As Strikes Pushed Scripted Broadcast Shows Into 2024-25, ABC Boss Talks “Pilot Season”

What is pilot season anymore?

After Deadline revealed that CBS was not piloting any shows for the 2024-25 season and Fox is out of the traditional pilot process, ABC boss Craig Erwich gave his take on pilot season.

“For years, we’ve been in year round development so we don’t have a set pilot season, per se. We make shows that premiere in fall and we make shows that premiere in March. There was a pause in production because of the strikes. We have a full slate right now,” he said.

Last year, it emerged that ABC, NBC and Fox were moving all of their scripted originals to next season. For ABC, this included High Potential starring Kaitlin Olson, which Erwich said was “one of the best ABC shows I’ve seen since I’ve been there”.

It’s believed that the Disney-owned network, which did not pick up any new comedy series for this season, has been prepping a couple of half-hour pilots.

The volume across the broadcast networks is expected to be on par or below last year, which was an all-time low with four to five shows spread across comedy and drama. This was largely as a result of the fall 2024 season being set, meaning that most of the pilots would be targeting midseason 2025.

“We continue to develop year round, that’s both to take advantage of the creative community, because we’re only as good as the creators that we’re in business with, as well as when people want to watch, which is year round,” Erwich added.