FOX Renew/Cancel (Reality Update): House of Fear Should Have No Fear

 

Photo Credit: Fox

Below are the February 22nd Fox renew/cancel predictions for reality programming in the 2025-2026 television season. The table embedded includes the Adults 18-49 ratings average of each program.

Fear Factor: House of Fear: Recently, Fox has been spreading the wealth by gifting NFL lead-ins to multiple non-animated offerings. Fear Factor: House of Fear was perhaps the luckiest beneficiary, debuting with a 1.6 rating thanks to that assistance. But the true test came when House of Fear moved to its actual home on Wednesday nights. There, it posted a 0.26 rating, retaining more than three-fourths of its lead-in. Since then, it has lost some steam, but its latest installment came with a promising uptick (0.21, +0.02). Fox clearly has confidence in this revival, as they first aired it after an NFL playoffs game and then gave it a slot behind The Masked Singer. There also appears to be genuine interest for the series on Hulu, so House of Fear begins as a likely renewal. 


The Masked Singer: If the football-inflated premiere rating was taken out of House of Fear's average, The Masked Singer would be the top-rated reality program on Fox. While it is no longer the ratings phenomenon it was in its early years, the series remains reliable and consistent. It begins as a certain renewal. 

99 to Beat: 99 to Beat finished its season with a solid 0.26 rating, and it is currently scheduled to air repeats on Saturday nights until late April. The signs remain positive, so it is a likely renewal.


The Floor: Earlier this month, Fox renewed The Floor for multiple seasons. This was a correct prediction for The TV Ratings Guide, as it was previously listed as a certain renewal. 

Next Level Chef: Next Level Chef scored a multi-season renewal in 2025, so it will be returning next season. 

Next Level Baker: Next Level Baker is the lowest-rated reality series on a network that is potentially set to expand its scripted presence. Being tied to the Ramsay brand could boost its chances, but Fox has stronger options. Baker is likely to be canceled. 

The TV Ratings Guide	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30
Mon	Extracted		Memory of a Killer
Tues	Best Medicine		Doc
Wed	The Masked Singer		Fear Factor: House of Fear
Thurs	Next Level Chef		Animal Control	Going Dutch
Fri	Fox College Hoops
Sun	Family Guy	Universal Basic Guys	American Dad!	Family Guy

Renewed

Certain Renew

Likely Renew

Likely Cancel

Certain Cancel

Canceled

Weakest Link Moving to Fox, Fear Factor Revival and 99 to Beat Also Ordered

Fox has ordered a trio of new unscripted series for next season - one moving from NBC, one revival of a different NBC series, and one adaptation of a British game show.

'Chiller' Cable Network Meets Its Icy Maker After 11-Year Run

Written Awash in Cable's Bloodbath by Bridger Cunningham

Being a broadcast cable network can be a frightening place in the Millennial Era  As this oft-insulted generation has done what the previous failed to do -- turn their backs on the piggish cable companies!  With that tragic note, Chiller becomes the latest cable network to shutter after an 11-year run on Sunday December 31, 2017 at 11:59pm.  Ratings data for the niche network is sparse at best, and the network's demise stems from failing to secure carriage deals from Dish and Verizon among other providers.  Chiller reached 40 Million homes and was launched by NBC Universal on March 1, 2017.  It catered to the thriller and horror fans, broadcasting movies and repeats of horror television shows.

A creative success as if avoided Channel Drifting in format, Chiller struggled against alternative platforms such as Netflix duplicating coverage of its shows.  Chiller only produced one original scripted series, 2016's Canadian-produced Slasher, which is now showcased on Netflix.  Chiller acquired several movies, as well as repeats of Reality-TV hit Fear Factor and anthology series Masters of Horror.  On July 30, 2014, NBCU folded parallel channel FearNet into Chiller after an 8-year run, condensing duplicate programming.  2017 spelled a swift decline for the network as NBCU cleaned house of networks such as Esquire.  Several carriage providers dropped the network starting with Dish on February 1, followed by Swift on April 25, Verizon Fios on October 2, Mediacom on October 23, and several Cox Communications outlet on November 8.  Enjoy the remaining weeks of its cable anomaly, as it never strayed in format like offenders MTV and VH1.

Sources:

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiller_(TV_channel)
(2) http://deadline.com/2017/11/chiller-shut-down-cable-channel-nbcuniversal-slasher-1202209932/

Fear Factor Might Be Returning to TV

There's a little rumor going on right now that the old reality hit show Fear Factor is going to be returning to television this year. The casting call application can be found here. It's unclear what network it will be on, but it seems like it's pretty legitimate.

In summer 2012, Fear Factor managed to go as low as a 1.5 in the A18-49 L+SD demo. However, earlier that season it went as high as a 3.5 (its lead-in was only a tenth higher), showing that there was definitely an audience for the show.

What do you think? Do you think Fear Factor should be brought back? Let us know in the comments below!