Fans of reality and game shows are going to be disappointed on Wednesday, Dec. 17. President Donald Trump’s newest plans have derailed everything the broadcast networks set up.
Trump has made a decision to address the nation. Of course, that means all four broadcast networks will carry it, and it changes the plans that they already had in place. For ABC and NBC, that means changing the holiday schedule, but for CBS and FOX, it means changing the regular programming.
Donald Trump’s address to the nation will cut into Wednesday programs
Deadline shares that the network schedulers had to put together a new plan rather quickly, as it was only around 9 a.m. ET that Trump decided that he wanted to host a press conference to address the nation. Is there an emergency? No, White House officials say that Trump wants to outline all of his accomplishments in 2025.
The speech is expected to run a maximum of 30 minutes, but everyone knows that Trump’s speeches can end up running longer. This is part of the problem for the networks, as it means a pre-empted time may not actually be the right time!
Survivor’s finale will be interrupted by Trump's address
CBS has already stated the plan for its three-hour finale of Survivor season 49. The show will still begin at 8/7c, which is good news. However, the show will go on a break at 9 p.m. ET on the ET/CT broadcast, and it will then resume once the presidential address has ended. It will go back right where it left off, rather than running in the background as some TV shows have done in the past.
For those on the Pacific and Mountain time zones, there is some good news. The schedule won’t be interrupted at all.
The Floor’s finale will also be interrupted by Trump
Then there’s FOX’s The Floor, which was set to airs its two-hour season finale tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 17. Again, the show will still start at 8/7c, and then at 9/8c it will take a break to air the broadcast. Like with Survivor, the episode will be paused and will then continue its second half once Trump’s speech has finished.
Again, like with Survivor, those on the later time zones won’t be affected by any of this.
What about the holiday programming on ABC and NBC?
While CBS and FOX have regular programming, ABC and NBC are into their holiday specials. ABC will air iHeartRadio Jingle Ball from 8/7c, and that’s expected to follow the exact same plan as Survivor and The Floor.
NBC is doing something slightly different. Christmas in Nashville was slated to air at 9/8c. Instead, the broadcast will be delayed, with NBC expecting the speech to run for 13 minutes, and then it will have a news special straight afterward. After that, Christmas in Nashville will air as planned, and there will be a shortened version of NBC’s Year in Review 2025 after that, which is a rerun, so you can watch the whole thing on Peacock!