The music competition will make a swift return, airing a second season summer 2018.
Fox is feeling The Four. The limited run singing competition, which concludes its first season on Thursday, has been renewed for a second season.
The two-hour show has been occupying Thursdays since the top of the year — and while its ratings draw has been modest, its performance has been remarkably steady. Live tune-in really hasn’t wavered, and the show is averaging a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 and 4.6 million viewers in Nielsen’s live-plus-seven day returns.
“The Four is truly a next-generation show,” said Fox’s president of alternative and specials Rob Wade. “It has pushed past the boundaries of traditional music competition series by focusing on recording artists in an epic battle to become a superstar. And for the winner, guided by music giants Sean Diddy Combs, DJ Kahled, Meghan Trainor and Republic Records, this is just the beginning. We’d like to thank our panel, our ringleader, Fergie, the contestants and our incredible production team for delivering concert-quality shows every week. And we look forward to pushing the boundaries even further in season two.”
One party not acknowledged in the renewal notice is Charlie Walk. The ousted Universal Music Group exec, who was on the panel of industry talent, stepped down from the show before taping the final episode amid claims of past misconduct. It’s still too early to confirm if any of the show’s on-air talent will return for the summer run, as the renewal with producers ITV Entertainment just closed.
The Four actually ranks as Fox’s strongest-performing unscripted freshman in four years. The network has had some stumbles in the genre since it announced it was letting go of American Idol back in 2015.
Among the series’ many executive producers are David George, Adam Sher, David Eilenberg, Becca Walker, David Friedman, Avi Armoza, Moshiko Cohen and Elwin Viztelly de Groot. The format was created by Armoza Formats. Combs also has a producing credit.
The season finale of The Four airs at 8 p.m. ET, this Thursday, on Fox.
Fox