After this week’s mix-up with The X Factor, Fox is set to expand next week’s prime time block by a half hour.
On Oct. 23, the network will air all new episodes of Raising Hope, Ben and Kate and New Girl, with an all-new hour-long episode of The X Factor, featuring the conclusion of the Judges’ Homes round, from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The move follows the abrupt decision Wednesday to cut off The X Factor in the midst of an MLB champion series game delayed by rain.
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Fans tuning in for X Factor at 8 p.m. Wednesday saw a rerun of Ben and Kate. Although the singing show did resume around 8:40 p.m., Fox cut out again, airing part of The Mindy Project before rejoining the ball game. According to a Fox spokesperson, the network received word that the delay was expected to last well beyond primetime, so a decision was made to begin airing the show in East Coast markets. An hour into the broadcast, the rain subsided, and when the game was set to resume, the X Factor feed was pulled with the expectation that a switch would be made back to baseball. When that didn't immediately happen, a partial episode of The Mindy Project was tossed on the air as a stop-gap.
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Further complicating matters was a technical issue on the West Coast in which the East Coast feed of the show was broadcast prior to the show's 8 p.m. start time, allowing some viewers to see the results earlier than normal. Never one to keep his feelings to himself, Simon Cowell promptly took to Twitter, calling the snafu a “total F up."
