When UPN and The WB announced that they were merging to create a single network, The CW, it caught a lot of people off guard. One company largely affected by the merger was News Corp. News Corp. currently owns UPN affiliates in 10 major markets, including New York (WWOR) and Chicago (WPWR). With The CW set to air either on CBS or Tribune-owned affiliates in those markets, it left News Corp.'s stations with no primetime programming.
Now, FOX has come up with a new network called My Network TV (press release) that will initially provide primetime programming to the News Corp. stations abandoned by The CW, although other independent stations could come on board. My Network TV will start up on September 5 with two serial dramas, Desire and Secrets,, that are inspired by the soap opera-esque "telenovela" format that airs on Spanish-language stations such as Univision. Each one-hour drama will have a 13-week, 65-episode run with new episodes airing Monday through Friday.
Other shows are in the works including Catwalk, a model search reality show; Celebrity Love Island, a reality show where six celebrity and six non-celebrity singles frolic; and America's Brainiest (working title), a trivia show where very smart people compete.
Overall, this new network seems slapped together from syndication-quality stuff after The CW announcement left News Corp. scrambling. The American telenovelas sound the most interesting and if Desire and Secrets can replicate even a portion of the spirit of those sexy Latin imports, they might just be worth watching. The other shows in development sound like rip-offs of other, better shows. News Corp. must be especially bitter if they decide to make their own version (Catwalk) of one of UPN's most popular shows, America's Next Top Model.
I don't see My Network TV making much of an impact but one can never count News Corp. out of anything. Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox Television Stations, is in charge of My Network TV. He made Fox News Channel into what it is today. Give him some time and My Network TV could actually become a contender against The CW.
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Article comments
1 - Ty
Besides FX, FOX will now have a "minor leagues" in which to put shows that get canned from FOX, but still have a few million viewers, along with shows that would never make cut for the FOX or even FX, but on "My Network TV" FOX will have nothing to lose and these shows will air.
If one of them clicks and becomes a major hit, it gets moved over to FOX.
I like the idea of CW and My Network TV. It's about time we had broadcast (not cable) minor leagues for the major networks. It beats WB/UPN any day.
2 - TM
Ty makes some interesting points...CBS has already used UPN as a sort of testing ground since the CBS/Viacom reintegration (Viacom, long ago, was the repeats-syndication arm of CBS before the FCC forced the sale of the division), most obviously in running VERONICA MARS repeats in the CBS "CRIMETIME" weekend umbrella along with the COLD CASEs and CSIs.
Fox (FBC) probably will scoop up anything solidly successful on My Network TV (MNT? MyNet?), as long as it can fit...the DESIRE umbrella was meant to be syndicated to stations largely for late night clearances, and everything else does seem to be slapped together quickly to make a package...but FNC would have difficulty finding space for a weekdaily "strip" of a telenovela, unless they offered it in the afternoons and on a very "soft" feed to allow their affiliates to plug it in where they wanted or needed to replace a talk or court show. Certainly, FBC's own imitative offerings (SKATING WITH CELEBRITIES, MEET YOUR NEW MOM, etc.) are no higher on the food chain than a US version of the Brit CELEBRITY LOVE ISLAND...if anything, the current Fox items sound even more boring (I haven't bothered to watch them, and doubt I'll be watching much MyNet, either, if this is what they'll deal in primarily...if I get a MyNet affiliate within viewing range).
MyNet is trying to go on the cheap, and that might show in the production values, particularly for the telenovelas, but perhaps they'll look no worse, and be better rehearsed, than typical US weekdaily soaps. That it's offering potential affiliates better ad-space terms than any other network or typical "barter" syndication package, as of today (MyNet wants to keep a lot less ad time for itself than any of the other networks or the folks who syndicated the likes of DR. PHIL and DA VINCI'S INQUEST) might actually make it (at least temporarily) sexy, even to "orphaned" stations that belong to CBS (such as Boston's WSBK 38) or Tribune, Time-Warner's great partner in the WB (such as Philadelphia's WPHL 17), whom theoretically might not want to further the aims expressed by Ailes, et al. to successfully challenge CW (as if both CW and MyNet won't have to also challenge FBC, CBS, and all the Viacom and Time Warner cable channels for advertisers and eyes).