ABC is moving "Lost" out of the way of the "American Idol" juggernaut. Alphabet’s January sked, set to be unveiled later today, has "Lost" moving to Wednesdays at 10 when it returns Feb. 7, insiders said. Shift ensures the third-year skein won’t have to battle the Fox behemoth. A year ago, "Lost" took a notable ratings hit once "Idol" returned. Skein has held steady in the ratings this fall vs. last spring, but ABC execs clearly don’t want to take the chance of further slippage. Net’s affils should be happy with the shift. With "Lost" at 10 p.m., ABC will be delivering local stations their best numbers for the slot in years. ABC isn’t completely backing away from "Idol," however. Net has decided to slot its buzzworthy laffer "Knights of Prosperity" Wednesdays at 9 p.m., directly against the "Idol" results show. It’ll be paired at 9:30 with another new comedy, "In Case of Emergency." New laffer block is set to debut Jan. 3, a month before "Daybreak" was set to end its run. Skein may shift to 10 p.m. Wednesday before "Lost" premieres, though it’s more likely it’ll simply be yanked at the end of December or moved to another night. ABC will round out its Wednesday lineup with new episodes of "George Lopez" and "According to Jim" from 8-9 p.m. Net will double-pump "Jim" for a few weeks, with "George" bowing Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. On Tuesdays, "Show Me the Money’ will shift to 8 p.m. on Jan. 2. It’ll be paired with "Big Day" and "Help Me Help You." Latter laffer may eventually be replaced by newcomer "Notes from the Underbelly," though no decision has been made. ABC’s Sunday, Monday and Thursday skeds will remain unchanged for now. At some point, net will have to make room for the return of "Dancing with the Stars." On Fridays, ABC will continue to vamp with repeats. Saturday will be a mix of movies and specials. Still on the bench: six episodes of "The Nine" and "Six Degrees."
I am not sure how I feel about the move. Either way their numbers will be down when they come back, but will they lose viewers more against Idol or because of the later time slot. It will be interesting to see how it does with it’s new time slot.
