Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Agent Jack Bauer from the Fox series ``24'' is returning in a two-hour TV movie aimed at reclaiming fans after last season was lost to the Hollywood writers' strike.

``24: Redemption,'' airing Nov. 23, gives News Corp.'s Fox network a chance to reconnect with fans who stopped watching in 2007, when the series last aired, and to promote its return in January. ``24'' lost 1.2 million viewers in 2007 from 2006, dropping to 12.4 million, according to Nielsen Co.

``It's very smart of Fox to do this,'' said Ed Martin, an analyst at JackMyers.com, a media industry Web site. ``The franchise needs an extra push right now.''

New episodes of ``24'' may help Fox repeat as the top-rated broadcast network. Led by ``American Idol,'' the most-watched TV show, Fox dethroned CBS as the No. 1 network for the 2007-2008 season. The series returns in a two-night premiere Jan. 11 followed by two nights of ``Idol,'' said Preston Beckman, executive vice president for strategic programming at Fox.

``We like to call it our `shock and awe week,''' Beckman said in an interview.

``24'' stars Kiefer Sutherland as Bauer, an agent who bends the rules to protect the U.S. from terrorists. Each of the show's six seasons covered a single 24-hour period, a model that requires viewers to watch regularly. Apart from Sutherland, most of the cast varies from season to season. Cameos have included Senator John McCain, who made a nonspeaking appearance in 2006.

Mushroom Cloud

The audience for ``24'' rose from 8.6 million viewers in 2001 as more people tuned in to watch complex plots that have included the release of a deadly virus and, in 2007, the explosion of a nuclear device in a Los Angeles suburb.

That story line lost credibility when, after the nuclear blast, ``it looked like life as usual in Los Angeles, with a mushroom cloud on the horizon,'' Martin said. Fans were further annoyed when the story line changed more than halfway through the season, he said.

The show ranked 21st that year in Nielsen ratings and was Fox's fourth most-watched program, trailing two nights of ``Idol'' each week and ``House,'' according to the network.

``They've raised the bar so high for some of the story lines that it's very easy to disappoint viewers,'' said Brad Adgate, research director for the advertising agency Horizon Media Inc. in New York.

`Heroes' Threat

The 2007 ratings decline probably had more to do with competition from NBC's ``Heroes,'' a science-fiction series about young people who develop supernatural powers, Beckman said. ``Heroes,'' then in its first season, attracted an average of 13.6 million viewers. This year the audience has slipped to 8.9 million, according to Nielsen.

That decline may help ``24,'' along with a spot in the Fox schedule following ``House,'' the medical drama starring Hugh Laurie. On Nov. 5, News Corp. reported a 30 percent drop in fiscal first-quarter profit and cut its 2009 forecast because of falling advertising sales.

Unlike regular episodes, ``24: Redemption'' is a stand- alone film with a resolution. Bauer is in a fictional African country trying to prevent insurgents from forcing children to become soldiers. ``Redemption'' also introduces new characters who will return in January, including a female president portrayed by Cherry Jones and a villain played by Jon Voight.

Losing a season to the three-month writers' strike that ended in February gave the writers a break to focus on stories, Beckman said.

``This is the first year the guys have the luxury of taking a deep breath once in a while and assessing what's going on,'' he said. ``We're farther ahead with the show. It gave us a chance to think about the story.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 21, 2008 00:01 EST