Fox News chief and Fox Television Stations chairman Roger Ailes says that outside-the-box, first-run thinking is on the menu at My Network TV. Phil Rosenthal writes in the Chicago Tribune:
For years, the television networks said they had to air reruns because their programs were too costly to run only once.
Now the networks are starting to eschew repeats in the realization that what they really can't afford is to alienate viewers.
...My Network TV, News Corp.'s answer to the demise of UPN and The WB and the formation of The CW by Time Warner and CBS Corp., earlier presented its debut slate of soap operas to the ad crowd at the Hilton Theatre, promising nothing but first-run programming five nights a week. Saturdays will offer weekly recap shows.
"We did not want to come here and pretend to you that even though the network production and economic model are broken, we will somehow make it work," said Roger Ailes, who oversees My Network as chairman of Fox Television Stations. "We had to look at things differently to give you a much better chance of winning."
