MyNetworkTV: Difference between revisions

{{quote box|[[File:MyNetworkTV_logoMyNetworkTV logo.jpg|frame]]}}

{{quote|''To be honest, [[Biting the Hand Humor|I didn't even know I had a network!]]''|'''[[John Cena]]''', ''[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] [[WWE Smackdown|Friday Night SmackDown!]]''}}

'''MyNetworkTV''' iswas a quick-fix "network" created by [[FOX]] in 2006 to fill soon-to-be emptied primetime slots on its [[UPN]] stations (WWOR in New York, KCOP in Los Angeles, etc.). It was created as a rash [[Tantrum Throwing|tantrum-esque]] response to [[The CW]], a merger between [[The WB]] and [[UPN]], due to the fact that FOX's owned-and-operated UPN stations were left out of said deal (though only in cities where Tribune and CBS respectively owned WB and UPN stations and had first dibs; had FOX cooperated, some of their stations without the former condition would've ended up easily top-choice CW affiliates) and in response, FOX petulantly decided to shun all mentions and advertising of UPN until its September 2006 demise. Most of the various WB and UPN affiliates that were left behind by the merger also signed-on with the network.

MNTV started off pretending to be a legit network (some stations even changed their callsigns to reflect their new affiliation), airing [[Foreign Remake|English-language versions]] of popular Latin American ''[[Soap Opera|telenovelas]]'' [[Prime Time Soap|five nights a week]]. Try as they might, nothing could get people to watch these shows — most American viewers saw them as trashy and poorly-made even by the low standards of American [[Soap Opera|Soap Operas]]s and worth watching only as [[Snark Bait]], while English-speaking Latino viewers (the target audience for many of these shows) saw them as inferior versions of what they were already watching ''en español''. In short, everyone thought it sucked. The only markets where the network was barely competitive were [[Los Angeles]] and [[Miami]], but those viewers quickly went away. Only one program, the World Music Awards (which previously set negative ratings records for ABC and FOX), remains from the network's original schedule.

After a year, the ''telenovela'' block faded into the mists along with anything resembling a point, with early promises to program imported or adapted programming from Sky in the UK and [[Fox News]] thrown aside for such [[Sarcasm Mode|illustrious programming]] as ''IFL Battleground'' (a failed attempt to turn [[Useful Notes/Mixed Martial Arts|Mixed Martial Arts]] into a team sport that eventually got eaten up by UFC), [[Lowest Common Denominator|the Ujena Bikini Jam, Hooters pageants]], the Taurus World Stunt Awards, and ''Santa's Funniest Moments'' (really just an hour of home-video Santas [[Groin Attack|being kicked in the chestnuts by kids]]). Thanks to them and Fox Reality, the nation also suffered through a second run of ''Paradise Hotel''.

The network kept limping along, however. Its only major grab was ''[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] [[WWE Smackdown|Friday Night SmackDown!]]'', the rest of its lineup consisting of [[Reality Show|reality shows]], stage magic (new episodes of ''Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed'' were among the network's better shows), and ''Under One Roof'' (a short-lived [[Sit ComSitcom]] starring [[Public Enemy|Flavor Flav]], which was infamous for shooting in Toronto while the [[TV Strikes|2008 writer's strike]] went on). In September 2009, MyNetworkTV officially stopped pretending and became a two-hour [[Syndication|syndicated]] programming block, similar in concept to the short-lived [[PTEN]]. It discontinued all original non-syndicated programming that wasn't ''SmackDown!'' and replaced it with syndicated [[Game Show|game shows]], Thursday-night movies, and reruns of ''[[The Unit (TV)|The Unit]]'' and ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]''. One of its original shows, ''Jail'', got picked up by [[Spike TV]].

In October 2010, ''SmackDown!'' moved to [[Sci Fi Channel|Syfy]] and MNTV became the [[Old Shame]] of FOX and the network's affiliates, airing repeats of game shows already in syndication (usually in very low-rated timeslots) and other dramas such as ''[[Burn Notice]]'', ''[[Monk (TV)|Monk]]'', and ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', which act as [[Filler]] for independent stations scared of programming primetime. In 2011, even those pseudo-original games were ousted due to them not doing well at all in syndication, with ''[[Cold Case (TV)|Cold Case]]'' and ''[[Law and Order SVU]]'' rerun nights being added to fill out all five nights.

The network also has the indignity of being mostly on digital subchannels of big network affiliates in markets as large as Columbus, Ohio (where it is carried on a subchannel of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate WSYX), meaning that it often gets left out of TV listings, won't be in HD in many markets, and isn't rated by Nielsen on a regular basis because of its all-repeat schedule, and may not even be carried by a provider because of lack of any good surrounding programming. In some markets where the other stations have bought off all the good programming, it airs on the same channel as lesser networks such as This TV, Antenna TV, RTV, Me-TV, and Jewelry Television, meaning the only thing leading into primetime is either an ancient sitcom rerun or a "Gem Extravaganza", thus assuring very low ratings.

[[Category:My Network TVMyNetworkTV]]

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