http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/strong-on-the-offensive/2005/12/20/1135032021864.html?page=2 said:
Family Guy was revived because of an unusual turn of events. While the show was on hiatus, reruns of it on the US Cartoon Network proved unexpectedly successful, especially among a prized television demographic group: men 18-34. Steve Feldstein, senior vice-president of Fox Home Entertainment, says Family Guy has proved an unexpected success on DVD too, ranking third among television shows. The second compilation of Family Guy episodes has sold 1 million copies and ranks seventh.
"Once we made the DVDs available, the response was incredible," he says. "There was this fan base that was lying dormant. That base brought a whole new group with it." The DVD sales, Feldstein adds, "led the network to take a second look".