Fox to Launch Late-Night Animation Block on Saturday Nights, Starting in 2013

At the semi-annual Television Critics press tour, Fox president of entertainment Kevin Reilly and chairman of Fox Broadcasting Peter Rice announced an initiative to launch a late-night animated programming block for Saturday nights to begin in January 2013. The initiative will create up to 50 pieces of animation a year, running 11- or 22-minutes in length, with an eye towards shows that might be able to sustain their own full-length series, just as The Simpsons spun off of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. Fox has hired former Adult Swim head of development Nick Weidenfeld to head up the new unit, and the programming developed for the block is intended to be distributed on multiple platforms including online, mobile, and gaming console platforms.