Fox Executives Reveal Why '9-1-1' Was Canceled
9-1-1 is moving to ABC, and following Monday night's finale, it's official. While previous reports covered why Fox canceled the first responder drama, which was due in part to money and ownership, Fox CEO Rob Wade revealed to Deadline that the decision came a year ago, made by former CEO Charlie Collier, during the down-to-the-wire renewals.
"But needless to say, you look at shows in two different ways. It's first and foremost from the creative lens and how much we love to create, and the second thing is really the economics of that," Wade shared. "And I think we felt moving forward into what is really a new era of television, the economics weren't going to pan out for this show for us. The decision was made there that the business model wasn't right for us, and that 20th would take the show back."
When 9-1-1 was initially developed and picked up to series, it was when the Fox network and 20th Century Fox TV were part of the same company, which was before Disney acquired key Fox assets, which included the now-20th Television studio. Wade continued to say that they are looking at a new business model where Fox owns or co-owns its content, giving way to more creative freedom.
"As we all know, the industry as an inflection point, but Fox looks at the game differently: we are daring in everything we do, adaptable to the market, and disciplined in our approach," Wade explained. "We've adopted new business models for production and talent deals. We're out of the pilot business and have implemented-year round development. We've led the way in broadcast-direct deals for creators, and we've bolstered our production facilities and efficiencies. And, importantly, Fox is owning or co-owning our content, giving us even greater creative freedom. That means when deciding what stories to tell, there are two factors, we have to love the creative, and we have to love the business model."
Despite 9-1-1 being Fox's top-rated series, which officially ended its run on the network with just over 4.1 million viewers and a 0.5 rating, according to TVLine, in this economy, it wasn't enough to keep the show going. At least the series will still be thriving on ABC, which is more than other shows can say. There's no news on when exactly 9-1-1's seventh season will premiere, as ABC's fall schedule is filled with unscripted series due to the writers' strike, it may be a while until the network gives fans a premiere date. All six seasons are streaming on Hulu, which will surely keep fans occupied for now.