Fox stays course after Disney deal
It’s business as usual for the network for now
PASADENA, Calif. – Planning to divorce its studio, which is headed to Disney, will the Fox broadcast network continue to be the home of The Simpsons,
Empire and Family Guy?
Don’t believe widespread reports that Fox will turn into an all-news and sports network — speculation based on elliptical remarks from Fox owner Rupert Murdoch — Fox’s top entertainment executives said at the kickoff ses- sion of the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour Thursday.
“There’s been a little bit of confusion over that,” said Dana Walden, chairman and CEO of Fox Television Group, which oversees both the studio and the network. “The network will continue entertainment programming,” Walden said, and open its doors to outside studios such as Sony, Lionsgate and MGM, unaligned with networks, in exchange for an ownership stake in their shows.
Her partner, Gary Newman, said none of Fox’s series will move to ABC, nor does ABC plan to reinvent 20th Century Fox’s programming development. “They’re not acquiring Fox to turn it into some kind of PG company, to Disney-fy it, as (Disney chief ) Bob (Iger) said.”
Last month, Disney struck a $52 billion deal to buy assets from 21st Century Fox, including its TV and movie studios and FX and National Geographic networks — but not the Fox network, which would remain with a company dubbed “new Fox” that includes broadcast stations, Fox News Channel and Fox Sports.
The studio’s stable of producers, including Ryan Murphy, expressed concern: “I got a call from Murdoch, and I got a call from Iger, and I said point blank: ‘The stuff I do is not Disney. Am I going to have to put Mickey Mouse in
American Horror Story?’ And he said no, the reason Disney was buying Fox was because they believed in the assets and they believed in the creators. I’m sort of interested to see what that company is going to look like before I make any decisions about where I’m going to go.”
It’s “business as usual,” the executives said, and the Disney deal is not ex- pected to close for 12 to 18 months.
“We have to operate at Fox as if this deal might not go through,” Newman said, though he expects it will. “The company has to remain as strong as possible. We’re reading scripts right now. We’ll be ordering pilots at the end of this month. In May, we’ll set a schedule and market our shows.”
For the 2019-20 season, the first that’s anticipated to follow the split, “I don’t think that schedule will look dramatically different,” Newman said. “Going forward, they are going to run Fox like they would any network. Shows that merit renewals will get them.” (Even series such as The Simpsons with big price tags can continue, justified by the studio’s ability to profit from them on other platforms.)
But it’s unclear which, if either, company the executives will remain with af- ter the deal is completed, and rival TV executives are skeptical the network will remain a top choice for program suppliers.
Until then, Fox is promoting its midseason lineup. New series include comedy LA to Vegas, which premiered Tuesday; Ryan Murphy’s rescue series 9-1-1, which had solid ratings for Wednesday’s premiere; The Resident, a medical drama due Jan. 21 following the NFC Championship Game; and The Four, a six-week singing competition featuring Sean Combs, DJ Khaled and Meghan Trainor, which opened with very modest ratings Thursday.
Fox also set April 10 for the premiere of the final season of New Girl and said it has renewed The Gifted, a Marvel series set in the X-Men universe, for a second season.