Fox has, apparently, declared war on ABC's Lost... by permanently moving American Idol opposite for the rest of the season. But what effect will this have on the island drama, and what's behind the move?


Lost's audience has been slowly dropping since its return, and last week's two-hour episode of Fox's Idol made that drop even sharper... but, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox's decision to push Idol to 9pm on Wednesdays is actually more a defensive maneuver than it initially seems, protecting their new drama Lie To Me (starring the Abomination himself, Tim Roth) from losing audiences to Lost. Any collateral damage to ABC's flagship drama is purely coincidental... and a very happy accident.

ABC, on the other hand, are likely to see things the same way; with Life on Mars continuing to fall in the ratings, don't be too surprised if the network announces that Lost will be returning to a safer 10pm timeslot within the next few weeks.


Fox Moves 'Idol' Against 'Lost' [THR Live Feed]