Oops I'm in the Midwest so I meant 10 EST which is when Hell's Kitchen ends.
Fox network doesn't operate at 10PM Eastern Time. Their contract with affiliates is that the affiliates have that hour to program as they see fit. Most put their local news there, taking advantage of the hour jump that that gives them over the other large networks. It is considered to be one of the strongest aspects of the Fox network. It surely isn't an open time-slot.
This whole thing is game theory. Essentially Monday at 9 is a no win situation for FOX. So why take one of your better shows ratings wise (FOX doesn't have many winners) and compete against shows that already have a HUGE audience?
Lie To Me has never been "one of [the] better shows ratings wise". Of the dramas, House has always been tops, and Glee is very highly rated. Lie To Me has always been in the same category as Fringe and Bones. Bones, in particular, has been put in similarly tough time-slots in the past, but rose to the occasion and provided better than expected ratings in those time-slots. Fringe sits now in that Thursday 9PM Eastern time-slot I mentioned earlier... and you clearly agree that Lie To Me swapping time-slots with Fringe would be no improvement (from Lie To Me fans' perspective, at least). Indeed, Fringe is up against major power-houses, and beyond that, the expectation for ratings on Thursday is higher than for Monday. (Thursday is the most lucrative night of the weeks for commercials.)
It just does NOT make sense to me.
I think the key for some common understanding stems from the question I asked you earlier: What current Fox show would you put in that Monday 9PM time-slot, that would do better there than Lie To Me does?
I noticed you didn't mention moving Lie To Me to Friday. Perhaps you're aware of the ratings calculus that takes place there. Other than for CBS, Friday is typically where shows are placed when there is no hope of saving them. Indeed, Human Target was originally going to be aired on Friday, again this year, and we all clearly got the message that, since Human Target didn't get a more lucrative time-slot, and given how expensive a drama like that is to produce, that this would be the end of Human Target. Luckily, Lone Star tanked, and the ensuing scheduling changes landed Human Target a more competitive time-slot, and thereby another lease on life. If it does well there. There is no question that Human Target could have beat the competition on Friday, but so few people are watching that that wouldn't matter. Coming in second, and sometimes even third place, on a Monday or Tuesday would be superior performance than winning the time-slot on Friday - and could make the difference between renewal and cancellation.
