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The MyNetworkTV telenovelas were Fox Television 's attempt to create a successful low-cost programming franchise by adapting Spanish-language telenovelas for American viewers. While originally planned for syndication, the format became the original lineup of MyNetworkTV in 2006. Six limited-run serials were produced, each running about 65 episodes, and at least three others were halted in development. New episodes aired from Monday to Friday -- and weekend clip shows recapped the shows' storylines. Producers planned continuous cycles of thirteen-week serials with no repeats. Once one series ended, another unrelated melodrama would begin the following week. In total, MyNetworkTV planned to air 600 hours of original dramatic programming in HDTV every year.http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/2006/08/mynetworktv_first_broadcast_ne.phphttp://www.broadcastdialogue.com/pdfs/newsletters/2006/nl20060817_14_11.pdf The Telenovela format was unsuccessful and ratings were unexpectedly low. An average of about 781,000 people tuned in to watch the telenovelas, according to Nielsen Media Research.MyNetworkTV will try Plan B Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 27, 2007 by Scott D. Pierce Parent company News Corp. said MyNetworkTV lost two million dollars per week with the all-telenovela lineup.Heat Index; weekly rating (0-10) of sizzle & fizzle Advertising Age February 12, 2007 Under new network president Greg Meidel, production and development stopped in early 2007. "Trying to get people to watch serialized dramas every night on MyNetworkTV was asking the impossible," he remarked.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958532.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 The novelas premiered on September 5 , 2006 and last aired on July 18 , 2007 . PRODUCTION Development Syndication Plans Paul Buccieri, Twentieth Television's programming chief, became fascinated by telenovelas in the 1990s, inspired by his Latina mother-in-law's devotion to such shows.http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6380533.html He said that the nightly soap concept would work in the U.S. if given sufficient time.http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6380533.html Along with colleagues Stephen Brown and Jack Abernathy, he started discussing the telenovela format in 2005. Before it announced MyNetworkTV , Fox offered the telenovelas in syndication under as an anthology titled ''Desire'', which would one hour each weeknight starting in the fall of 2006. It originally planned to air three serials per season.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117947630.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 They were originally intended to air as late night time programming. In December of 2005, Bucceri said the company had already bought enough novela formats to air original shows for five years.http://www.tvweek.com/news/2005/12/novelas_hot_new_format.php Fox then added a second hour and planned to use two umbrella titles: ''Desire'' and ''Secret Obsessions''.http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6355180.html After receiving lukewarm response from stations not owned by Fox, Twentieth Television decided to pitch the show for June 2006. It argued that teenagers are out of school and planted in front of their TV sets, while reruns dominate network schedules. The telenovelas were also briefly considered for placement on The CW . MyNetworkTV Fox Television Stations Chairman Roger Ailes greenlit the format as a contingency plan for Fox-owned UPN stations. Then MyNetworkTV was introduced to advertisers on February 22, 2006, as a reaction to the demise of UPN and The WB. The telenovelas became the new network's weeknight lineup, along with clip shows on Saturdays.http://www.tvweek.com/news/2006/05/upfront_navigator_mynetworktv.php MyNetworkTV targeted the telenovelas at the "Adults 18-49" demographic, which is a general audience. While the novelas had a few takers for a planned summer syndication run, Twentieth made those stations surrender the shows, thanks to a contract clause that let Fox take away the show if it is carried by a network. As MyNetworkTV 's debut grew closer, Fox dropped the idea of using two umbrella titles for its telenovelas. ''Desire'' became the title of the first series aired. The two umbrella titles reappeared in 2007, showing up during opening credits and on the network's Web site. Budgets Jack Abernethy, chief executive of Fox Television Stations, said before launch that MyNetworkTV 's six-day-per-week format was the wave of the future because a traditional schedule costs too much.1 Each episode was said to cost about one-tenth the budget of traditional prime-time showshttp://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/columnists/jonathan_storm/15121967.htm and even less than the typical daytime soap.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117934563.html?categoryid=1952&cs=1 National advertising spots sold for between $20,000 and $35,000 for a 30-second spot as of September 2006.http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06269/724946-237.stm Writers’ Dispute At first, led to higher-than-expected programming costs.http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6366088.html MyNetworkTV’s union deals doubled its programming costs to more than $1 million per week for each series. This significantly affected the telenovelas’ bottom line. Before the dispute, News Corp. President-COO Peter Chernin said the format could “be profitable from day one.”http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6400418.html Filming The shows were shot at Stu Segall Studios in San Diego .http://www.dailynews.com/tv/ci_4274070 The facility, built by a former porn producer, specializes in low-budget productions. Since Segall rented part of the lot to the US government, the telenovelas were shot near a mock Iraqi village used to train military personnel.http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20061008-9999-lz1c08stu.html As a cost-saving measure, producers tend to hire performers with limited acting experience. The same sets were reused in multiple shows.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1198883-2,00.html Also, scripts were finished before taping starts, so that all scenes on the same set were filmed at the same time, out of episode order. Up to three shows were filmed at once.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117949195.html?categoryid=2168&cs=1 The production model resembled that of movies more than normal US television series.http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/departments/features/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003119348] Each complete series — equivalent to three seasons of conventional dramas — was filmed in about four months, as nine crews worked simultaneously,http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/sep/07/mynetworktv-to-offer-series-of-telenovelas/ Two main groups worked on the novelas, one for the ''Desire'' brand and one for ''Secret Obsessions'' serials. The ''Desire'' shows, such as '' Watch Over Me '', were more action-oriented to attract more male viewers. All of the telenovelas used the same narrator, actor Ray Van Ness III . The telenovelas are broadcast in signal carrying a Spanish audio track, but an alternate Closed Captioning channel with Spanish translation was not used. Comparison with Spanish Telenovelas MyNetworkTV’s telenovelas were much shorter than the originals: about 65 episodes, rather than 120 to 180 hours. Each show was scripted, filmed and completed as a whole. The network could not shorten or lengthen shows. In familiar Telenovela form, shows often began with the tag “MyNetworkTV Presents.” Yet the beginnings of shows featured long flashbacks intended to refresh viewers. The first two rotations also added titles to each episode. The daily format also featured the “Story” episode. These were clip shows that outlined the development of a major character. They were used in lieu of reruns. In addition, MyNetworkTV 's shows featured white, black and Hispanic actors in prominent roles and often showed interracial couples, along with gay subplots. These English novelas also toned down the high pitched emotionalism of conventional telenovelas. The producers said they needed to account for the cultural differences with Latin countries.http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/arts/television/25nove.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5090&en=1b28c85d194b6ce4&ex=1303617600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss So while these serials were said to add campiness, cat-fights and gay sensibility,http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid40796.asp they also lacked the cultural depth and raw passion of the Spanish originals.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14586450/ Camilo Cano, the VP of Caracol Television International , which sold two telenovela formats to MyNetworkTV , said he was satisfied with the English versions. “The basic elements of the novela were respected,” he said, “which is what concerns us the most.” He said Caracol worked to ensure the adaptations were faithful to the original serials.http://www.worldscreen.com/featurescurrent.php?filename=novelas0407.htm Broadcast Rotations All times are Eastern and Pacific (subtract one hour for Central and Mountain time) Had the daily format continued, '' Friends With Benefits '' and '' Rules Of Deception '' would have debuted on June 5 , 2007 . '' Crossed Loves '' and another telenovela would likely have begun the second season in early September. Overseas In Canada, CKXT "Sun TV," a station in Toronto , showed the first two telenovelas in the late afternoon. The MyNetworkTV serial lineup was broadcast in Australia as ''FOXTELENOVELA'' on the W. Channel . REACTION Campy Melodramas MyNetwork promoted its telenovelas as trashy melodramas, resembling prime time soap operas like '' format and tone, the network's executives and producers developed their own campy interpretation of the genre. They added characters and situations that differed from the Latin American originals. As telenovelas are inherently implausible and cartoonish, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic audiences scorned the new adaptations.Plot Twists for Genre By Luis Clemens -- Multichannel News, 10/16/2006 Reviewers were resoundingly negative. For example, TV Guide's Matt Roush called one "something worse than nothing."http://www.tvweek.com/news/2005/12/novelas_hot_new_format.php Robert P. Laurence of the San Diego Union-Tribune complained of "amateurish acting, cheap sets and tedious scripts."http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20061106-9999-mz1c06remote.html Robert Bianco of USA Today remarked, "Think of the most incompetent soap opera you've ever seen, imagine something even worse, and there you have MyNetworkTV ."http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2006-08-31-my-network_x.htm Paul Buccieri said that English-speaking audiences needed time to understand the genre. "We're sticking with it—we believe in this product," he said. Roger Ailes brought up MyNetworkTV in a '' Financial Times '' interview. "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."http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5b77af92-548c-11db-901f-0000779e2340.html Also, an executive of another television network told ''TV Week'' magazine that the existence of MNTV was "a miracle" because it went from concept to reality in only six months' time. Ratings MyNetworkTV's debut was far from successful. ''Desire'' scored a 1.1 household rating/2 share; ''Fashion House'' went up to 1.3/2.http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=47801 Fox had sold about half of its projections of $50 million in advance commercial sales.http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0609030319sep03,1,390611.story?coll=chi-business-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true The first two telenovelas 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.http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds37089.html These numbers were significantly lower than he programming that aired a year before, mostly Dramas], ''TV Week'', September 12 , 2006 The telenovelas showed more hopeful ratings in markets like Miami, with large Hispanic populations.2 The second set of telenovelas premiered to even lower numbers than the first pair. '' Wicked Wicked Games '' premiered to a 0.8 rating/1 share overnight rating during its first three nights, while '' Watch Over Me '' pulled a 0.7 rating/1 share. Both shows dropped by a 0.1 rating during the Monday-Wednesday period of their second week. The network sought better debuts for the shows since they premiered in December, while the major networks usually air reruns and the viewer presumably would sample programming on other networks. Cancellation Reports surfaced in December, 2006, about a coming shift in telenovela viewer was 44 years old.http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-03-16-my-network-tv_N.htm On '', '' Rules Of Deception '', and '' Crossed Loves ''. It tentatively planned to cut their schedule to one night a week by fall before announcing that all such projects were scrapped. Under the revised schedule, two hour installments of '' American Heiress '' and '' Saints & Sinners '' aired on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings through March and April. MyNetworkTV switched to one hour of each on Wednesdays for sweeps and never switched back. In addition, the telenovelas were preempted several times for reality specials and other programming. , 2007 However, the telenovelas vanished without fanfare after their July 18, 2007 broadcast; only 26 out of each show's 65 hours were broadcast to date. In addition, Fox has not announced plans to release any of these serials on DVD . SEE ALSO
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