My Network TV changes in bid to lure young men

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 26, 2007

NEW YORK - The fledgling My Network TV couldn't get anyone interested in nightly soap operas. Now it's chasing one of the most elusive audiences in television: young men.

The network, which airs in the Tampa Bay area on WTTA-Ch. 38, revamped its prime-time lineup this month to add a martial arts competition and testosterone-fueled movies.

My Network TV was born on the fly after the WB and UPN combined last year to form the CW. Nine UPN stations left behind were owned by News Corp.'s Fox station group, and the company scrambled to patch together replacement programming in time for the fall.

It tried a handful of English-language telenovelas, or soap operas, that ran every night. The hope was to duplicate the success of a telenovela like La Fea Mas Bella, a Mexican version of the Colombian telenovela that also spawned ABC's Ugly Betty, and which usually brings in more than 5-million viewers each weeknight on Univision.

But My Network TV averaged 781,000 prime-time viewers through the week ending March 11, less than a quarter of the 3.2-million who were watching UPN last season, according to Nielsen Media Research. The schedule brought in neither telenovela fans nor the curious, and worse yet - by TV standards, at least - the typical viewer was 44, compared with the CW's 33.

"It was an attempt to zig when everyone else was zagging," said Greg Meidel, who became My Network TV president in January.

It was hard to get viewers to commit to watching something almost every night, particularly when a strong serial drama is on the larger networks most nights, he said.

Brad Adgate, an analyst for Horizon Media, said it didn't help that the soaps looked cheap and were populated by faded stars such as Morgan Fairchild and Bo Derek.

Fox recently bought a stake in the new International Fight League, which has teams that compete in mixed martial arts, Meidel said. Competitions now air Monday and some Saturdays, as My Network takes a cue from cable's Spike, which puts on ultimate fighting competitions. Movies now run Thursday and Friday. Some of the flicks - Rocky IV, Lethal Weapon, Crimson Tide - show a commitment to attracting young men.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, My Network is airing its final two soaps, American Heiress and Saints & Sinners.

[Last modified March 26, 2007, 07:08:31]