” could be a U.S. version of his UK singing competition series The X Factor. Any doubts about Cowell’s role in the success of Idol disappeared when he launched Factor three years ago -- the somewhat similarly formatted show became a massive hit that has since supplanted American Idol predecessor Pop Idol.

Though the Idol audience has declined over the past few seasons, it remains far and away the biggest Nielsen needle-mover with about 22 million viewers per episode. No other TV program approaches its popularity."

The full story:
http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/04/cowell-ill-leave-idol-if-its-not-no-1.html

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:20pm on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

February 26, 2009: Fox Television Network said today that it has renewed "The Simpsons" for two more years. As a result, the animated series will become the longest-running prime time TV series in history.

That record has been held for more than three decades by "Gunsmoke," the western that ended in 1975 after 20 years. The current season of "The Simpsons" tied "Gunsmoke."

With two more seasons of The Simpsons, the series will reach the 493-episode mark, according to Fox.