Simon Cowell must be cursing the beloved American institution of baseball this week.
Not only did the rained out National League Championship game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants pre-empt Wednesday’s airing of The X Factor on Fox in a colossal “f up” (his words, via Twitter), but now the show’s editors have to work overtime to re-cut the episode, a source close to the production tells The Hollywood Reporter.
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“So much was shown the other night, that we’re re-editing the show into an hour-long episode,” says the insider.
On Wednesday, part of the "Judge's Home Round" episode -- which reveals the final 16 singers left in the competition selected by judges Britney Spears, L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell -- was aired on the East Coast, while on the West Coast, a technical glitch broadcast some of the east coast feed prior to the show's 8 p.m. start time (along with a snippet of The Mindy Project as a stopgap). To remedy this, an encore presentation of X Factor was aired at 8 p.m.
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In all the confusion, ratings were undoubtedly impacted negatively, but perhaps equally disconcerting to network brass: how in the instant internet and social media hubbub, the show got more attention for not being on the air.
Twitter: @shirleyhalperin
