Fox Boss on Giving THE X-FILES the Post-NFC Championship Game Slot

THE X-FILES is returning on Sunday, January 24th, and Fox is giving it one of the best launching pads of the midseason: the post-NFC Championship Game slot.

But given X-FILES’ built-in awareness — and six-episode run — it’s understandable why the decision to give it that plum spot needed a bit more explaining.

“We thought a lot about how to eventize bringing this show back from a scheduling perspective,” Dana Walden, Co-Chairman and CEO, Fox Television Group, told reporters on a conference call this morning. “We’ve got a lot going on, midseason, on our schedule, and it felt like the best way to capitalize on all of the opportunities was to give X-FILES — something that is so highly anticipated, that fans have literally been clamoring for for a decade, and giving it the best maximum exposure in that post-NFC game time period…and then the next five weeks [in its regular Monday time slot], which will give us the opportunity to platform our new show, LUCIFER, on Monday nights. So when we look at all of the options we had, it just felt that was the one that gave the greatest exposure to X-FILES, something our fans are waiting for, and also created a great circulation on our air to promote all of our midseason launches. And then gave this beautiful platform to LUCIFER. It felt like a win, any way you looked at it.”

Walden was a bit more mum about what the event series will be about…but mostly because the Fox execs say they don’t know a whole lot it.

“Have you ever met Chris Carter?” she asked with a laugh. “Because he doesn’t tell us a lot…You’ll see a combination of episodes, if you were a loyal fan and became familiar with the process of mixing standalones and the deeper mythology. I think everyone will be happy with what he’s got planned.”

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THE X-FILES premieres Sunday, January 24th with a scheduled start time of 10 PM ET/7 PM PT, before moving to its regular Mondays at 8 slot on January 25th.

Related:

THE X-FILES: Fox Sets January Premiere Date
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THE X-FILES’ 20th Anniversary: ARROW Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg Talks About Its Influence on His Work
THE X-FILES’ 20th Anniversary: HAVEN Co-Creator Sam Ernst Talks About Its Influence on His Work
THE X-FILES’ 20th Anniversary: BONES Creator Hart Hanson Talks About Its Influence on His Work

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