Fox Signals End to ‘X-Files’ Run

“The X-Files” TV show, an enormous asset to News Corp. and its various divisions, will end its nine-year run on the Fox network in May with the broadcast of the show’s 201st episode.

Fox said that series creator Chris Carter had decided to end the series. Ratings for “The X-Files” have dropped dramatically this season after the departure of one of the original stars, David Duchovny, spurring speculation about its future.

Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, “The X-Files” has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Fox network as well as through the sale of reruns and merchandising. A theatrical film was released in 1998, and although the series is ending, additional films are anticipated.

The program’s exit will leave Fox with a significant void to fill in its Sunday-night lineup, especially since the future of another of the network’s long-running franchises, “Ally McBeal,” also is in question due to sluggish ratings.

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Brian Lowry