By Fred Topel/Jan. 4, 2018 12:00 pm EST
“I certainly did not mean to give any hints as to what the future might be,” Newman said. “The truth is we don’t really know. I will tell you we remain super committed to the network and studio. We really don’t have a timeline for our decision. I think we both anticipate staying the course through this period of time to get to the resolution of this merger.”
Walden added, “I would second that. There’s so much to be done. We’re incredibly committed to our team. We’re in it with them right now. Clearly we’ll have decisions to make over time.”
Newman repeated the 12 to 18 month timeframe for closing the deal often during the executive session. For the next year, he and Walden will continue running the network, which means developing a slate of new pilots for the fall.
“This development season we’re reading scripts right now,” Newman said. “We’ll be ordering pilots next month. I predict we’ll make a similar amount of pilots this season.”
As for the 20th produced shows currently on Fox, Newman reminded reporters that the production entity has shows on various networks as it is. That is not expected to change.
“We have Modern Family on ABC, Life in Pieces on CBS, This Is Us, the number one drama on television on NBC,” Newman said. “Those shows are competing against shows we have on Fox. No one has the luxury of only looking towards one outlet. We’re pretty used to the idea of having multiple shows on multiple networks. There’s plenty of audience for these shows to all compete successfully.”
