About FX Network

FX (for Fox eXtended) is the name of a number of related subscription TV channels owned by News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group. The network's most popular shows are the Emmy-nominated shows The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, and Damages, as well as the comedy hit It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. The networks mainly broadcast original programming aired on FOX in the 1990s and 2000s, including That '70s Show.

In recent years the network has emerged as a major force in original cable programming, gaining both acclaim and notoriety for edgy dramas. This began in 2002 with the release of its breakout hit, police drama The Shield. This trend continued the following year with Nip/Tuck, which chronicles the world of plastic surgery, and the Denis Leary-helmed Rescue Me, about FDNY firemen and their lives and in 2007 with Dirt, a show starring Courteney Cox about a ruthless tabloid editor who seeks out the truth. Unlike many broadcast networks, FX is willing to take risks with their programming and push the envelope of what can be shown on television, having high, TV-MA ratings. Opinions on these shows are mixed. Some organizations, like the Parents Television Council and American Family Association, have asked advertisers to boycott these shows due to their graphic content. However, the shows are also critically acclaimed for their strong storylines and characters.

Capitalizing on the success of the hit documentary Super Size Me, creator Morgan Spurlock launched a new series, 30 Days, on FX in June 2005. The series puts its subjects in situations uncomfortable to them for 30 days, such as making millionaires work for minimum wage, and having Christians live in a Muslim community.

In the summer of 2005, FX debuted two new comedy series, Starved, about the daily lives of four friends with eating disorders who live in New York, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, about four people who own a bar in the titular city and somehow always wind up having comic misadventures, usually very un-PC. Both of these shows feature frank sexual dialogue and strong language, pitched as "The Dark Side of Comedy". While Starved gained low ratings and was derided by groups that sought to publicize eating disorders, being canceled after its first season, Sunny quickly became a critics' darling, consistently achieved high ratings and was picked up for a second season within days of its first season finale. An edited version of Sunny was aired by Fox for a three-episode run in the summer of 2006, in an effort to promote it on FX.

In 2006, FX debuted two new series, the reality television show Black. White. and the drama Thief but neither were picked up for a second season. After 2006, FX also no longer broadcast NASCAR, as sister network Speed Channel became the new cable partner for NASCAR on Fox.

Throughout 2007, FX inroduced three new dramas, Dirt starring Courteney Cox, The Riches starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver, and Damages starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson. All three did well in the ratings and were renewed for second seasons.

On October 15, 2007 a high definition feed was launched on DirecTV and recently on few select Comcast markets.

As of 2008, the channel was available in 90.6 million U.S. homes.