Fox Gets Real

For Fox, it's all reality, all the time.

Facing accusations of ripping off reality ideas from execs at ABC and NBC, Fox is now one-upping its rivals, announcing plans to launch the Fox Reality Channel next year.

The new cable net will premiere in the first quarter of 2005 and will air a blend of old unscripted staples like When Animals Attack with more recent reality fare like The Simple Life, as well as programs now in development.

Fox becomes the latest company to play the all-reality game, joining Reality TV, broadcast on Echostar Communication's Dish Network, and Reality Central, the brainchild of an independent investor group led by E! Entertainment Television cofounder Larry Namer.

"When you get a validation from one of the big media conglomerates, it's flattering," Namer tells the Associated Press. His network, which bills itself as channel for fans of unscripted shows, will combine reality reruns, original programming and shows tracking the goings-on of reality shows on all networks. It's expected to air later this year.

Fox, meanwhile, swears that it isn't going the copycat route again. Anthony Vinciquerra, Fox Networks Group president. says Fox's reality channel has been in the works for two years. Honest.

"Fox has created some of television's most enduring reality programming while consistently taking the genre into exciting new directions," said Anthony Vinciquerra, Fox Network Groups president. "It was never so much a question of whether we might take this next step and launch a dedicated reality channel. It was only a matter of when."

Now the race will be to see which reality network can gain the most traction. Although Reality Central has a head start, Fox has the deep pockets and long reach of Rupert Murdoch and could secure more airspace. Murdoch's News Corp. already runs the Fox broadcast network, FX and the Fox News Channel and a one-third stake in DirecTV.

With News Corp. also owning 20th Century Fox movie studios, don't rule out cross-promotional opportunities, which means we could see From Justin to Kelly, 2003's beach-blanket bomb featuring first season American Idol's Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, on Fox Reality.

Fox Reality will also serve as a repository for played-out series ( Temptation Island, Joe Millionaire), second helpings of first-run hits like Idol and Simple Life airing the same week but in different slots, as well as auditions, contestant commentary, outtakes and profiles of C-level reality stars (Darva Conger anyone?).

No word yet who will head the new network.

The idea that Fox is looking to cash in on the reality genre comes as the bosses of NBC and ABC have accused Fox of plagiarizing programming.

At the Television Critics Association, NBC boss Jeff Zucker slammed Fox executives for being "imitators" for scheduling the boxing reality series The Next Great Champ with Oscar De La Hoya after the Peacock signed the similarly themed Mark Burnett-helmed The Contender, starring Sylvester Stallone.

Zucker was so ticked that he revealed two hitherto top-secret projects that Fox was planning to broadcast during the 2004-05 season: Who's My Daddy, which follows a young woman who does not know who her biological father is and must identify him out of a group of 16 men; and Big Shot, a twist on Spike TV's Joe Schmo, in which some poor schmucks compete to win a high-paying gig à la The Apprentice only to find out the job is bogus.

Meanwhile, ABC's Stephen McPherson said Fox outright stole the premise of the Alphabet's new fall show Wife Swap for Fox's upcoming Trading Spouses

"If I was a member of the creative community," said McPherson, "it would be incredibly disconcerting to me that if you take a show into Fox, and they can't, don't or decide not to buy it, they will steal it. Plain and simple."