Out of the FOX-Hole

It wasn't long ago that NBC was revered within the television industry as the model network. Between 1985 - 2000, NBC boasted the top rated series eleven times in the sixteen season span. For two decades NBC overlapped hits from "MASH" to "The Cosby Show" to "Cheers" and "Seinfeld". Their overwhelming success even prompted Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC during arguably its most successful period, to refer to incoming network FOX as a "close-hanger network". Lately, however, the peakock's feathers have faded and FOX has raced to the front of the network pack.

There are two recognitions that networks fight most fiercely to earn - most viewers, and most viewers between 18-49. When FOX was launched in 1986 the "Big Three" (NBC, CBS, and ABC) generally agreed FOX would never become a legitimate threat, and in the network's earliest years it drew little national attention. FOX's first show to break the top 50 rated shows, "America's Most Wanted" didn't exactly have the potential to challenge ratings giants "60 Minutes" or "ER". Over time the network that branded itself as 'edgy' made risky decisions with polar-opposite outcomes. The controversial "Married With Children" put FOX on the map in the late 1980's, and the bizzare idea of greenlighting a prime-time cartoon series with "The Simpsons" struck TV gold.

Although FOX has been criticized heavily for its share of flops, it has slowly built a strong repitoire of programs that has rewarded the "clothes-hanger network" with the most viewers in the 18-49 demographic for the third consecutive year. Three of the year's top five rated timeslots are FOX shows - Tuesday and Wednesday's "American Idol" and "House". NBC meanwhile rarely lands one series in the top 20 weekly rated programs, and only NBC's "Heroes" has consistently cracked the top 15 among 18-49 year-olds. What was unimaginable just 15 years ago has become reality in television's ever-changing landscape.

Network success can be considered cyclical, so NBC executives may simply be waiting for the TV public's preferences to turn in their favour. But as FOX starts next season bolstered by "American Idol", "House", "24", and a consistent cartoon-filled Sunday, NBC may need a few more 'heroes' to rescue the network from yet another ratings finish at the bottom of the "Big Four".