Fox Gives Saturday Midnight Slot to Affiliates

By Michael Malone
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

Starting Sept. 7, Fox will give the Saturday midnight-12:30 a.m. slot to its affiliates. Fox had initially intended to air reruns of its primetime animated programs in the slot, but said it believes the reruns are more valuable to the network in prime. "This allows us to preserve the value of our animated encores while at the same time giving our affiliates an additional half hour to sell," said the network in a memo to its affiliates.

Fox's late night Animation Domination High-Def block premieres July 27 and will air 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. through Saturday, Aug. 31. Starting Sept. 7, the animated block runs 11 p.m. to midnight.

Fox affiliates board chairman Steve Pruett did not return a call for comment on short notice.

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.