MyNetworkTV
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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", translated from Spanish and abridged for U.S. audiences. The debut schedule consists of two serials, Desire and Fashion House. Coming in December are Watch Over Me and Wicked Wicked Games (formerly Art of Betrayal), followed by A Dangerous Love and Rules of Deception 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.
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[edit] Origins
See also: 2006 United States broadcast TV realignment
MyNetworkTV arose from the announcement of new The CW Television Network, which essentially merges The WB and UPN networks. Fox Television Stations Group owned several UPN affiliates, including WWOR in Secaucus, New Jersey (serving much of metropolitan New York City); KCOP in Los Angeles, California; and WPWR-TV in Chicago, Illinois, the three biggest stations in the network. 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 includes no Fox-owned stations; the New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, 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 left-out UPN and The WB affiliates. 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.
[edit] 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]
Two west-coast stations change the programs' start time. KQCA in Sacramento, California airs the MNTV schedule from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. This is is due to Oprah airing in the 9 p.m. slot as their lead-in to their 10 p.m. newscast. KQCA is the second TV station in this time zone, and indeed in this market (after local CBS affiliate KOVR) to start airing network primetime shows an hour early. Meanwhile, KRON in San Francisco airs MNTV programming from 9 to 11 p.m., after Dr. Phil. Also, KJZZ in Salt Lake City, Utah airs MNTV programming from 11pm to 1am, due primarily to a LMA with KUTV and to sporting events such as Utah Jazz basketball.
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.
[edit] Telenovelas
Initial series will focus on the 18-to-49-year-old, English-speaking Hispanic population <ref> Downey, Kevin, [http://www.medialifemagazine.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=170&num=3038 Media buyers question My Network TV] , Media Life Magazine, February 21, 2006 </ref> <ref> Smith, Edward P., [http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_3633111 Latino TV exec takes a new tack on programming ], The Denver Post, March 25, 2006. </ref> 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.
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.[6] As a cost-saving measure, producers tend to hire performers with limited acting experience.[7] Also, since scripts are finished before taping starts, scenes on the same set can be shot out of episode order.[8]
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 Wicked Wicked Games, Rules of Deception, and Friends & Enemies in the 8 p.m. ET time-slot; the 9 p.m. ET time-slot will host Watch Over Me, A Dangerous Love, and To Love & Die.
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).<ref>MyNet banks on 'Heiress' Daily Variety September 19, 2006</ref>
- La Calle de las Novias ("Brides’ Avenue")[10]
[edit] 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:
- Catwalk, a series similar to America's Next Top Model
- On Scene, a crime-based news magazine produced by Fox News
- An American version of the quiz show Britain's Brainiest
- An American version of the ITV series Celebrity Love Island.
MyNetworkTV later stated that it had abandoned its reality-show development (leaving that responsibility to FOX), focusing solely on telenovelas, even if the format is not initially successful.
The manager of the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia has stated that the network will eventually launch a national morning show similar to Fox News’ Fox & Friends. [11] Nonetheless, the network has not officially indicated any plans for any programming outside of prime time, such as network children's programming.
Recent announcements by Fox regarding additional programming to air on MyNetworkTV O&Os -- such as Desperate Housewives repeats, the first-run sitcom House of Payne, and a daytime viewer-participation game show, My Games Fever [12] -- do not apply to the network as a whole.
[edit] 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.[13] Fox had sold about half of its projections of $50 million in advance commercial sales[14]
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.[15] These numbers were significantly lower than the programming that aired a year before, mostly UPN and WB programming.[16] The telenovelas showed more hopeful ratings in markets like Miami, with large Hispanic populations.[17] (Nielsen currently compiles MyNetworkTV ratings as a weekly average per program, not by each individual episode.[18]) Bob Cook, president of Twentieth Television, said his division would be unable to project the shows' success until December or January.[19]
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.[20] Roger Ailes brought up MyNetworkTV in a Financial Times interview. "When I read the WSJ article[21] 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."[22]</blockquote>
[edit] Affiliation
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. [23][24] 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.
As a result, the largest market without a known MNTV affiliate is currently Springfield, Massachusetts (market #109). But that could change as new station WFXQ has yet to find a affiliate when it begins operation in 2007 http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2006/060821/nerw.html
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, will show MNTV programs in the late afternoon. The MyNetworkTV prime-time lineup is broadcast in Australia as FOXTELENOVELA on the W. Channel.
[edit] 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 oral identification became "MyNetworkTV channel 13."
The network has no logo bug in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, 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.' [25] 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. [26]
[edit] Notes
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- MyNetwork TV on MySpace
- MyNetwork TV affiliate site
- MyNetwork TV female-centric launch promo posted on MySpace (Flash video)
- MyNetwork TV male-centric launch promo posted on MySpace (Flash video)
