Fox Exec Reveals Key Change to ’24’ That Turned Its Ratings Around

If not for a scheduling decision, Fox crime thriller would not have lasted as long as it did. The Kiefer Sutherland-led drama ran for nine seasons, each one covering 24 consecutive hours in the life of Sutherland’s U.S. counter-terrorist federal agent Jack Bauer. It also spawned a television film, 24: Redemption, which aired between Seasons 6 and 7. Despite its popularity, the series was nearly canceled in its early days.

Former Fox executive Preston Beckman was a guest on the podcast The Town with Matthew Belloni. When the topic of scheduling came up, Beckman told a pretty interesting story about how 24 was saved thanks to a wild idea. “When I was at Fox, and I think the second or third season, we did some, what we call ‘serious maintenance’ to see, you know, what’s going on with the show because ratings were going down,” Beckman shared. “Which is very normal. One of the things that I discovered when I looked at the focus groups was that our show takes place over 24 hours, and you’re spreading it over a season.”

“So I thought about it and I called Joe Surnow, who was the creator, and I said to Joe, ‘What happens if we hold 24 until January and run it without any weeks off? Just nonstop,’” Beckman continued. “And he said, ‘Fine with me.’ It started with a four-hour event, the first two hours led out of a NFL playoff game. It was on Sunday night, Monday, we used to be on Tuesday but we moved to Monday because that was clean. We can get through the whole season, and we kept our word. We ran it all the way through, and ratings went up, and it won an Emmy. That was a scheduling decision.”

Beginning with the fourth season, 24 moved to midseason, airing 24 consecutive episodes from January to May. It was a pretty good idea, considering the series went on to last for nine seasons. Airing the series for 24 consecutive weeks does make sense, so there isn’t a huge gap between episodes, even though they only take place throughout an hour. It’s definitely a different format that the series did, having a season take the place over only 24 hours, so there was bound to be a bit of a trial and error. Luckily, it all worked out in the end, and it may not even be the end for Jack Bauer.