Producers capable of making “big, bold” series such as Fox’s Empire are key to rescuing the network from its ratings slump, its top executives said.
Dana Walden and Gary Newman, the longtime CEOs of the 20th Century Fox studio, last year were named co-chairs of the Fox Television Group that includes the studio and network. They took over a broadcaster that’s No 4 in the ratings and has fading shows, including American Idol.
“It’s going to be an uphill battle” that must include hiring the best talent, Newman told a Television Critics Association.
One of the first steps was luring back Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee, who in recent years has focused on cable TV series including American Horror Story, he said.
Murphy’s contribution will be Scream Queens, a comic horror anthology with an cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele of Glee, Joe Manganiello, Abigail Breslin and Keke Palmer.
Fox has also been meeting with Simon Cowell, said Walden and Newman, but provided no details.
Cowell, the music executive, former American Idol judge and producer of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and The X-Factor, which lasted just three seasons on Fox, is a “talent magnet,” Newman said.
Empire, about a family struggling for control of a music business, exemplifies the kind of series that Fox needs, Walden said, announcing that it’s been renewed for a sophomore season.
The Batman prequel Gotham, another freshman series, and sophomore comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine also have been renewed, the executives announced. They also filled in two casting blanks for the 2016 TV version of the movie musical Grease, with Julianne Hough as Sandy and Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo.
The broadcast will be live.
Walden and Newman also reflected on what they have gained by taking over the network.
“(We’re) glad to have the chance to meaningfully control our own destiny,” Walden said, with control over the scheduling and marketing of the shows they make for Fox (like other studios, it also produces series for other networks).
The Fox Television Group is “really working,” Walden said.
So is the 15-year professional relationship she and Newman have, even with the added responsibilities.
She gave a peek into how closely they work together: her husband is used to falling asleep as she and Newman hold nighttime meetings on the telephone. – Sapa-AP