'Ugly Betty'
ABC is set to make its long-rumored "Ugly Betty" move to Wednesday nights.
Schedule shift could give "Betty" a boost, as it would now air behind the highly compatible half-hour "Cougar Town."
"Ugly Betty" fills the void left by "Eastwick," which was not picked up for a full season.
Scheduling move takes "Betty" away from what had been a lonely Friday night slot, sandwiched between the reality series "Supernanny" and the newsmag "20/20."
Airing in that rough slot, "Ugly Betty" had been a Nielsen also-ran -- most recently, during the holiday weekend, posting just a 0.9 rating/3 share among adults 18-49.
With "Ugly Betty" moving off Friday, ABC plans to return to a completely non-scripted lineup on the night, replacing the 9 p.m. hour with the reality series "Shark Tank."
ABC has five more episodes in the can of "Shark Tank"; no word yet on what the network plans to do there once those segs complete their run.
Moves are effective this January.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com