Fox‘s Baywatch has been in production in Los Angeles for two months now, so it will be ready for fall. But the high-profile reboot will not premiere then. Instead, the network is planning a January launch. Why?

“We have a rich history of launching series midseason, we just did it most recently with Best Medicine and Memory of a Killer and Doc before that; it goes all the way back to Empire and the 9-1-1s and The Resident,” Fox Television Network President Michael Thorn said during a press call on Sunday, ahead of Fox’s Monday upfront presentation. “Obviously, Baywatch is a huge, huge priority for us, and we think we have a great opportunity to set the show up for success there.”

Fox executives wouldn’t say whether the show will debut behind a big NFL game, which appears likely, as they are waiting for the NFL schedule to come out later this week before finalizing their launch plans.

Thorn gave a subtle update about how the network feels about what they have seen so far.

“We’re feeling great about where we are, but also feeling the pressure of already heightened fan expectations,” he said. “There’s only one Baywatch. It’s one of the most iconic, popular television franchises in TV history.”

Baywatch had been in the works at Fox for several years and at one point was being developed alongside another lifeguard drama series, Rescue: HI-Surf, from producer John Wells and Warner Bros. TV, which got off to a solid start behind an NFL double header in September 2024 but only lasted a season.

Two years ago, Fox brass also had high expectations about Rescue: HI: Surf. Thorn was asked what they have learned from that show and what is different about Baywatch that will help it succeed when its predecessor didn’t.

“Networks, including us, throughout throughout TV history, order multiple cop shows, multiple medical shows, multiple legal shows that hopefully have different points of view that allow similar franchises to exist on a schedule at the same time,” he said. “We don’t see lifeguards as any different. We love John Wells, and we took a shot with HI-Surf. It didn’t quite catch on. Baywatch is a much soapier, juicier show than HI-Surf, and we hope it resonates as much as the original does, that’s our goal.”

One thing Fox has done differently is its approach to casting. Rescue: HI-Surf didn’t have big stars, with most of its actors relatively unknown. That made marketing challenging, something that has been pointed to as a possible reason for the show’s demise.

With Baywatch, produced by Fremantle, Fox went all in on big names.

Deadline in March called the reboot Baywatch 2.0: The Influencers Edition because its cast features a mix of actors with large social media footprint as well as popular online personalities, including series regulars Noah Beck (41M social media followers), Shay Mitchell (35M), Stephen Amell (6.4M) and Brooks Nader (1.8M) and recurring guest star Livvy Dunne (13 million).

Fox is leaning into that. Thorn called the series “pure escapism with a cast that blends top television talent with major social influencers.”