‘The X Factor’ USA: Fox explains delay; Simon Cowell angry

Just in case you did not have enough of “The X Factor” following the fiasco that unfolded Wednesday night courtesy of multiple rain delays, we now have even more news for you here about what happened.

So why did Fox ultimately decide to bring the show back in the middle of a baseball game, only to later pull it with about 45 minutes left? As it turns out, it really appears as though officials with Major League Baseball are to blame. Sources close to the situation are saying that they were told that baseball was going to be delayed for at least over two hours, and with that, Fox made the call to air “The X Factor” believing that they would make it through the entire broadcast.

As we know now, however, this clearly did not happen. As a matter of fact, we instead saw the show cut off early when baseball decided to resume play earlier than expect. Simon Cowell referred to this situation as a total “f up” on Twitter, and it really is. After all, what this shows us above all else is just how badly Fox is at the mercy of the MLB this time of year, and it’s ironic given that the ratings for most playoffs excluding the world series are worse than what “The X Factor” often brings to the table. It’s really a double-edged sword for the show in that they do not want to interrupt the show thanks to baseball, but they had to schedule it there anyway since they only have so much time to get through a certain amount of episodes.

The only real solution we see here? Starting “The X Factor” season earlier, and then taking a longer hiatus. It may be the only way, after all, to keep this sort of thing from happening.