Fox dramas Pitch and The Exorcist launched as two of the fall’s best-reviewed new series but failed to draw broad audiences. There was no back order for either and, with their 10-episode freshman runs completed, both are in for a long wait to learn their ultimate fate.
While Pitch and The Exorcist are facing an uphill battle to justify a renewal, no final decisions will be made until May, Fox chairman Gary Newman and entertainment president David Madden said today during the network’s TCA executive session, the only such Q&A for a Big 4 network this January.
“We’re proud of it,” Newman said of Pitch, created by Dan Fogelman. “Dan and his team did a great job. We’d love to have seen a bigger audience, but it had a loyal core fan base, and there was a lot of delayed viewing. The show is specific; it’s about something.”
He added that while didn’t think “the performance level enabled us to make an early decision, as we get to May, we’ll consider it. Do we have a place for it on our schedule where we can grow it?”
Added Madden: “The same is true of The Exorcist. We are having conversions with producers about what we can do in second season. But like with Pitch, we can’ t make a decision yet.”
Same goes for sophomore comedy Scream Queens, whose linear ratings have been very soft but has done better in multiplatform viewing and is reaching the hard-to-get young viewership.
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