Friday, January 2, 2015

Schedules Plus Update, Fox (2001-02 & 2002-03)


Schedules Plus looks at the evolution of network schedules and timeslots using numbers adjusted for historical decline. These update posts, looking back on the newly added 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, will link back to the now updated full posts for each day, and the update posts have exclusive year-to-year trends and ranks among the 13 iterations of each hour.

Many more disclaimers can be seen on the individual pages, but the Fox posts (unlike the others) include both fall and winter lineups, since their schedules change often enough to make it worthwhile. Please also note that the 2003-04 thru 2005-06 numbers still contain the "old" A18-49+ scores from before I filled in the missing data from those seasons. So those numbers will change (slightly) when the 2014-15 numbers are entered this summer.

More 2001-03 Schedules Plus updates: ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox | CW



Monday

Fall


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 Boston Public Ally McBeal 109
111 107
Rank 3/13 3/13 3/13
2002-03 Boston Public Girls Club 69
(-36%)
87 (-22%) 52 (-51%)
Rank 9/13 11/13 12/13
2003-04 Joe Millionaire Skin 63
(-9%)
71 (-18%) 55 (+5%)
Rank 11/13 10/13 13/13

Avg 99 81 90

Winter


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 Boston Public Ally McBeal 109
111 107
Rank 4/13 8/13 7/13
2002-03 Boston Public Joe Millionaire 182
(+67%)
87 (-22%) 277 (+160%)
Rank 10/13 1/13 1/13
2003-04 (various) My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance 137
(-25%)
75 (-14%) 198 (-28%)
Rank 13/13 2/13 4/13

Avg 110 130 120

Ally McBeal ended in 2001-02 and Boston Public collapsed the next year, kicking off a seven-year run of pretty bad fall Monday ratings for Fox. Though Prison Break eventually showed up and had a few good years, the network always struggled badly in the non-Prison Break hour, and the network's fall fortunes weren't truly reversed until House came to the night.

They fared much better on Monday in the second half of the season, initially relying on a couple huge (but quick burnout) reality concepts and then bringing in 24 for the 2004-05 season.



Tuesday

Fall


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 That '70s Show Undeclared 24 101
115 9398
104
Rank 5/13 8/13 8/13
2002-03 That '70s Show (repeats) 24 113
(+11%)
111 (-4%) 108 (+16%)116 (+18%)
110 (+5%)
Rank 4/13 5/13 6/13
2003-04 (repeats) 24 91
(-20%)
81 (-26%) 100 (-14%)
Rank 9/13 7/13 9/13

Avg 100 112 106

Winter


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 That '70s Show Undeclared 24 101
115 9398
104
Rank 11/13 10/13 11/13
2002-03 American Idol 24 183
(+81%)
226 (+117%) 140 (+43%)
Rank 8/13 7/13 8/13
2003-04 American Idol 24 192
(+5%)
268 (+18%) 117 (-16%)
Rank 7/13 8/13 7/13

Avg 221 148 184

That '70s Show and the first three seasons of 24 helped make this one of Fox's more respectable fall nights in the early part of the era, while American Idol obviously provided a big boost in the winter and spring. Still, their ranks aren't that great because far better days were ahead over the next half-decade; Idol got even stronger and House proved to be a much better Idol companion than 24 (and ultimately a far stronger player in the fall as well).



Wednesday

Fall


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 (various originals) Grounded for Life The Bernie Mac Show Titus 91
87 83 107 86
85 96
Rank 8/13 5/13 6/13
2002-03 The Bernie Mac Show Cedric the Entertainer Fastlane 76
(-16%)
79 (-9%) 79 (-5%)73 (-24%)
79 (-7%)
Rank 10/13 11/13 12/13
2003-04 That '70s Show Stan Hooper The OC 94
(+23%)
121 (+53%) 70 (-11%)92 (+26%)
96 (+21%)
Rank 4/13 7/13 5/13

Avg 94 97 95

Winter


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 That '80s Show Grounded for Life The Bernie Mac Show Titus 89
81 83 107 86
82 96
Rank 13/13 13/13 13/13
2002-03 That '70s Show American Idol The Bernie Mac Show Wanda at Large 157
(+76%)
123 (+52%) 235 (+184%) 134 (+25%) 134 (+57%)
179 (+119%) 134 (+39%)
Rank 7/13 10/13 10/13
2003-04 That '70s Show American Idol The OC 148
(-5%)
132 (+7%) 255 (+8%)109 (-19%)
188 (+5%)
Rank 5/13 12/13 11/13

Avg 175 202 189

As of Idol's arrival in 2003, Fox was airing a modest comedy lineup, and the Idol results show was initially incorporated into that and lifted all boats to a nice degree. But the Idol+comedy combo became far less frequent once Bones and House had success in the mid-aughts.

The OC did all right in the fall of 2003 but (like 24) it didn't see that much benefit from Idol's arrival at midseason. It was shoved off to Thursday for season two, and ultimately it did a lot less for the network there than 24 in its move to Monday.



Thursday

Fall


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 Family Guy The Tick Temptation Island 64
51 5375
52
Rank 9/13 6/13 7/13
2002-03 30 Seconds to Fame (various) 45
(-30%)
39 (-25%) 50 (-34%)
Rank 13/13 9/13 13/13
2003-04 Tru Calling (repeats) 46
(+3%)
45 (+15%) 47 (-6%)
Rank 12/13 10/13 12/13

Avg 80 72 76

Winter


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 Family Guy The Tick Temptation Island 64
51 5375
52
Rank 11/13 7/13 9/13
2002-03 (movies) 47
(-26%)
47 (-10%) 47 (-38%)
Rank 12/13 11/13 12/13
2003-04 Tru Calling (repeats) 46
(-2%)
45 (-4%) 47 (+0%)
Rank 13/13 10/13 13/13

Avg 109 76 93

Temptation Island dropped massively in this, its second season, just like Joe Millionaire. But its low-3's in the 9/8c hour still provided the best Plus Fox got there in the first five years of the era. This lineup ended in February and mostly gave way to comedy repeats and movies in the last three months of the season.

The full body of 2001-02 ratings also provided a look at pre-cancellation Family Guy, which mostly pulled low 2's in its 11 regular season episodes this season.



Friday

Fall


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 Dark Angel Pasadena 53
65 41
Rank 2/13 9/13 4/13
2002-03 Firefly John Doe 53
(+0%)
47 (-27%) 59 (+43%)
Rank 6/13 1/13 3/13
2003-04 Wanda at Large Luis Boston Public 41
(-24%)
42 3642 (-29%)
39 (-18%)
Rank 9/13 8/13 10/13

Avg 47 44 46

Winter


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 (repeats) Dark Angel 60
56 65
Rank 4/13 2/13 2/13
2002-03 Fastlane John Doe 57
(-5%)
56 (+0%) 59 (-9%)
Rank 4/13 3/13 5/13
2003-04 Most Outrageous Moments World's Craziest Videos Boston Public 48
(-16%)
56 5342 (-29%)
55 (-3%)
Rank 6/13 10/13 8/13

Avg 53 50 52

The shows in Fox's early-aughts drama lineups were short-lived, but Dark Angel, Fastlane and John Doe posted some of Fox's best Friday Plus ratings until Kitchen Nightmares rolled around over a half-decade later. 2003-04 kicked off a seven-year run with of almost entirely sub-50 averages on the night.



Sunday


8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 Avg
2001-02 The Simpsons Malcolm in the Middle The X-Files 124
143 141107
142
Rank 1/13 8/13 1/13
2002-03 The Simpsons King of the Hill Malcolm in the Middle Andy Richter Controls the Universe 113
(-9%)
148 (+3%) 125 (-11%) 107 73
136 (-4%) 90 (-15%)
Rank 2/13 11/13 6/13
2003-04 The Simpsons The Bernie Mac Show Malcolm in the Middle Arrested Development 94
(-17%)
125 (-15%) 93 (-26%) 89 (-17%) 68 (-7%)
109 (-20%) 79 (-13%)
Rank 7/13 12/13 12/13

Avg 112 103 108

The Simpsons Plus has been in the 110's or 120's for the last 11 years, but these two additional years provide a look at a somewhat stronger version. And The X-Files had the best Plus average for the 9/8c hour until a few years into the resurrection of Family Guy. This three-year snapshot also shows Fox Sunday at its worst, as the 9/8c hour had some struggles in the years between The X-Files and Family Guy. Malcolm in the Middle was also a bonafide hit as of 2001-02, but its ratings declined to a huge degree over the next four years as its timeslots got worse and worse.

12 comments:

Spot said...

The 2002-2003 change up of the Sunday lineup surely hurt Malcolm, but you can't really blame FOX. It allowed them to give King of the Hill a half decent timeslot for once and establish a second comedy anchor. The outcome was very 2 Broke Girls like. The promising 8:30 companion melts down when asked to be an anchor. At least 2 Broke Girls can complain it had dud lead ins as an anchor, Malcolm seems to have little excuse.
.
Also, I watch both shows, but the mood whiplash between That '70s Show and 24 would be crazy

Spot said...

Weird to see how many repeats and various shows FOX has done in the past. Was it due to lack of shows, or was it due to countless failures?

Spot said...

I imagine they might have had questionable content for 8pm?

Spot said...

Eh, if The Bachelore can air at 8, why not Joe Millionaire?

Spot said...

Questionable content would not have stopped Fox from airing those shows at 8:00. Perfect example: the next season of Joe Millionaire aired at 8:00 to replace Boston Public. Fox clearly hoped that lightning would strike twice there to help Skin.

Spot said...

For a premiere, Galavant doesn't have much competition, unless you consider Simpsons getting an overrun lead-in. But I really don't see it doing that well. Its lead-outs are at the bottom of ABC's drama pack, and I really doubt the concept will be all that appealing to people. But perhaps the concept might catch people's attention for the first episode. I predicted that it would get a 1.5 or 1.6 for the premiere, so I'll just go with an Over.

Also, let me just say this about the scheduling: This is kind of a smart idea. February sweeps on Sunday will have the Super Bowl, Grammys, and ABC preempted for the Oscars. In many ways, ABC knew their show was Once-like, had eight episodes, and the dramas they don't give a crap about need some sort of companion (though maybe Bachelor specials could do the trick, but I digress). I don't expect it to be successful, and I do kind of see it as rather burn-off-y, but it definitely could be worse.

Spot said...

I'm going OVER slightly, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the whole hour averages around a 2.0. ABC has been giving the show some really good promotion and I'm kinda in am optimistic mood.

Spot said...

Under.
Not really sure, this pick is just wishful thinking people will say no to dreck.

Spot said...

Hmm, going to say that the concept sounds intriguing enough to bring in a decent audience on week 1. Over

Spot said...

There will be plenty of dreck for the masses to feed on tonight between Galavant and the return of Celebrity Apprentice.

Spot said...

Over

Spot said...

Over. Below a 1.45 on arrival would be an embarrassment.

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