COPS Being Cancelled? FOX to Carry Sports on Saturday Nights

COPS, while not cancelled, probably won't see much air time for the rest of 2012.

The move comes as the network has decided to change its Saturday night lineup. FOX will now carry mostly sports programs on Saturday nights for the rest of the calendar year.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the network will air sports programming in prime time for 28 of the next 32 Saturday nights.

FOX broadcasts a number of different sports, including MLB, NASCAR and NCAA football.  In August, FOX and the Ultimate Fighting Championship agreed to a seven-year media rights agreement.

The network has been slowly adding more sports shows in prime time in place of its usual schedule. America's Most Wanted was on FOX for 23 years until it was cancelled as a weekly show in 2011.

COPS was created in 1989, and kicked off its landmark 24th season this past September. According to vulture.com, the series will still air, though it's not certain how many episodes will be seen on television in 2012.

A new schedule has not been made, but FOX says the show won't be shown on another day other than Saturday. That doesn't leave much time for the show in 2012.

With FOX shifting its focus towards sports on Saturday night, it wouldn't be surprising to see the network end its relationship with COPS after almost a quarter century.