• by Wayne Friedman , May 12, 2014

Now almost two years removed from its top spot as the highest-rated TV broadcast network among key advertising viewer groups, Fox will shake up its schedule for the 2014-2015 season with 12 new TV shows, and new programming on every night of the week.

“Our portfolio of content this year reflects the biggest investment in programming we've ever made,” said Kevin Reilly, chairman of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting, in a release.

This year Fox is currently second place among key 18-49 viewers to NBC -- at a 2.5 rating looking at live programming plus seven days of time-shifted data versus NBC, which is at 2.8 number. Fox holds the same rating level among 18-49 as a year ago.

But Fox still claims big numbers for younger viewers. Reilly says it  has double the 18-34 viewers versus the next-nearest network.

For the entire season -- the fall and mid-season -- Fox will start up five new dramas, four comedies, two “event” series and one unscripted show.

Fox will keep rookie comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” but move it to 8:30 p.m. Sunday -- in among its mix of animated comedies. Reilly says this is kind of throwback to Fox’s early years when it had live-action comedies such as “Married... with Children” on Sundays. Fox’ once high-rated music-laden drama “Glee” will start up in mid-season.

One of its biggest new efforts -- “Gotham,” which traces the rise of the DC Comics super-villains and vigilantes -- will get a 8 a.m. Monday time slot.  

From Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television comes “Red Band Society," which focuses on group of teenagers who meet as patients in the pediatric ward of Ocean Park Hospital in Los Angeles. The show will air at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

Unscripted TV show, “Utopia” puts 15 everyday Americans on an isolated, undeveloped location -- for an entire year. It gets two time slots --- Tuesday 8 p.m. time slot and 9 p.m. on Fridays.

A ten-episode event series called “Gracepoint” follows the death of a young boy and the major police investigation in seaside town. It runs Thursday at 9 p.m.

“Mulaney, Mulaney” stars comedian John Mulaney as a rising standup comic. It gets the 9:30 p.m. Sunday time slot -- after its animated comedies and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”  Reilly says that although there is lot of time-shifting on TV these days, there is still a need for strong lead-in programming --  using established TV shows to launch new shows.

Beginning in 2015, there will be three distinctive dramas. “Empire,” a sexy and powerful new drama about the head of a music empire whose three sons and ex-wife all battle for his throne; “Hieroglyph” is a fantasy following a thief who is plucked from prison to serve the Pharaoh; and “Backstrom,” which focuses on an offensive and brilliant Portland detective.

Another event series -- a limited mystery series -- comes from M. Night Shyamalan: “Wayward Pines.”

Three comedies will also make it into Fox's schedule during the year -- “Weird Loners,” about four single 30-something underdogs; Will Forte’s “The Last Man on Earth,” a comedy about the last man on earth; and animated comedy “Bordertown,” about two very different families living in a fictional Southwest desert town on the U.S.- Mexico border.

FOX FALL 2014 SCHEDULE

 (New programs in caps -- all times ET/PT)

MONDAY

8:00-9:00 p.m.                            GOTHAM 

9:00-10:00 p.m.                          Sleepy Hollow

TUESDAY

8:00 - 9:00 p.m.                          UTOPIA 

9:00-9:30 p.m.                            New Girl

9:30-10:00 p.m.                          The Mindy Project  

WEDNESDAY

8:00-9:00 p.m.                            Hell's Kitchen

9:00-10:00 p.m.                          RED BAND SOCIETY 

 

THURSDAY

8:00-9:00 p.m.                          Bones

9:00-10:00 p.m.                        GRACEPOINT 

FRIDAY

8:00-9:00 p.m.                          Masterchef Junior

9:00-10:00 p.m.                        UTOPIA 

SATURDAY

7:00-10:30 p.m.                        Fox Sports Saturday: Fox College Football

SUNDAY

7:00-7:30 p.m                          NFL on Fox

7:30-8:00 p.m.                         The OT / Bob's Burgers

8:00-8:30 p.m.                         The Simpsons

8:30-9:00 p.m.                         Brooklyn Nine-Nine

9:00-9:30 p.m.                         Family Guy

9:30-10:00 p.m.                       MULANEY