Fox to Launch New Network

Broadcasting & Cable reports Fox News Corporation will launch a new primetime network for its stations orphaned by the merger of UPN and The WB into The CW Network.

News Corp. President and CEO Peter Chernin, Fox Stations Chairman Roger Ailes, and stations president Jack Abernethy unveiled the new network called My Network TV in a press conference in New York today. Upon its launch on Sept. 5, the network will feature a telenovela titled Desire and a one-hour drama titled Secrets. Chernin said there will be new programming on the channel 52 weeks of the year. Shows currently in development include reality shows Catwalk, Celebrity Love Island, and Transformed; On Scene, a Fox News-produced magazine; and a game show with the working title America's Brainiest. The Screen Actors Guild's and the Writers Guild of America's contracts do not currently cover reality-TV shows, and the unions have expressed concern that the genre cuts into available jobs for union actors and writers.

"No other media company comes close to Fox when it comes to launching new networks and gauging audience appetites," said Chernin. "Over the past 20 years, we've proved it time and again with FBC, FX, Fox News Channel, and National Geographic Channel among many others. And with My Network TV, we think we've come up with a unique format that will resonate with today's consumer and a model that can be profitable from day one."

In January, CBS Corp. and Time Warner announced UPN and The WB will cease operations in September and merge into The CW Network. The new network will incorporate The WB's current scheduling model, programming six nights and 13 hours of primetime programming per week, including UPN series America's Next Top Model and Veronica Mars, and WB shows such as Smallville and Gilmore Girls. It is unclear which other UPN and WB shows will be cancelled or transferred to the new network.