From Six To Five And Back To Five And A Half Networks

First there was the advent of the WB and UPN networks in 1995 to challenge CBS, ABC, NBC, and the then-fledgling Fox TV Networks.
But even with more ambitious programming, with the WB spawning popular shows like The Steve Harvey Show, Unhappily Ever After, and Charmed, and the UPN giving us Girlfriends, Veronica Mars, America's Next Top Model, and WWE SmackDown!, they still continued to struggle.
Last month the two decided to unite to form The CW, taking a letter from CBS and Warner Brothers, two different television studios that united the low-rated networks under a joint venture between media titans TimeWarner and Viacom.
Then they started picking the stronger stations in each market to carry the CW which inevitably means that some stations wound up being orphaned.
Now NewsCorp, the parent of Fox Television and Fox News (see the links to your right) and Fox Sports, is announcing a new network, "MyNetworkTV", which appears a little unwieldly to begin with.
Whilst it does incorporate some of the orphaned stations especially in 10 major markets like Los Angeles and Chicago and New York---VERY crucial markets to start with---it also offers greater opportunities for the orphaned stations left out of the CW project.
However it also offers MAJOR challenges for the MyNetwork crowd: The schedule starts with two serials following a telenovela format common in Latin American television, airing two dramas six nights a week.
This alone means that the new network needs to start developing a more diverse schedule right away. They need to find programmes that truly appeal to the greatest number of people possible and do so in a tasteful fashion. But they need to take great care to ensure enough interest in programming variety to hold the viewers and attract new groups of viewers.
And the fact they are planning a game show is a good step but they still need to work on other shows like comedies. They are already planning a supermodel talent search and need to work on developing a show similar to Pop Idol as well.
MyNetwork has A LOT of potential for good and bad alike and right now they need to focus on the broader market, not just niche markets like for Blacks and Latinos and gays and that sort of thing. If they can pull out a popular programme that attracts people from a wide spectrum of the populace then this new half-network might well develop into a FULL network and maybe even attract the ex-WB and ex-UPN affiliates more quickly and with greater results.