ABC is giving “American Housewife” a new home in its primetime lineup, starting this spring.
The family sitcom, which returns from winter hiatus on Jan. 17, will shift from its current 8 o’clock on Friday time slot to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, beginning April 15, ABC announced just ahead of its panels at the Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday.
Right now, Season 4 of “Housewife” is paired with the sixth and final season of “Fresh Off the Boat,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and will end its series run Feb. 21.
“American Housewife” will be taking over the Friday 9 p.m. spot from the long-running “Modern Family,” which airs its series finale on April 8. But before it moves into the 9 p.m. shift, “Housewife” will begin airing at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting on March 18.
The Katy Mixon and Diedrich Bader-led comedy will now live on the same night as fellow comedies “The Goldbergs” (which airs at 8 p.m.), “Goldbergs” spinoff “Schooled” (8:30 p.m.) and “Single Parents” (9:30 p.m.), with freshman drama “Stumptown” closing primetime at 10.
Since it premiered in October 2016, “American Housewife” has been shuffled around ABC’s schedule on multiple occasions, airing its first season on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., its second on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m., its third on Wednesdays at 8:30 and later in the season on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. before moving to its Friday 8 o’clock slot for Season 4 last fall.
During ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke’s executive session at TCA later Wednesday, the network chief told TheWrap how the many shifts to “Housewife’s” slot have been received by the show’s producers, saying, “They are gamers. They are gamers. They just show up to play, wherever we put them.”
Burke added: “Having been a producer myself, I am sensitive to shows moving around the schedule.”
While she says ABC was “nervous on how the show would perform [after the latest shift],” “Housewife’s” move to Fridays “absolutely out-delivered our expectations.”
When asked if they see metrics that demonstrate “Housewife” fans as extra loyal who will go the extra mile to find the show wherever it is, Burke said “we do.”
“That show has a very loyal audience,” she said. “And then it has new viewers.”
“It’s a really broadly appealing show,” Burke added.
In other ABC programming news, the network revealed this morning that “Shark Tank” — now airing its 11th season — will return to its old home on Fridays at 8 p.m. beginning Feb. 28. So it’s taking over the hour currently occupied by both “Housewife” and “Fresh Off the Boat.”
ABC made several other announcements Wednesday, including the air date for the 2020 Emmys, a “Young Frankenstein” live TV musical production from Mel Brooks, and a live episode of “The Conners,” which will be broadcast during the New Hampshire primary.