The Four season 2 renewal confirmed ahead of season 1 finale

Leading into Thursday night’s season 1 finale, Fox has officially confirmed The Four season 2 is going to be coming up. The network confirmed the news in a statement today, with alternative series / specials President Rob Wade saying the following:

“The Four is truly a next-generation show … It has pushed past the boundaries of traditional music competition series by focusing on recording artists in an epic battle to become a superstar. … We’d like to thank our panel, our ringleader, Fergie, the contestants and our incredible production team for delivering concert-quality shows every week. And we look forward to pushing the boundaries even further in Season 2.”

If there ever was a statement that was carefully-worded, this is it. Wade mentions the show’s host Fergie by name, but does not do so with the judges — likely as a means to skirt around the Charlie Walk crisis that is currently plaguing the series. Following claims of sexual misconduct fired against Walk (who is also a recording executive), he will not be a part of tonight’s finale and, presumably, is also not going to be a part of season 2. That means that there will need to be one other panelist that is added to the mix for next season provided that Fox wants to stick with the roster of four. If they go down to three, doesn’t that eliminate some of the synergy with the name?

The Four to date has generated okay numbers, but we wouldn’t necessarily call them the sort that is going to have many executives jumping for joy. It’s performed well enough to satisfy Fox and the hope now has to be that this is a jumping-off point rather than a peak. Probably the most encouraging thing about The Four season 1 is simply how often the series managed to be trending on social media almost every week. Networks do value that tremendously because it’s publicity that they don’t have to pay for. We do still think that many networks are still working to figure out precisely how valuable social-media buzz really is, but they are starting to slowly and surely work all of that out.

We anticipate that The Four season 2 will premiere in the new year; without the Olympics on the air, it’s possible that we will also get a little bit of a longer run.

What do you think about The Four season 2 coming to fruition? Be sure to share some of your thoughts right now in the comments!