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MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial
broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
syndication service and former television network owned by
Fox Corporation Fox Corporation (commonly referred to as Fox Corp or simply Fox) is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, with offices also in Burbank, Cali ...
, operated by its
Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (stylized as FOX TV STATIONS; also known as FTS) is a group of television stations in the United States owned-and-operated by Fox Corporation. It owns LiveNOW from Fox, Fox Local, and Fox Soul. It also oversees ...
division, and distributed via the syndication structure of
Fox First Run Fox Entertainment is an American entertainment company owned by Fox Corporation known for television production and distribution. The company was formed in 2019 after The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, with offices in ...
. Under the ownership structure of Fox Corporation, the service is incorporated as a subsidiary company, Master Distribution Service, Inc.. MyNetworkTV began its operations on September 4, 2006, with an initial affiliate lineup covering about 96% of the country, most of which consisted of stations that were former affiliates of
The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
and
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...
that did not join the successor of those two networks,
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
. On September 28, 2009, following disappointment with the network's results, MyNetworkTV dropped its status as a television network and transitioned into a programming service, similar to
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...
, relying mainly on repeats of recent broadcast and
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
series.
Fox Corporation Fox Corporation (commonly referred to as Fox Corp or simply Fox) is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, with offices also in Burbank, Cali ...
retained MyNetworkTV after the acquisition of
21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...
by
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
was completed on March 20, 2019.


History


Origins

MyNetworkTV arose from the January 2006 announcement of the launch of
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
, a television network formed by
CBS Corporation CBS Corporation was an American multinational media company with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing and television production. It was split from Viacom on December 31, 2005, alongside an entirely new Viacom; both ...
and
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
which essentially combined programming from
The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
and
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...
onto the scheduling model of the former of the two predecessors. The CW would go on to become not just the fifth national TV network, behind Fox, but also the fifth major TV network. MyNetworkTV would eventually be recognized as the sixth television network, behind The CW, but would never gain status as a major TV network. As a result of several deals earlier in the decade,
Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (stylized as FOX TV STATIONS; also known as FTS) is a group of television stations in the United States owned-and-operated by Fox Corporation. It owns LiveNOW from Fox, Fox Local, and Fox Soul. It also oversees ...
owned several UPN affiliates, including the network's three largest stations:
WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...
in
Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a Town (New Jersey), town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 United St ...
(part of the
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
market),
KCOP-TV KCOP-TV (channel 13), branded Fox 11 Plus, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet K ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
WPWR-TV WPWR-TV (channel 50), branded as Fox Chicago Plus, is a television station licensed to Gary, Indiana, United States. It is one of two commercial television stations in the Chicago market to be licensed in Indiana (alongside WJYS hannel 62in Ha ...
in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Fox had acquired WWOR and KCOP after purchasing most of the television holdings of UPN's founding partner
Chris-Craft Industries Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly held American corporation that was traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. In 1962, the company adopted the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris ...
, while WPWR was purchased by the company in 2003 from
Newsweb Corporation Newsweb Corporation is a printer of ethnic and alternative newspapers in the United States, based in Chicago, Illinois. The company also owns AM 750 WNDZ. Newsweb was founded in 1971 by Chicago entrepreneur, political activist, and philanthropis ...
. Despite concerns about UPN's future that came up after Fox purchased the Chris-Craft stations, UPN signed three-year affiliation renewals with the network's Fox-owned affiliates in 2003. That agreement's pending expiration, along with those involving other broadcasting companies, in 2006 as well as persistent financial losses for both it and The WB gave CBS Corporation (the parent company of UPN) and Time Warner (parent of The WB) the rare opportunity to merge their respective struggling networks into The CW. The CW's initial affiliation agreements did not include any of the UPN stations (nor a lone
independent station An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...
) owned by Fox Television Stations. In fact, as part of a ten-year affiliation deal with The WB's part-owner,
Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television station, television and radio stations thro ...
, the coveted New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago affiliations all went to Tribune-owned stations (
WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...
,
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...
and
WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...
, respectively). In response to the announcement, Fox promptly removed all network references from logos and promotional materials on its UPN affiliates and ceased on-air promotion of UPN's programs altogether. However, in all three cases (especially in the cases of Los Angeles and Chicago), the UPN affiliate was the higher-rated station; CW executives were on record as preferring the "strongest" WB and UPN affiliates. Media reports speculated that the Fox-owned UPN affiliates would all revert to being independent stations, or else form another network by uniting with other UPN and WB affiliated stations that were left out of The CW's affiliation deals. Fox chose the latter route and announced the launch of MyNetworkTV on February 22, 2006, less than a month after CBS and Time Warner announced the formation of The CW on January 24. It was reported by
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
that Fox would utilize
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
, the social networking website; its parent company,
News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...
, had acquired in 2005, to help promote MyNetworkTV. Fox would also utilize MySpace's content-sharing model when it launched MyNetworkTV's website. There were also rumors that MyNetworkTV's branding was inspired by that of MySpace's.


Original format

MyNetworkTV's original telenovelas ''
Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...
'' scored a 1.1 household rating/2 share; ''
Fashion House Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...
'' went up to 1.3/2. Fox had sold about half of its projections of $50 million in advance commercial sales. On March 7, 2007, MyNetworkTV began to be included in Nielsen's daily "Television Index" reports, alongside the other major broadcast networks, although it was still not part of the "fast nationals" that incorporate the other networks. Last-minute changes to MyNetworkTV's 2007-08 Fall schedule included re-titling the reality series ''Divorce Wars'' to ''Decision House'', and the addition of ''Celebrity Exposé'' and ''Control Room Presents'' to the network's Monday lineup as well as a one-hour ''IFL Battleground'', followed by ''
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...
Total Access'' on Saturdays. In response to the
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...
lineup's poor ratings performance, highlighted by an average household rating of 0.7%, reports surfaced that Fox executives were planning a major revamp of MyNetworkTV's programming, decreasing its reliance on telenovelas and adding new unscripted programs to the schedule such as
reality shows Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
, game shows (such as ''My GamesFever''), movies and sports, and a possible revisit to a deal with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...
. However, MyNetworkTV instead signed a deal with another
mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...
organization, the
International Fight League The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.
, in conjunction with
Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
. On February 1, 2007, Greg Meidel, who was named to the newly created position of network president just ten days earlier, confirmed the rumors and unveiled a dramatically revamped lineup. The intent of the shakeup was to increase viewer awareness of the network (and boost viewership, in turn), as well as to satisfy local affiliates who were disappointed over the poor ratings performance of the network under its initial format. After March 7 (when ''
Wicked Wicked Games ''Wicked Wicked Games'' is a telenovela that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the American television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 62 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial was directed by Terry Cunningham, Dennis ...
'' and ''
Watch Over Me ''Watch Over Me'' is an American television series that debuted on December 6, 2006, on MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 66 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial is an adaptation of Argentine series '' Resistiré''. D ...
'' finished their runs), telenovelas were reduced to occupying only two nights of its programming schedule, airing in two-hour movie-style blocks rather than each of the serials airing in a one-hour, five-night-a-week format. The remainder of the schedule included theatrical movies and the new '' IFL Battleground'' (originally titled ''Total Impact''). In addition, the Saturday night telenovela recaps ended immediately, with movies running on that night until March. The 1986 film '' Something Wild'' aired on February 3, becoming the network's first non-telenovela presentation. Specials (ranging from the
World Music Awards The World Music Awards was an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event was based in Monte Carlo. Awards were presented to the worl ...
to the Hawaiian Tropic International Beauty Pageant) and reality programming were also a part of the network's reformatting, with the first two specials airing on March 7. MyNetworkTV also reduced its telenovela programming to a single night each week, with ''American Heiress'' and ''Saints & Sinners'' airing for one hour each on Wednesdays until their unexpected termination, due to incompatible flow with ''IFC Battleground'' from Monday to Tuesday as far as promotions. The new Thursday night movie block featured mostly
action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...
/
adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
films, with Friday night featuring a mix of contemporary classic films, beginning on June 5. A side effect of the new programming schedule was the loss of the network's claim that it was the only U.S. broadcast network at the time to have its entire programming schedule available in high definition, due to the IFL, some of the network's movies and additional programs being produced exclusively in
480i 480i is the video mode used for standard-definition digital video in the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Myanmar, Western Sahara, and most of the Americas (with the exception of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The ...
standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a similar resolution to the ...
.


Revamping the schedule

In the Fall of 2007, MyNetworkTV dropped telenovelas altogether, and began to air reality series and sports programs. On September 1, 2007, the network aired its first live program, the men's final of the AVP Croc Tour's Cincinnati Open. The network debuted its first sitcom, the
Flavor Flav William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), known by his stage name Flavor Flav ( ), is an American rapper and television personality. Known for his catchphrase "Yeah, boyeeeeee!" when performing, he is a founding member alongside Chuck ...
vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...
'' Under One Roof'', on April 16, 2008; because the series used Canadian writers, it was unaffected by the 2007–08 Writers Guild strike. The network's shift from telenovelas to reality shows and movies produced only a small bump in the ratings. It averaged only a .7 household rating during September 2007. MyNetworkTV continues to be the second lowest-rated English-language broadcast network in the United States, ahead of only
Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
. On February 26, 2008, the network announced it had picked up the rights to air ''
WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs Live television, live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Netwo ...
'', which left The CW at the end of September 2008. The first ''SmackDown'' episode on MyNetworkTV aired on October 3, 2008. The first episode of ''WWE SmackDown'' pulled in the largest audience in MyNetworkTV history with 3.2 million viewers, and for the first time, put the network in fifth place for the night – ahead of The CW – and was the top-rated program that night in the male 18-34 and 18-49 demographics. The network went back to sixth place shortly afterward. Of the six broadcast networks,
Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
said that only MyNetworkTV had increased viewership, with 1.76 million viewers per night, up 750,000 from the previous season. On January 5, 2009, MyNetworkTV aired episodes of the 2002 revival of ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'' (which originally aired on UPN, one of the networks MyNetworkTV had replaced). The series helped the network's ratings rise, along with ''WWE SmackDown'', becoming the second highest-rated program on the network. The highest-rated program to have ever aired on MyNetworkTV is a December 10, 2008 broadcast of the 1990 comedy film ''
Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dar ...
'', which brought in 3.70 million viewers (although not a record), but earned a 1.4 rating among the 18-49 adult demographic.


Current format

On February 9, 2009, Fox Entertainment Group announced that MyNetworkTV would convert from a television network to a programming service, similar to that of
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...
, with a focus on repeats of acquired programs originally aired on broadcast and cable networks and in first-run syndication.
Litton Entertainment The Hearst Media Production Group, formerly Litton Syndications and Litton Entertainment, is an American media production and syndication based in New York City, New York and a subsidiary of the Hearst Television division of Hearst Communicatio ...
had reportedly expressed interest in leasing MyNetworkTV's Saturday evening time slots, which MyNetworkTV chose to instead turn back over to its affiliates. MyNetworkTV began airing more syndicated programming in the fall, which included game shows and dramas, five nights a week. This required the network's affiliates to re-negotiate a new affiliate agreement with the new corporation within Fox operating MyNetworkTV, Master Distribution Service, Inc., though it also gave a full and unencumbered "out" to stations which chose to end their association with MyNetworkTV under this guise, which
Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
did with their three affiliates. On April 12, 2010, WWE announced that ''WWE SmackDown'' would move to the Syfy cable channel that October; the move left MyNetworkTV with no first-run programming other than that it shared with its syndicators. Despite the lack of first-run programming, MyNetworkTV renewed its affiliation contracts for three more years on February 14, 2011. The programming service has seen significant viewership growth since its 2006 startup as a television network. Although ratings on MyNetworkTV do not match those of the other broadcast networks,
Nexstar Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarters in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 television stations ...
(future owner of rival network
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
at the time) CEO Perry Sook noted his approval of its business model at the time, saying that Nexstar's MyNetworkTV stations get 'more (local ad) inventory per hour' than they would be associated with a traditional network such as Fox or ABC. Nexstar has since become the owner of, and the largest affiliate base for, The CW, through several acquisitions and since converted three MyNetworkTV affiliations into CW affiliations including
WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. The station also maintains a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. Owned and operated by The CW's majority owner, ...
which was the largest MyNetworkTV affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the
Fox Television Stations Fox Television Stations, LLC (stylized as FOX TV STATIONS; also known as FTS) is a group of television stations in the United States owned-and-operated by Fox Corporation. It owns LiveNOW from Fox, Fox Local, and Fox Soul. It also oversees ...
subsidiary of
Fox Corporation Fox Corporation (commonly referred to as Fox Corp or simply Fox) is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan, with offices also in Burbank, Cali ...
, which owns the programming service. In announcing its fall schedule for the 2012-13 schedule, MyNetworkTV executives revealed that the programming service increased ratings over the previous year, and rated as the #6 most-watched network during the 2011–12 season with around 2.5 million viewers.


Programming

MyNetworkTV began operations on Tuesday, September 5, 2006, with the premieres of its two initial series. Some affiliates unofficially began branding their stations well beforehand in July into August to allow viewers to grow accustomed to their new brandings, though most fulfilled their existing WB and UPN network commitments and did not start branding in earnest until September 1 (the Friday before), when the majority of those affiliate agreements expired. The network provided a block of preview programming that aired the day before on September 4, though it did not launch officially that day due to the low audience figures traditionally associated with the
Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...
holiday. Initially, programming aired Monday through Saturdays from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. (
Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
and
Pacific Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00). ...
). As of April 2013, MyNetworkTV broadcasts ten hours of primetime programming each week, airing on Monday through Friday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. MyNetworkTV does not air programming on weekends, the only broadcast service not to in the United States. Heavy local sports preemptions were previously a problem for MyNetworkTV at its launch, as they were for all of the U.S. broadcast networks that have debuted since the January 1995 launches of The WB and UPN. These would become less of an issue with the end of the network's telenovela, where an airing of the pre-empted telenovela episode rescheduled as soon as possible on the same day as required by default rather than the flexibility that affiliates of UPN, The WB or The CW had to push a show off to a weekend slot. With the service's switch to an all-rerun schedule in 2009, this effectively allows stations to pre-empt repeat programming at will to fit in sporting events (mainly those provided by syndication services such as ESPN Regional Television and the
ACC Network ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel ...
, as some local events that had aired on its affiliates have moved to
regional sports network A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major L ...
s in the time since MyNetworkTV launched) without much consequence. During the telenovela era, affiliates often scheduled contractual "make goods" of the network's daily schedule between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. local time. Not only are these light viewing hours, but they air after Nielsen processes its preliminary morning network ratings.


Telenovelas

The network's original format focused on the 18-to-49-year-old, English-speaking population with programming consisting exclusively of
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...
s (a version of the
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
format rarely attempted on American television outside of
Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
broadcast networks, much less in primetime), starting with ''
Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...
'' and ''
Fashion House Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...
''. Originally, each series aired Monday through Friday in continuous cycles of 13-week
seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, with a one-hour recap of the week's episodes airing on Saturdays; when one series ended, another unrelated series would begin the following week. The fifth and sixth series, '' American Heiress'' and '' Saints and Sinners'', appeared one hour per week on Wednesdays before abruptly vanishing from the schedule. The MyNetworkTV serial lineup was broadcast in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on the W. Channel under the block name ''FOXTELENOVELA''. In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, the first ''Desire''/''Fashion House'' cycle aired weekday afternoons on
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
independent station
CKXT-TV CKXT-DT (channel 52) was a broadcast television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which broadcast to much of southern and eastern Ontario. It was owned by Quebecor Media through its Groupe TVA unit. Although beginning as a general interest ind ...
, which decided not to air subsequent cycles for unknown reasons.


Proposed programming

The announcement of the network also stated that additional unscripted reality-based and current-affairs programming were in development. These included: * ''Catwalk'', a series similar to ''
America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...
'' * ''On Scene'', a crime-based
news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...
produced by
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
* An American version of the quiz show '' Britain's Brainiest'' * An American version of the ITV series '' Love Island'', which would later be picked up by
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
MyNetworkTV abandoned the development of these programs in mid-2006, choosing to focus solely on telenovelas.


Other programming

Later announcements by Fox regarding additional programming to air on MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated stations – such as ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
'' repeats in traditional weekend syndication, a trial run of the sitcom ''
Tyler Perry's House of Payne ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne'', also known as simply ''House of Payne'', is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006. The series revolves around a multi-generation ...
'' (which later moved to TBS), and the daytime viewer-participation
game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
'' My GamesFever'' – never applied to the network as a whole. To satisfy E/I requirements, some affiliates carry the Litton ''Go Time'' block while others carry Xploration Station.


Affiliates

MyNetworkTV has 186 owned-and-operated or affiliate stations in the United States, reaching 84.39% of all U.S. households with at least one television set (totaling approximately 263,699,742 homes). This number includes six stations owned at the time of its launch by companies involved in the founding of competitor The CW: three were owned by
Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television station, television and radio stations thro ...
, and three owned by CBS Corporation. On March 6, 2006, the
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...
announced an agreement to affiliate 17 of its stations with MyNetworkTV (consisting mostly of stations that were set to lose their WB affiliations when The CW launched, as well as a few that were affiliated with UPN or operated as independent stations). This occurred despite the widespread presumption that affiliations with The CW, which at that point was in the process of signing affiliates in most markets, would be more valuable; however, Sinclair implied that MyNetworkTV was more financially attractive for the company (of the Sinclair stations that initially affiliated with MyNetworkTV, San Antonio affiliate
KMYS KMYS (channel 35) is a television station licensed to Kerrville, Texas, United States, serving the San Antonio area as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by Deerfield Media, which maintains joint sales and shared ...
has since disaffiliated from the service; its August 30, 2010 affiliation swap with Fredericksburg-based CW affiliate KCWX was the first and so far only known affiliation switch between same-market affiliates of the two outlets since their formation in 2006). One day later on March 7,
Raycom Media Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom ...
announced that its WB and UPN stations (including
WUAB WUAB (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Media alongside CBS affiliate WOIO (channel 19), Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD (channel 6) ...
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
,
KFVE KFVE (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States, which relays the second and sixth digital subchannels of Honolulu-based NBC affiliate KHNL (channel 13). It is owned by Gray Media alongside KHNL and CBS a ...
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
and WBXH-CA
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
) would also become charter affiliates of MyNetworkTV. One of the stations named in a list of newly signed MyNetworkTV affiliates that Fox Entertainment Group released on April 26, 2006, was KNVA in Austin, Texas, which The CW had also added to its own list of confirmed affiliates one week prior. On May 1, 2006, another previously confirmed CW affiliate, KWKB in Iowa City, Iowa, signed on as a MyNetworkTV charter affiliate. Until October 2009, these two stations were the only ones to be aligned with both new networks (KNVA has since become an exclusive CW affiliate as parent station
KXAN-TV KXAN-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Llano, Texas, Llano-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KBVO (channel 14); Nexstar also provides certain s ...
converted its semi-satellite
KBVO KBVO (channel 14) is a television station licensed to Llano, Texas, United States, serving the Austin, Texas, Austin area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KXAN-TV (channel 36); Nexstar ...
into a standalone MyNetworkTV affiliate); KNVA branded its MyNetworkTV lineup under the banner "MyNetworkTV on The CW Austin," while KWKB's website features station logos labeled as both "KWKB The CW" and "My KWKB". In May, WAWB in
Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...
officially announced that it would become a MyNetworkTV affiliate, and subsequently changed its call letters to WAMY. On July 12, 2006, the network announced affiliation agreements with seven additional stations (including
WBFS-TV WBFS-TV (channel 33) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside WFOR-TV (channel 4), a CBS owned-and-operated station. The two stations share studios ...
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, KTVD
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, WUPL
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
and WAWS
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
(WAWS, along with
WSYX WSYX (channel 6) is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC, MyNetworkTV and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Roar station WTTE (channel 28, owned by Cunnin ...
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
and
WHP-TV WHP-TV (channel 21) is a television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios ...
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
carry MyNetworkTV on digital subchannels). The deal with
CBS Television Stations CBS News and Stations is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of United States, American television stations along with CBS News. , the division owns 28 stations: 15 are the core stati ...
to have MyNetworkTV affiliate with stations that were left out of The CW's affiliation deals with the group came as a surprise in the broadcasting industry, especially after the icy reception between CBS and
News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...
(which became 21st Century Fox through the July 2013
spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
of the company's publishing unit and Australian television properties) that began after both it and The CW came into the picture, as they refused to allow WBFS, WUPL and
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
's
WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS outlet WBZ-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios on Soldiers Field R ...
to affiliate with MyNetworkTV as a response to pulling UPN branding from that network's Fox-owned stations. In August 2006, MyNetworkTV filled in its remaining gaps within the top 100 television markets. On August 11, the network announced affiliations with WNAC-TV in Providence, Rhode Island (as a secondary affiliate) and WNGT-LP in
Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...
. Additionally, on August 22, MyNetworkTV added
KAUT-TV KAUT-TV (channel 43) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside NBC affiliate KFOR-TV ( ...
in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
and
WRGT-TV WRGT-TV (channel 45) is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States, affiliated with the digital multicast network Dabl. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast G ...
in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
(the latter of which would carry the network on a digital subchannel) to the affiliate list on its website; also that month, WZMY in
Derry, New Hampshire Derry is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 34,317 at the 2020 census. Although it is a town and not a city, Derry is the most populous community in Rockingham County and the 4th most populous in the ...
was announced as the network's Boston area affiliate (WBIN – the former WZMY – disaffiliated with MyNetworkTV in September 2011, at which time WSBK (which had shunned MyNetworkTV at its formation in 2006) took over the MyNetworkTV affiliation in Boston; KAUT became an independent station in September 2012, with MyNetworkTV moving to former independent
KSBI KSBI (channel 52) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by locally based Griffin Media alongside CBS affiliate KWTV-DT (channel 9). The two stations share studios on West Mai ...
). From its inception as a network until July 2010,
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
was the largest city where MyNetworkTV did not have an affiliate, although
Fort Walton Beach, Florida Fort Walton Beach, often referred to by the initialism FWB, is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is a principa ...
-based
WFGX WFGX (channel 35) is a television station licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States, serving northwest Florida and southwest Alabama as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Pensacola-licen ...
serves as the affiliate for the Mobile–
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
–Fort Walton Beach market. This was due to WFGX's weak analog signal, which was not receivable west of Pensacola, and the lack of a
must-carry In cable television, many governments, including the ones of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, apply a must-carry regulation stating that forces a cable TV provider to carry the public interest programming, like locally licensed te ...
agreement with
Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
's Mobile system, most likely a remnant of the station's former status as a low-rated
Jewelry Television Jewelry Television is an American television network specializing in the sale of jewelry. On-air and online, the network is mainly branded by its jtv initials in small caps, lower-case letters. It has an estimated reach of more than 80 million ...
affiliate prior to MyNetworkTV's launch); WFGX has since relocated its digital transmitter to
Robertsdale, Alabama Robertsdale is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georg ...
(where the Mobile-Pensacola market's other television stations maintain transmitters), providing an over-the-air MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Mobile area proper for the first time. On September 28, 2009, three stations owned by
Ion Media Networks Ion Media, LLC (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) is a subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company that operates the linear broadcast networks Ion Television, Ion Mystery, and Ion Plus. Prior to its acquisi ...
(
WPXX-TV WPXX-TV (channel 50) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, WPXX-TV maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Brother Boulevard in Bartlett, Tennessee ...
in Memphis, Tennessee and WEPX-TV, along with satellite station WPXU-TV, in the Greenville-
New Bern New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...
-
Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,875 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is c ...
market), due to an affiliation agreement made by their previous owners, dropped their MyNetworkTV affiliations to become full-time Ion Television owned-and-operated stations as they had been prior to September 2006 (the affiliation in the Greenville-New Bern market was taken over by NBC affiliate
WITN-TV WITN-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Washington, North Carolina, United States, serving Eastern North Carolina as an affiliate of NBC and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Gray Media, the station has primary studio facilities on East ...
, which carries the network on a digital subchannel). Memphis CW affiliate WLMT – which picked up MyNetworkTV for the sole purpose of carrying ''SmackDown'', and due to the conversion into a programming service – elected to not carry the remainder of the network's schedule; eventually, after ''SmackDown'' moved to Syfy, WLMT began carrying the remainder of the MyNetworkTV lineup as a secondary affiliation (to the Retro Television Network) on its second digital subchannel. Also in September 2009, Des Moines, Iowa affiliate KDMI disaffiliated from MyNetworkTV, replacing it with programming from the station's existing This TV affiliation. CW affiliate KCWI-TV picked up the local rights to ''SmackDown'', and for nearly a year afterward, aired it in a manner very similar to its scheduling on WLMT. Until October 3, 2011, when KDMI rejoined the service, Des Moines was the largest television market without a MyNetworkTV affiliate – either over-the-air or on cable (CBS affiliate
KCCI KCCI (channel 8) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ninth Street in downtown Des Moines and a KCCI Tower, transmitter in Alleman, Iowa, A ...
took over the MyNetworkTV affiliation from KDMI in December 2014, carrying it as a primary affiliation on its third digital subchannel). On September 19, 2011, Cedar Rapids, Iowa affiliate KWKB dropped the service, while retaining its existing CW affiliation; ABC affiliate KCRG-TV later picked up MyNetworkTV for its second digital subchannel. On February 10, 2014,
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
affiliate WRBU disaffiliated from MyNetworkTV, and converted into an
Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
O&O, as a result of its sale to Ion Media Networks (now
E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...
) through
Roberts Broadcasting Roberts Broadcasting Company is a media company based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a subsidiary of the parent company, the Roberts Companies, one of the largest African American-owned conglomerates. It is co-owned by brothers Steven and Michael R ...
's gradual sale of its television stations in order to raise money to pay off creditors in its
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
proceedings; this resulted in St. Louis temporarily displacing
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
as the largest market without a MyNetworkTV affiliate until November 17, 2014, when CBS affiliate
KMOV KMOV (channel 4) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power station KDTL-LD (channel 4.6). The two stations share studios on Progress Park ...
began carrying it on a digital subchannel. Due to the availability of "instant
duopoly A duopoly (from Greek , ; and , ) is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market, and most (if not all) of the competition within that market occurs directly between them. Duopoly is the most commonly ...
"
digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
s that are likely 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 MyNetworkTV launched with far greater national coverage than that enjoyed by UPN and The WB when those networks started in January 1995. For several years, UPN had affiliation gaps in several of the top 30 markets, and by 2005 managed to reach only 86% of the population. This resulted in that network having to settle for secondary affiliations with stations that were already affiliated with other networks. In those markets, programs (such as '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and '' Star Trek: Enterprise'') were either shown out of their intended timeslots or not at all, leading to many viewer complaints. There are a handful of smaller markets, however, where MyNetworkTV holds a secondary affiliation – even on digital subchannels – because those markets are home to only a very small number of stations, and want to place more emphasis on programming from
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
and Fox – which may have previously lacked affiliations in those markets – on those subchannels. Nevertheless, because MyNetworkTV was announced after the formation of The CW and therefore got most of the "leftover" stations shut out by The CW, there are still availability issues in some markets. Also, the network is mostly relegated to low-powered stations in some smaller markets, which do not have must-carry status. The arrival of ''WWE SmackDown'' to the network has made this issue the most visible, as
wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
fans complained about the lack of availability for MyNetworkTV in several markets that have CW affiliations. This was most evident in
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, where local ''SmackDown'' viewers actually protested that they could not watch the program because low-powered MyNetworkTV/Retro Television Network affiliate
WBLU-LP WBLU-LP (channel 62) was a low-power television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Owned by Equity Media Holdings, the station broadcast its signal from downtown Lexington and provided coverage that did not extend far past the develop ...
lacked carriage on cable providers in the market, and as an
Equity Media Holdings Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas, that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, a name late ...
station with no local presence outside of engineering staff, had no communication with the station to speak of. That was solved shortly afterward when ABC affiliate WTVQ agreed to move its
weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...
forecast service to digital subchannel 36.3 and convert the 36.2 subchannel into a MyNetworkTV affiliate, stripping WBLU of its affiliation in the process. On September 19, 2022,
WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS outlet WBZ-TV (channel 4). The two stations share studios on Soldiers Field R ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and
WBFS-TV WBFS-TV (channel 33) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside WFOR-TV (channel 4), a CBS owned-and-operated station. The two stations share studios ...
in
Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
both dropped MyNetworkTV and returned as full-time
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
stations, leaving Boston and Miami as the largest markets without a MyNetworkTV affiliate.


Branding

In the months leading up to MyNetworkTV's launch, several of its charter stations changed their on-air identities in preparation for joining the network, including all of the network's owned-and-operated stations under sister company Fox Television Stations. Affiliates also began to air network promotions featuring the theme, "Entertainment you can call your own." At first, many Fox-owned charter stations branded their soon-to-be MyNetworkTV O&Os with the "My"
moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
(for example,
WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...
was branded as "My9"). However, by the third week of October 2006, at least one station, Los Angeles O&O KCOP-TV, went to a two-column brand – verbally identifying as "MyNetworkTV Channel 13," and using a logo combining that used by the network (on the left side) and the station's channel number, 13 (on the right); KCOP switched to the simpler "My13" branding in May 2007. At the time plans for MyNetworkTV were announced, there was at least one station that was using a similar moniker. WZMY-TV in Derry, New Hampshire filed a
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
for the "MyTV" name on July 6, 2005, and for a short time there was speculation that the station would file a lawsuit against Fox for the use of "MyTV". The concerns were rendered moot in July 2006, when WZMY announced that it would be Boston's affiliate for the new network. While "My hannel # is the conventional branding style for MyNetworkTV's stations, some stations use the network's logo style with different names, such as
WSTR-TV WSTR-TV (channel 64), branded Star 64 (stylized as STAR64), is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Deerfield Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair ...
(which formerly branded as "My64", but revived its former brand "Star 64" in 2009). Especially after its shift in business model, some affiliates began to downplay the MyNetworkTV branding in favor of local brands, such as Sinclair's WPMY/Pittsburgh (which rebranded from "My PittsburghTV" to "22 The Point" in 2015, and changed its call letters to WPNT to match), former affiliate
KAUT-TV KAUT-TV (channel 43) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, alongside NBC affiliate KFOR-TV ( ...
(initially "OK43", but later "Freedom 43" as part of its efforts to appeal to Oklahoma's military community), and Fox's MyNetworkTV O&Os (which were rebranded as spin-offs of their parent Fox stations, such as
WDCA WDCA (channel 20), branded Fox 5 Plus, is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the local outlet for the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet WTTG (channel 5) ...
becoming " Fox 5 Plus", and KCOP becoming " Fox 11 Plus" in 2023 after having branded with its call letters in the interim).


See also

*
2006 United States broadcast TV realignment In January 2006, the United States' two "second-tier" television networks, UPN and The WB, announced they would both cease operations on September 15 and 17 respectively, and their operations would be transferred to a new joint-venture "fifth" ...
*
The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mynetworktv Television networks in the United States Fox Corporation subsidiaries Television channels and stations established in 2006