Here is the letter I drafted to Fox regarding the continuation of Futurama. I will probably edit it on more time just before I send it out. I will put the proper salutation in place of the generic "Fox exec" and format appropriately.
Dear Fox exec:
I am writing you in the hopes that devoted fans can convince you to keep Futurama in production. To date the show has received minimal promotion. It has been regularly pre-empted by football games and specials, such as The Chamber and Simpsons reruns. Despite this, it has won it's timeslot in key demographics.
Simply breaking down the viewership by age cohort does not tell the entire story of the fan base. If you read the usenet group alt.tv.futurama, you will quickly see that the viewership are, as a group, very well educated and technology oriented. By marketing the timeslot to companies who's products would appeal to this demographic, you should be able to command a significantly higher priced than the sheer numbers might otherwise imply.
The show has had a great deal of media attention and will probably continue to do so. It will ultimately, if allowed to continue, gather numerous awards and bring prestige to the Fox network. Not so long ago, few people in television believed that the Fox network would even survive against "the big three" and cable. But, you have not only survived, but flourished by providing daring programming that appealed to audiences the others ignored. The Simpsons and The X-Files both appealed to limited audiences at first, but promotion and fan support built them both to icons of television and persistent sources of revenue.
Please do not turn your back on the very key that brought you success. You have stood your ground, airing quality and daring programming and you have shown the "big three" that they were wrong. If you now retreat to the "safety" of rating and bean counting, you will become what you set out to defeat. There is no need for a fourth network pandering to the lowest common denominator and soon there would be another network daring to take on the "big four".
Thank you for bring us Futurama. I hope you will continue to do so.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Larry Finkelstein