The Masked Singer is a phenomenon. It's taken the world by storm since debuting in 2019, and its popularity can only be outmatched by its output. The series has released 13 seasons and a pair of specials in just seven years, but FOX recently announced that its going to be slowing things down come the show's upcoming season.
Historically, The Masked Singer releases seasons twice a year. The TV competition will be bypassing FOX's fall lineup, however, and return in January 2026. It will feel like an eternity for viewers, but a FOX spokeswoman claimed that the additional time off will not be in vain. Instead, it'll be used to improve the show.
FOX wants to "enhance" The Masked Singer
The spokeswoman explained that the decision to forego the fall season was made in an effort to give "ample runway" to producers and stars to "creatively look at enhancing the show." This rationale was supported by Rob Wade, the Chief Executive Officer of FOX Entertainment. He told Deadline that the current schedule is starting to take its toll on talent, and the network does not want to run the risk of burnout or hindering the quality of The Masked Singer.
"It was incredibly taxing on that crew and that cast and they’ve done a phenomenal job," Wade noted to the outlet. "It just felt like the right time to give the show and the very hardworking people involved in it a little bit of breathing space just to regroup creatively." The CEO added that the ratings for The Masked Singer remain strong, and FOX wants to give those responsible enough time to do it again come January. A month, he noted, that's among FOX's strongest stretches of the year in terms of ratings.
It's difficult to deny the impressive run that The Masked Singer cast and crew have been on, and it's easy to empathize with them in terms of wanting to regroup. The question that has repeatedly come up since this scheduling change, of course, is whether this will become the new norm.
FOX won't reduce the show to "one season a year"
Those who have been watching The Masked Singer since day one might be asking whether your favorite show will be turning out half the episodes moving forward, but fortunately, this will not be the case. Wade assured all of us that the decision to postpone The Masked Singer until January is not a plan that will be applied to every future season.
Instead, the CEO claimed that it will be a decision that's dependent on production and the specific circumstances of each year. "It's not intended at the moment just to become a one season a year," he concluded. "After that we’ll see where it goes."
The good news, of course, is that there are over a dozen seasons to rewatch before The Masked Singer returns to FOX. The singing competition can be watched on a number of different streaming platforms in addition to FOX, including Hulu and Disney Plus.