Fox says notions of traditional television season fading

LOS ANGELES -- The traditional notions of a television season -- reruns in summer, new shows in the fall -- are obsolete for Fox.

Fox will develop and premiere new shows year-round, network entertainment president Gail Berman said Friday.

"The economic model that created this business has lasted too long," Berman said. "We've seen cable companies make inroads while we hid our heads in the sand. We need to change our business."

Trying new scheduling ideas has been a recurrent theme with broadcast executives during a series of meetings with reporters this week. NBC said it is beginning its next fall season three weeks early in late August, and ABC said it will experiment with limited-run series like HBO is doing.

The collective yawn with which viewers greeted last fall's new schedule has rocked the television industry and left its executives searching for answers.

Changing the business model is easier said than done, however, since it bucks the way advertising is sold and actor contracts are structured. It also contradicts traditions in place as long as there has been television.

The key to the network's attempted comeback is a new season of "American Idol," which begins Monday.

Berman conceded that the price of year-round scheduling, coupled with the itchy trigger fingers of network executives who tinker with their lineups on a moment's notice, is often a confused viewer.

"I think it's very difficult for viewers to know what is going on in television right now," she said, "and at Fox we'll do a better job of letting them know what our schedule is."