With ratings sagging at “American Idol” and acerbic star Simon Cowell on his way out, Fox is shaking up the format of the crooning competition next year and spending less time on results, executives announced Monday.
Fox executives announced the schedule changes in a conference call to discuss their new fall lineup with reporters. During the call, the network announced seven new scripted series.
The new “Idol” schedule features a 90-minute show on Tuesdays beginning next year; Wednesday’s results show will shrink to 30 minutes. Performance shows have historically run for one hour, or two hours in some cases, and results this season have been one hour. Tuesday-night shows this season have attracted about 10 percent more viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 according to Nielsen Co.
Peter Rice, Fox’s chairman of entertainment, said the changes would accompany a search for a new judge to replace Cowell. “We have to find a judge to replace Simon who provides both music credibility and an incredible entertainment value,” he said.
On the call, Fox executives also gave a few more details on “Terra Nova,” a new dinosaur-time-travel show produced by Steven Spielberg and former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin. The network said the series will follow a family back 85 million years as part of an expedition to save humanity.
Kevin Reilly, Fox’s entertainment president, appeared to counter comparisons to the Byzantine ABC show “Lost” when he said most episodes would tell closed-ended stories.
“There is an ongoing mythology,” Reilly said. “But this not a highly complex, you-need-a-study-guide-to-follow it” type of show, he said.
Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns the Wall Street Journal, and NewsCore.
To read more, go to WSJ.com.