MyNetworkTV, a recently formed broadcast program service that will have a heavy diet of soap opera "telenovelas" in primetime starting Sept. 5, plans to feed all its content in 720p. Twentieth Television, an arm of News Corp., which owns the wide array of Fox broadcast and cable networks, is assembling the new network. The service is designed to compete directly with a newly combined broadcast network, The CW.
MyNetworkTV plans to air original soaps stripped across five weeknights for up to 13 weeks per telenovela. The all-HD network is expected to air two hours of primetime nightly, Monday through Friday, like Fox -- and unlike NBC, ABC and CBS, which air three hours on six nights weekly (and 4 hours on Sunday).
The primetime dramas with names such as "Desire" and "Secret Obsessions" will target adults 18-49. According to published reports, the new service's production schedule calls for about 600 original hours of HD annually, with several productions shooting concurrently on up to 10 sets. It will be shot in 1080i and air in 720p, with the 16:9 aspect ratio also used for simultaneous SD broadcasts.
