MyNetworkTV

About MyNetworkTV

MyNetworkTV, often abbreviated as MNT or MNTV and informally called MyTV, is an American commercial broadcast programming service owned by Fox Corporation and operated by its Fox Television Stations division. Distributed through the syndication structure of Fox First Run and incorporated as the subsidiary company Master Distribution Service, Inc., the service supplies primetime programming to affiliated stations across the country rather than operating as a conventional network. Launched in September 2006 out of one of the most dramatic realignments in American broadcast history, MyNetworkTV began life as a full-fledged television network built from the former affiliates of The WB and UPN that were left out of The CW, then reinvented itself in 2009 as a programming service devoted largely to encore runs of popular broadcast and cable series. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, it remains on the air today through affiliated stations nationwide, reaching roughly 96 percent of the country at its peak. Its official website is mynetworktv.com.

The 2006 Realignment That Created It

MyNetworkTV was born from the January 2006 announcement that The WB and UPN, the two long-struggling fifth and sixth broadcast networks, would both shut down that fall and be replaced by a new joint venture, The CW, formed by CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. The CW immediately signed ten-year affiliation agreements with 16 WB affiliates owned by Tribune Broadcasting and 11 UPN owned-and-operated stations owned by CBS, locking up the strongest stations in the top markets. The losers in the deal were the Fox Television Stations group, the second-largest affiliate group of UPN, whose nine UPN affiliates were passed over for CW affiliations. Within two days, those stations stripped all UPN branding from their airwaves. Fox needed something to fill the two nightly primetime hours that would open up on its stations, and rumors of a Fox-built network quickly proved true.

Launch in September 2006

On February 22, 2006, Fox announced the formation of MyNetworkTV, a new programming service designed to fill the primetime hours on its soon-to-be former UPN affiliates and offered to other stations as well. The service launched in September 2006 with an initial affiliate lineup covering about 96 percent of the country, most of which consisted of former WB and UPN affiliates that had not joined The CW, including the nine Fox-owned UPN affiliates and a Fox-owned station in Dallas. The launch gave hundreds of orphaned stations a source of primetime programming overnight and made MyNetworkTV, for a time, the sixth broadcast network in the United States, though it never attained the status of a major network.

The Telenovela Experiment

MyNetworkTV's original programming strategy was unlike anything American broadcast television had tried: hour-long English-language telenovelas airing five nights a week in 13-week, 65-episode story arcs. The first two series announced for the new network were Desire and Fashion House, adaptations of Spanish-language telenovela formats restructured for American primetime. The stripped, serialized format was intended to build nightly viewing habits quickly and cheaply. Additional telenovelas followed, including Wicked Wicked Games, Watch Over Me, American Heiress, and Saints & Sinners. But the ratings were dismal, and the format never caught on with American viewers. The network soon began winding the experiment down, reducing telenovela programming to a single night per week before dropping it altogether in the fall of 2007.

A New Strategy: Movies, Reality, and Sports

After the telenovela gamble failed, MyNetworkTV reworked its programming strategy toward movies, nontraditional sporting events, and inexpensive original unscripted shows. Weekly broadcasts of International Fight League mixed martial arts bouts joined the schedule, along with a Thursday night movie block featuring action and adventure films and Friday nights devoted to contemporary classics. Specials ranging from the World Music Awards to the Hawaiian Tropic International Beauty Pageant dotted the lineup, and reality series entered the mix. One side effect of the reformatting was the loss of the network's claim to be the only American broadcast network with its entire schedule available in high definition, since some movies and IFL programming were produced in standard definition. In the fall of 2007, the telenovelas disappeared entirely, and reality and sports programming took their place.

WWE SmackDown Comes to MyNetworkTV

The biggest programming coup in the network's history arrived on February 26, 2008, when MyNetworkTV announced it had picked up the rights to air WWE Friday Night SmackDown beginning that fall, after The CW and WWE declined to renew their agreement. To introduce viewers to the WWE brand, the network aired a special presentation of highlights from WrestleMania XXIV on Thursday, October 2, 2008, followed by the SmackDown premiere on Friday, October 3. The first episode drew 3.2 million viewers, the largest audience in MyNetworkTV history, putting the network in fifth place for the night ahead of The CW and making SmackDown the top-rated program of the night among men aged 18 to 34 and 18 to 49. The weekly two-hour wrestling program, featuring stars such as Edge, Rey Mysterio, Batista, MVP, and the Undertaker, became the centerpiece of the Friday schedule and the network's most successful property.

From Network to Programming Service

On September 28, 2009, following continued disappointment with the network's results as a traditional network, MyNetworkTV dropped its status as a television network and transitioned into a programming service, a model comparable to The CW Plus. The new format relied mainly on repeats of recent broadcast and cable series rather than original programming. The schedule filled with off-network encores of proven hits, including dramas such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Cold Case, Burn Notice, Without a Trace, and Monk, along with sitcoms like The Bernie Mac Show, Scrubs, and The New Adventures of Old Christine, and game shows including Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Deal or No Deal, and Don't Forget the Lyrics!. The transition ended MyNetworkTV's brief run as the sixth broadcast network and established the durable syndication-service model it follows to this day.

Surviving the Disney Acquisition

When the Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019, many Fox assets changed hands, but Fox Corporation retained MyNetworkTV along with the Fox broadcast network, Fox News, and Fox Sports. The service continues to be operated by the Fox Television Stations division and distributed via Fox First Run, the company's syndication arm. Key executives associated with the operation have included Jack Abernethy and Frank Cicha. The retention underscored the service's quiet but steady value: it provides a reliable, low-cost primetime feed for Fox's owned stations and affiliates, filling two hours each weeknight with programming that draws consistent, if modest, audiences.

Programming Today

In its current incarnation, MyNetworkTV functions as a syndicated programming service offering affiliates a ready-made primetime block built around off-network repeats. Recent lineups have featured long-running procedural dramas such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Mondays, Cold Case on Tuesdays, Burn Notice on Wednesdays, Without a Trace on Thursdays, and Monk on Fridays, giving stations a dependable schedule of familiar, advertiser-friendly series. The model frees local stations from the expense of producing or acquiring their own primetime programming while delivering recognizable titles that perform steadily in syndication. The service is carried nationwide via over-the-air digital television on its affiliate stations.

Affiliates and Distribution

MyNetworkTV's affiliate base remains rooted in the stations that formed its original lineup: former UPN and WB affiliates, many of them owned by Fox Television Stations, supplemented by independent stations that take the service's programming to fill their primetime hours. Because the service is distributed through syndication rather than as a network feed with must-carry rights, its carriage reflects local station decisions market by market. At launch the service covered approximately 96 percent of the United States, and it continues to maintain broad national reach through its affiliate footprint. Listings of current affiliates are maintained by the service and its station partners.

Legacy

MyNetworkTV's legacy is that of an audacious experiment that became a quiet workhorse. Its telenovela launch remains one of the boldest format gambles in broadcast history, and its pivot to a programming service created a durable template for low-cost primetime syndication. The service gave WWE SmackDown a broadcast home at a pivotal moment, delivered record ratings to its affiliates on Friday nights, and provided hundreds of stations with a programming lifeline after the 2006 realignment. Nearly two decades after its launch, it endures as a Fox Corporation asset, still supplying primetime hours to stations across America. More information is available at mynetworktv.com, the service's official website.