As we posted yesterday (hat tip to Broadcasting & Cable) FOX is bringing House back two weeks earlier than planned on January 11. Initially, this just looked like FOX was screwing with NBC, because it could by airing House against Chuck's Monday time slot premiere.
It still looks like FOX is just screwing with NBC because it can. Today, the Futon Critic reports that it has been told FOX will use the House lead-in to boost Fringe by airing a new episode at 9pm on January 11 against Heroes 9pm time slot premiere on NBC where it will air for the remainder of its 4th season.
Damn, talk about bringing the gauntlet down.
I thought Chuck was airing two episodes on January 11th?
Well if this report is true, you can’t say that FOX is not doing everything it can to boost Fringe’s ratings. I tried Fringe a couple of times but it just does not interest me. Good luck Fringe.
Good Move!
@Julia
Pretty sure it’s 2 on the 10th, 2 on the eleventh.
Julia, Chuck is premiering 2 episodes on Sunday the 10th and then 1 episode in it’s normal timeslot the next day.
Are they testing the waters or trying to be a ‘spoiler’ for Chuck?
Chuck or Fringe? Like both but rather Chuck survive so this has evoked an odd emotion from me.
I really don’t know how this is going to help Fringe. It may get a little tiny boost from House fans who forget to change the channel, but it’s not going to help the Thursday numbers.
Don J is correct, it’s 2 hours on Jan 10 from 9p-11p but only one hour on Monday.
Is this a one time thing for Fringe? If so is FOX testing a timeslot change for Fringe to see if the numbers improve?
Don, I don’t see it as boosting Fringe at all other than the one episode, since it’s off the air for the next 3 months afterward.
But it doesn’t help Heroes 9pm premiere any, which might have been reason enough for FOX.
Tommy: Maybe, but they already have an idea what Fringe does out of House. It will stay off the air for a few months afterwards, regardless. I don’t know how much they can weigh one data point.
“It still looks like FOX is just screwing with NBC because it can.”
Or Fox is still evaluating Fringe for next season, seeing how much of their performance is the timeslot and how well it would hold up in a 24-less world (which will happen one of these seasons, after all).
Ok, I think I was confused because Heroes has a two hour block January 4th.
How much can Fringe realistically gain from this?
is it possible it can gain 1.0? That would be really nice (except that it will probably hurt Heroes a bit
)
Tommy, It’s definitely a 1 time only deal. House and 24 are going to lock up Monday’s until the season is done.
This is Fox giving Fringe fans what they want. If Fringe does the same as LTM (or worse) than fringe is gone. For the time being, this is great news, they will promote this heavily, just to compete with chuck/heroes
a slight silver lining to the House move, Fringe vs. Heroes will be interesting.
While I want Fringe to stay, I can’t imagine the numbers being any better than they were for Lie To Me in that slot. And I doubt it will improve the numbers when it goes back to Thursday.
That is what I am waiting for, House and 24.