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News Corp. Announces Mini-Network for UPN/WB Orphan Stations

Published on February 23, 2006 | Email this article

The nine News Corp. stations that will lose their network affiliations when The WB and UPN merge to form The CW now have another programming choice, with News Corp’s announcement today that it will create a new broadcast channel/network/service call My Network TV, Broadcasting & Cable reports. So far, one independent network has signed on for the service, but News Corp. executives are scrambling to sign up others.

The service will launch Sept. 5 with two different hour-long dramas, the English-language telenovelas Desire and Secrets. According to the article, the shows will air five days a week, for the first 13 weeks. 20th Century Television had planned to syndicate Desire, but plans were dropped when the UPN/WB merger was announced in January.

My Network is looking to make up ground fast, giving stations a whopping nine minutes of local advertising time to sell per hour, while News Corp. will sell five minutes of national advertising time per hour, Mediapost writes.

The new network will air 8-10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Fox Television Stations and Twentieth Television, News Corp.‘s TV syndication division, will manage the network.

My Network TV will have new programming 52 weeks a year. Other shows in development include Catwalk, Celebrity Love Island, and Transformed. A Fox News-produced show, On Scene, will also air. The stations and network will split ad inventory.

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