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*An American version of the [[ITV]] series ''[[Love Island]]''.
*An American version of the [[ITV]] series ''[[Love Island]]''.


MyNetworkTV would abondon development of these programs in Summer 2006 its reality-show development (leaving that responsibility to [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX]]) and focus solely on telenovelas, even if the format did not initally prove successful.
MyNetworkTV would abandon development of these programs in Summer 2006 its reality-show development (leaving that responsibility to [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX]]) and focus solely on telenovelas, even if the format did not initally prove successful.


On [[January 22]], [[2007]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]]'s [[WUTB]] premiered the Fox produced show ''[[The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet]]'' at 9 a.m. local time. All other stations broadcasting the show are [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] [[owned and operated station|owned and operated stations]]. This is the only news program announced so far that will be available for MyNetworkTV. The program is seen on WUTB, as Baltimore's Fox station, [[WBFF]], is owned by a competing company, [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]].
On [[January 22]], [[2007]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]]'s [[WUTB]] premiered the Fox produced show ''[[The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet]]'' at 9 a.m. local time. All other stations broadcasting the show are [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] [[owned and operated station|owned and operated stations]]. This is the only news program announced so far that will be available for MyNetworkTV. The program is seen on WUTB, as Baltimore's Fox station, [[WBFF]], is owned by a competing company, [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]].

Revision as of 01:55, 4 February 2007

MyNetworkTV
TypeBroadcast television network
Country
United States United States
AvailabilityNationwide, Canada and Mexico
OwnerNews Corporation
Key people
Roger Ailes, Chairman, Fox Television Stations Group
Jack Abernathy, CEO, FTSG
Greg Meidel, President
Launch date
September 5, 2006
Official website
www.mynetworktv.com

MyNetworkTV (sometimes written My Network TV, and unofficially abbreviated MyNet, MyTV, MNT, or MNTV) is a television network in the United States, owned by News Corporation, which began operations on September 5, 2006. Its initial affiliate lineup covers about 96 percent of the country;[1] most are former WB and UPN affiliates.

Its primetime schedule consists of English-language "telenovelas". Although the concept is based on the popular television format that originated in Latin America, the shows have their own original storylines and characters.

The network launched with two series, Desire and Fashion House. Two more series, Watch Over Me and Wicked Wicked Games premiered on December 6, 2006. Saints and Sinners and American Heiress are scheduled to premiere in March. New episodes air from Monday to Friday, with clip shows airing on weekends that recap the shows' storylines. Each episode is said to cost an average of $200,000,[2] about one-tenth the cost of traditional prime-time shows.[3]

The network's initial ratings have been modest. National advertising spots sold for between $20,000 and $35,000 for a 30-second spot as of September 2006.[4]

MyNetworkTV is a sister network to the Fox network, but operates separately. Roger Ailes oversees the network as chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group (FTSG). Fox executives Jack Abernethy, Dennis Swanson, and Bob Cook supervise its day-to-day operations.

Origins

See also: 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment

MyNetworkTV arose from the announcement of new The CW Television Network, which essentially merged The WB and UPN. As a result of several deals in the early part of the decade, Fox Television Stations Group owned several UPN affiliates. These included UPN's three largest affiliates: WWOR-TV in New York City, KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, and WPWR-TV in Chicago. Fox had bought most of them after acquiring most of the television holdings of Chris-Craft Industries, which founded UPN with Paramount Pictures (which was acquired by Viacom around the time of UPN's founding). Despite concerns about UPN's future at the time Fox purchased these three stations, UPN renewed its affiliation deals with the stations in 2003 for three seasons. That agreement's, and some others', pending expiration in 2006 gave UPN parent CBS Corporation and The WB parent Warner Bros. the rare opportunity to merge their respective struggling networks.

The CW included no Fox-owned stations; in fact, the coveted New York, Los Angeles and Chicago affiliations all went to stations owned by The WB's co-owner, Tribune Broadcasting. In response to the announcement, Fox promptly scrubbed all UPN references from its UPN affiliates' logos and promotions and stopped promoting UPN programs.

Media reports speculated that the Fox-owned UPN affiliates would all revert to being independent stations, or else form another network by uniting with the other UPN and The WB affiliates left out of The CW. Fox parent News Corp chose the latter course, and announced MyNetworkTV on February 22, less than a month after CBS and Warner Bros. announced The CW on January 24. News Corp may have chosen the name MyNetworkTV for synergistic means, as it also owns the popular networking website MySpace.com.

Programming

MyNetworkTV began operations on September 5, 2006 with premieres of its two initial series. Some affiliates unofficially began branding their stations on September 4, 2006 with supplied preview specials. Programming airs from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific time) Monday through Saturday. Unlike the other major broadcast networks, MyNetworkTV plans to air primarily original programming throughout the year, including the Summer.

Given that MyNetworkTV airs two programs six days a week produced by 20th Television (Fox's syndication unit), it is more akin to a syndication model, such as the Prime Time Entertainment Network, Operation Primetime, or The Disney Afternoon, than major broadcast networks' programming. Indeed, Fox had intended to release Desire as a stand-alone syndicated program prior to coming up with the MyNetworkTV concept. Jack Abernethy, chief executive of Fox Television Stations, said before launch that MyNetworkTV's six-day-per-week format is the wave of the future because a traditional schedule costs too much.[5]

At least three affiliate stations present MNTV programs out of pattern:

If an affiliate station carries local sporting events in primetime (such as NBA basketball, Major League Baseball, or NHL hockey), usually the telenovelas are delayed to air immediately after the game, or the next morning (depending on the station), due to the week-long nature of the shows. This is in contrast to local pre-emptions which happened on UPN and The WB, and currently happen on The CW, where the station was/is able to move a program to air at almost any time during the weekend without interference, even during late night.

Telenovelas

The series have focused on the 18-to-49-year-old, English-speaking Hispanic population[6][7] with programing consisting exclusively of the telenovelas Desire and Fashion House, each airing Monday to Friday with one-hour recaps on Saturdays. These series will air in continuous cycles of thirteen-week seasons; when one series ends, another unrelated series will begin the following week. The scripts are purchased mainly to Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca and Colombian network Caracol TV.

MyNetworkTV HD Ident

Both shows are broadcast in high definition by affiliates with HD simulcasts and in letterbox format on standard definition broadcasts. Each carries a SAP signal carrying a Spanish audio track; at this time, an alternate closed captioning channel with Spanish translation is not used. The shows are shot at Stu Segall Studios in San Diego.[8] As a cost-saving measure, producers tend to hire performers with limited acting experience.[5] Also, since scripts are finished before taping starts, scenes on the same set can be shot out of episode order.[5]

The network had originally planned to use the umbrella titles Desire and Secret Obsessions for its telenovelas. Each storyline will now be titled separately.[9] The remaining (tentative) titles for 2006-07 are American Heiress and Friends & Enemies on Tuesday night, with Wednesday night hosting Saints and Sinners and To Love & Die. Both telenovela nights will air two hours of their respective series.

Fox has also purchased the rights to:

  • Luna, la heredera ("Luna, the Heiress")
  • Amores cruzados ("Crossed Loves")
  • La guerra de las rosas ("The War of the Roses")[10]
  • La Calle de las Novias ("Brides' Avenue")[11]

The Telenovela Rotation

All times are Eastern and Pacific (subtract one hour for Central and Mountain time)

Telenovela Time Premire Date Finale Date
Fall 2006 Desire 8:00 P.M. September 5, 2006 December 5, 2006
Fall 2006 Fashion House 9:00 P.M. September 5, 2006 December 5, 2006
Winter 2006 Wicked Wicked Games 8:00 P.M. December 6, 2006 March 6, 2007
Winter 2006 Watch Over Me 9:00 P.M. December 6, 2006 March 6, 2007
Spring 2007 American Heiress Tuesdays March 13, 2007 unknown
Spring 2007 Saints and Sinners Wednesdays March 14, 2007 unknown
Summer 2007 Friends & Enemies Tuesdays unknown unknown
Summer 2007 To Love & Die Wednesdays unknown unknown

Other programming

The announcement of the new network also stated that additional unscripted (i.e., "reality") and current-affairs programming were in development. These were:

MyNetworkTV would abandon development of these programs in Summer 2006 its reality-show development (leaving that responsibility to FOX) and focus solely on telenovelas, even if the format did not initally prove successful.

On January 22, 2007, Baltimore's WUTB premiered the Fox produced show The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet at 9 a.m. local time. All other stations broadcasting the show are Fox network owned and operated stations. This is the only news program announced so far that will be available for MyNetworkTV. The program is seen on WUTB, as Baltimore's Fox station, WBFF, is owned by a competing company, Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Recent announcements by Fox regarding additional programming to air on MyNetworkTV O&Os—such as Desperate Housewives repeats, the first-run sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, and a daytime viewer-participation game show, My Games Fever[12]—do not apply to the network as a whole.

New Prime Time Schedule (effective March 8)

In response to the poor ratings performance of the telenovela lineup, highlighted by a rating of 0.7% average households (see "Performance"), reports surfaced[13] that MyNetworkTV executives planned a major revamp of the network's programming, changing to a schedule with as little as 2 nights of telenovela programming, while the rest of the schedule would include new unscripted programming such as reality shows, game shows (such as My Games Fever), movies, and sports, and a possible revisit to a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.[14] The deal was not signed with UFC, but rather with another mixed martial arts organization, the International Fight League, in conjunction with Fox Sports Net.[15] [16]

On February 1, 2007, Greg Meidel, who was named to the newly-created position of network president 10 days earlier, confirmed the rumors and unveiled a dramatically revamped lineup.[17] [18] The move was aimed at increasing viewership of the network and at satisfying disappointed local affiliates. Beginning on March 8 (after Wicked Wicked Games and Watch Over Me have concluded their runs), telenovelas would occupy only two nights of programming, and would be shown in two-hour movie-style blocks rather than on multiple nights. The remainder of the schedule would include theatrical movies and the new International Fight League’s Total Impact. The new night-by-night schedule would be as follows:

In addition, the Saturday night telenovela recaps would end immediately, in favor of movies until Total Impact rebroadcasts begin in March. The 1986 film Something Wild, airing on February 3, became the network's first non-telenovela presentation. Other sports programming, movies, and reality shows have been mentioned in the network's future plans (including the broadcast of the World Music Awards scheduled for March 10).

Performance

MyNetworkTV's debut was not a huge success. Desire scored a 1.1 household rating/2 share; Fashion House went up to 1.3/2.[20] Fox had sold about half of its projections of $50 million in advance commercial sales.[21]

The network averaged a 0.5 rating and a 2 share in the key 18-49 demographic. It averaged just over one million total viewers. The numbers dropped each night, according to Nielsen Media Research.[22] These numbers were significantly lower than the programming that aired a year before, mostly UPN and WB programming.[23] The telenovelas showed more hopeful ratings in markets like Miami, with large Hispanic populations.[24] Nielsen currently compiles MyNetworkTV ratings as a weekly average per program, not by each individual episode.[25] Bob Cook, president of Twentieth Television, said his division would be unable to project the shows' success until December or January.[26]

Paul Buccieri, president of 20th Century Fox Television, said that English-speaking audiences need time to understand the genre. "We're sticking with it—we believe in this product," he said.[24] Roger Ailes brought up MyNetworkTV in a Financial Times interview. "When I read the WSJ article[27] talking about TV stations and MyNetworkTV not doing well and all this crap, you should have seen us at Fox News Channel one year into it," he said. "I've had this job for a year and it takes a little time to get these things off the runway."[28] Also, an executive of another television network told TV Week magazine that the existence of MNTV was "a miracle" because it went from concept to reality in only six months' time.[29]

The second pair of telenovelas premiered to lower numbers than the first pair. Wicked, Wicked Games premiered to a 0.8 rating/1 share overnight ratings during its first 3 nights, while Watch Over Me pulled a 0.7 rating/1 share those same nights. Both shows dropped by a 0.1 rating during the Monday-Wednesday of their second week. The network had hoped for better debuts for the shows since they premiered in December, a time when the major networks usually air reruns of their prime time series and the viewer, presumably, would choose to sample programming on other networks.

Fresh off the news of these lower than expected debuts, reports[30][29] surfaced of a schedule revamp for MyNetworkTV, including the addition of non-telenovela programming. After speculation indicated a schedule revamp as early as summer 2007, the network confirmed changes beginning in March 2007 (see "New Prime Time Schedule").

National commercial breaks on the network also show the network's struggles, as direct response ads for informercial products such as the Space Bag and Proactiv have been seen often on the network, taking advantage of the network's low ratings (and in turn, low advertising rates); these ads are more often seen on very low rated network shows with low-cost commercial time, newsmagazines, and on cable networks. Also seen are commercials for other Fox properties, such as DirecTV and promos for FX's series Dirt, and extended MNTV promos.

Local stations have seen their advertising also dwindle; a January night on WCGV in Milwaukee for instance had advertisements for products usually not seen in primetime, like Seattle Sutton's low-fat meal program, BlueHippo's controversial computer leasing program, a government forclosure service, and personal injury lawyers who usually advertise only during the station's daytime and late night programming.

Affiliation

File:My Network TV Logo 2D.png
2D version of logo, used in print ads.

As of August 28, 2006 167 stations are affiliated with the new network, reaching approximately 106 million households and covering 96% of the US. This number includes six stations owned by companies involved in the founding of the competing CW network: three owned by Tribune Broadcasting (located in Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington), and three owned by CBS Corporation; however, Gannett purchased WATL, the Atlanta Tribune station, shortly after Fox confirmed it as a MyNetworkTV affiliate (Gannett's acquisition of WATL was finalized on August 7, 2006).

On March 6 2006, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that 17 of its stations, mostly affiliates of The WB but also a few from UPN and some independent stations, would become MyNetworkTV affiliates in September 2006. This occurred despite the widespread presumption that affiliation with The CW, which at this point was still available in most markets, would be more valuable; however, Sinclair implied that MyNetworkTV was more financially attractive for the company. Some of the markets the 17 Sinclair stations occupy include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Tampa, Florida; Cincinnati, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

One of the stations named in a April 26 2006 announcement of MyNetworkTV affiliates was KNVA Austin, Texas, which The CW had added to its list of confirmed affiliates a week previously. On May 1 KWKB Iowa City, Iowa, another previously-confirmed affiliate of The CW, signed on to carry MyNetworkTV. Currently, these two stations are the only in the US to be aligned with both new networks. KNVA will brand MyNetworkTV shows as "MyNetworkTV on The CW Austin". KWKB's website features station logos labeled as both "KWKB The CW" and "My KWKB". In May, WAWB in Huntsville, Alabama became an official My Network affiliate with the call letters WAMY.

On July 12, 2006, MNTV added WBFS in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (market #17), KTVD in Denver (market #18), WSYX in Columbus, Ohio (market #32), WTCN in West Palm Beach, Florida (market #38), WHP in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (market #41), WUPL in New Orleans (market #43), and WAWS in Jacksonville, Florida (market #52). WBFS, WTCN, and WUPL are owned by CBS Corporation (with WUPL set to be sold to Belo), KTVD is owned by Gannett, WHP and WAWS are owned by Clear Channel, and WSYX is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting. WSYX, WHP, and WAWS will carry MNTV on digital sub-channel stations.[31][32] The deal with CBS to affiliate their non-CW stations with MNTV came as a surprise to everyone in the broadcasting industry, especially after the icy reception between CBS and News Corp that began after the CW and MNTV came into the picture, as they refused to allow WBFS, WUPL and Boston's WSBK to affiliate with MNTV as a response to pulling UPN names from the Fox-owned stations that were affiliated with UPN.

In August 2006, MyNetworkTV filled in its remaining gaps within the top 100 television markets. On August 11, 2006, MNTV announced WNAC in Providence, Rhode Island, market #51, as a secondary affiliate; and WNGT-LP in Toledo, Ohio, market #70, as a primary station. Additionally, on August 22, 2006, the network added KAUT in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, market #45, and a digital sub-channel of WRGT in Dayton, Ohio, market #59, to the affiliate list on its website. Also that month, WZMY in Derry, New Hampshire was announced as the Boston-market affiliate.

Mobile, Alabama is currently the largest city without a MyNetworkTV affiliate, although the city's DMA (which includes Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and the rest of the Gulf Shores region) has Fort Walton Beach station WFGX as the area's station for the network. This is due to WFGX's weak analog signal, which is not available west of Pensacola, and the lack of a must-carry agreement with Mobile's Comcast system, most likely a renmant of the station's former status as a low-rated Jewelry TV station before the launch of MyNetworkTV. Also, due to a compensation conflict between Sinclair, owner of WFGX, and area cable provider Mediacom, the station is currently not carried on those systems in Florida and Alabama, reducing the station's audience further.

Due to the availability of "instant duopoly" digital sub-channels that will likely be easily available on cable and satellite, and the overall lack of a need to settle for a secondary affiliation with shows aired in problematic time-slots, both the CW and MNTV will be launching with far greater national coverage than that enjoyed by UPN and the WB when they started in 1995. UPN for several years had gaps in the top 30 markets, and by 2005 managed to reach only 85% of the population. This resulted in secondary affiliations with other networks. In those markets, programs were either shown out of their intended time-slots or not at all. Examples included Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise; when they were preempted, there were many viewer complaints.

In Canada, CKXT "Sun TV," a station in Toronto, showed MNTV programs in the late afternoon. CKXT has apparently elected not to air future MNTV programming after the first two series end on December 5, 2006.

The MyNetworkTV prime-time lineup is broadcast in Australia as FOXTELENOVELA on the W. Channel.

Branding

At first, many Fox owned-and-operated stations branded local programming with the My moniker. An example is My 9 and My 9 News for WWOR-TV. However, by the third week in October, at least one station, KCOP, went to a two-column brand, with the network logo on the left side and the channel number, 13, on the right. The verbal identification became "MyNetworkTV channel 13."

The network has no logo bug in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen on the SD feed (although the HD feed does), allowing their local stations to use their own logo instead. Since November 13 however, the network has added a translucent show logo bug to the bottom left side of the screen.

In the months before the network's launch, several stations changed their on-air identities to accommodate for the then-upcoming network, including all of the Fox Television Stations Group-owned stations. Affiliates also began to show promotions for the network featuring the theme of "Entertainment you can call your own."

At the time plans for MyNetworkTV were announced, there was at least one station that was using a similar moniker. WZMY Derry, New Hampshire filed a trademark for the "MyTV" name in the summer of 2005, and for a short time there was speculation the station might sue Fox for the use of "MyTV".[33] However, on July 21, 2006, an e-mail was sent to WZMY's MyTV e-mail subscribers that the station would become a MyNetworkTV affiliate. The official announcement came the following week.[34]

References

  1. ^ http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/20/commentary/mediabiz/?postversion=2006092012
  2. ^ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-mynetwork31aug31,1,3684209.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews&ctrack=1&cset=true
  3. ^ http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/columnists/jonathan_storm/15121967.htm
  4. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06269/724946-237.stm
  5. ^ a b c Brooke Barnes. "With sexy story lines, low budgets, News Corp. will launch MyNetworkTV". The Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  6. ^ Kevin Downey (February 21, 2006). "Media buyers question My Network TV". Media Life Magazine. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Edward P. Smith (March 25, 2006). "Latino TV exec takes a new tack on programming". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ http://www.dailynews.com/tv/ci_4274070
  9. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6355180.html
  10. ^ "MyNet banks on 'Heiress'", Daily Variety, September 19, 2006
  11. ^ http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=azteca100506.htm
  12. ^ http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10646
  13. ^ My Network scrambles to draw viewers, Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2007
  14. ^ MyNetworkTV Executives Plot Schedule Changes, TV Week, December 15, 2006
  15. ^ FSN & MyNetworkTV Reach Strategic Programming Alliance with International Fight League, Yahoo!, January 16, 2007
  16. ^ Fox Networks Enter Mixed Martial Arts Ring, TV Week, January 16, 2007
  17. ^ MNT Unveils Schedule With Fewer Telenovela Nights, Broadcasting & Cable, February 1, 2007
  18. ^ MyNetworkTV Adds Movies, Fighting to Schedule, TV Week, February 1, 2007
  19. ^ International Fight League press release 2/1/2007
  20. ^ http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=47801
  21. ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0609030319sep03,1,390611.story?coll=chi-business-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
  22. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds37089.html
  23. ^ http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10722
  24. ^ a b Glenn Garvin (September 28, 2006). "'Ugly Betty' producer grows into his role". MiamiHerald.com. Retrieved 2006-12-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2006/09/04/daily43.html
  26. ^ http://www.movieweb.com/tv/news/78/14478.php
  27. ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06276/727067-28.stm
  28. ^ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5b77af92-548c-11db-901f-0000779e2340.html
  29. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference tvweek11240 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Broadcasting & Cable: My Network TV Mulls Change to Programming Strategy December 15, 2006
  31. ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6352108.html?display=Breaking+News
  32. ^ http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=10352
  33. ^ "TV show: Whose station is it?".
  34. ^ "MyNetworkTV Adds Boston Affiliate".

See also

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