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9-1-1 is back for an all-new season and it has a new home this year. Why did 9-1-1 move to ABC from FOX? Here’s everything to know about the show’s network change, including if it well effect the new season.
9-1-1 follows the heroic firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel at the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fictional Station 118. Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, the procedural drama premiered in January 2018 and spawned the spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star. It stars Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ryan Guzman, among others.
The first six seasons of 9-1-1 aired on FOX, but the upcoming seventh season will now air on ABC. The show will also be switching nights and will now air new episodes on Thursdays instead of Mondays, though it remains in the 8/7c time slot. Keep reading to see how the network change will impact the first responder drama and learn why 9-1-1 jumped ships in the first place.
Why did 9-1-1 move to ABC from FOX?
In May 2023, FOX opted to renew 9-1-1: Lone Star and cancel the flagship series, however, 9-1-1 was immediately picked up by ABC. During a press conference call at the time, Rob Wade, CEO of Fox Entertainment, revealed that the decision to drop 9-1-1 was made “over a year ago” and he found out about it when he came on board as CEO that October.
“We look at shows in two different ways,” he said, per Variety. “First and foremost from a creative lens and how much we like the creative. And the second thing is really the economics of that. I think we felt moving forward into what is really a new era of television, the economics weren’t going to pan out on this show for us. The decision was made there that the business model wasn’t right for us and that 20th TV would take the show back.”
Ahead of the Season 7 premiere, co-creator Tim Minear told KGET.com that ABC is a “better” home for the show. “FOX was great for us for many years. The thing that’s exciting about ABC is it feels like the first year of the show in a lot of ways. Like the enthusiasm at the network is, you know, through the roof,” he said. “The promotions are fantastic. The artwork is great, and they’re just really engaged.”
Although the network may be different, the show’s dynamic will remain the same, as Oliver Stark, who stars as Evan “Buck” Buckley, told TV Insider. “The day-to-day of the show feels very much the same. I think the only thing that feels different, I would say, is just the level of freshness and excitement and it feeling like the rightful home for it and that being felt in the cast and the crew and the creators,” he explained. “And yeah, I think there’s just an overall feeling of being settled in our rightful home and being excited about it.”
Season 7 kicks off on March 14, 2024, and will take the action to the high seas with a premiere inspired by the 1972 thrilled The Poseidon Adventure. Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) and Athena Grant-Nash (Angela Bassett) are on a belated honeymoon cruise when the ship is taken over by terrorists, leading to a massive explosion and a race against time to save both themselves and everyone on board.
