If you haven’t heard, Tom Brady will be Fox’s top NFL analyst this season, replacing former Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen in the network’s No. 1 booth alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
Brady joined Fox’s upfront pitch to advertisers Monday in New York, where Michael Straham broke the news that the Dallas Cowboys will kick off their season on Fox in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.
“America’s team — it’s going to be little hard for me to say that all the time, understanding they were the competition,” Brady said. “I’ve obviously been going against them for a long time, and now I get to tell everyone how great they are.”
Fox also announced it will broadcast an extra regular-season game in Week 16 on Saturday, Dec. 21. NBC previously announced it had also acquired the rights to broadcast a game the Saturday before Christmas.
The NFL will announce the full 2024 schedule Wednesday.
Strahan also announced Fox’s 4:25 p.m. game in Week 1 will be in an exclusive national window, meaning CBS won’t also air a national game. Brady’s lucrative first season in the booth — he’s reportedly being paid $375 million over 10 years — will end in New Orleans, with Fox broadcasting Super Bowl LIX.
It remains unclear where Olsen will land — he was noticeably absent from Monday’s upfront presentation — though he could easily slide down to the No. 2 booth and call games alongside Joe Davis, who was paired last season with veteran announcer Daryl “Moose” Johnston.
Unlike CBS, changes aren’t expected for Fox’s top NFL pregame show, Fox NFL Sunday, which will once again feature Terry Bradshaw, Curt Menefee, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson, and Rob Gronkowski.
“I just want to let you know that you’re the rookie now, brother, so dinner’s on you tonight,” Gronkowski told Brady during the presentation.
“When’s it not on me, Gronk?” Brady responded.
This will be Fox’s 31st season broadcasting NFL games, and it will feature its fair share of the Eagles. While Fox no longer has a traditional NFC package, part of its new TV deal includes airing a minimum number of Eagles games.
» READ MORE: New shows coming to NBC and Peacock, including a Kevin Hart 1970s crime drama and an extra NFL game
Fox’s new shows include lifeguards and a South Jersey-inspired animated series
While Fox’s focus was understandably on sports, the network did use its presentation to promote a few new shows that will premiere later this year.
There’s Rescue: Hi-Surf, a Hawaiian lifeguard drama that will land the coveted slot following next year’s Super Bowl. There’s also the psychological crime drama Murder in a Small Town, starring The Handmaid’s Tale’s Rossif Sutherland and Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk and based on the Karl Alberg series of mystery novels by L.R. Wright.
Dennis Leary is also returning to TV to star in Going Dutch, a new comedy series about a arrogant U.S. Army colonel is reassigned to an unimportant post in the Netherlands.
Fox will also launch a new animated series, Universal Basic Guys, created by South Jersey brothers Adam and Craig Malamut, best known for their Game of Zone series on Bleacher Report. The show, about two brothers who lose their jobs to automation, has already been picked up for a second season.
Notably missing from Fox’s Sunday night lineup is Family Guy. The network is holding new episodes of the popular Seth McFarlane cartoon until midseason, in order to promote Universal Basic Guys and second-year animated series Krapopolis during the NFL season. Fox is also holding back The Great North and the Jon Hamm-led Grimsburg, Fox network president Michael Thorn told reporters Monday.
Tubi, the popular steaming platform you don’t hear much about
Fox devoted a large chunk of its upfront presentation to advertisers on Tubi, the network-free, ad-supported streaming service that had a larger audience than Peacock, Max, Paramount+, and Apple TV+ in March, according to Nielsen.
Tubi features a mix of movies, classic series, and original programming. Among the new shows touted Monday include The Z-Suite, a new comedy starring Lauren Graham set at a New York ad agency experiencing generational upheaval.
Fox 2024 fall TV lineup
Mondays
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8 p.m.: 9-1-1: Lonestar
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9 p.m.: Rescue: Hi-Surf
Tuesdays
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8 p.m.: Accused
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9 p.m.: Murder in a Small Town
Wednesdays
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8 p.m.: The Masked Singer
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9 p.m.: The Floor
Thursdays
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8 p.m.: Hell’s Kitchen
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9 p.m.: Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test
Fridays
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8 p.m.: Fox College Football Friday
Saturdays
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7 p.m.: Fox Sports Saturday
Sundays
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7 p.m.: The NFL on Fox
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7:30 p.m.: The OT
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8 p.m.: The Simpsons
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8:30 p.m.: Universal Basic Guys
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9 p.m.: Bob’s Burgers
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9:30 p.m.: Krapopolis