• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 2, 2007

Battling to stem losses and knock out declining ratings, first-year MyNetworkTV is turning to martial arts to kick-start action. Its all-telenovela format is being kicked to the curb.

Starting March 8, a third of the News Corp.-owned network's weekly programming will be from the fledgling International Fight League--grappling that smacks of the popular Ultimate Fighting Championship but uses a team format, a ring instead of a cage and outlaws elbows to the head.

MNTV will air "International Fight League's Total Impact" in a two-hour block on Tuesdays and then repeat it on Saturdays. MNTV says it plans to focus as much on the in-ring mixed martial arts action as the personalities of the gladiators, perhaps with Olympic-style "Up Close and Personal" vignettes.

In addition to the four hours a week of "Total Impact," the remaining eight hours will include movies on Thursdays and Fridays, while continuing with telenovelas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Two separate telenovelas, "American Heiress" and "Saints & Sinners," will air in two-hour blocks on those respective nights.

Since its September launch, the network targeting 18- to-49-year-olds has operated under the hope that the telenovela format--airing serial dramas each night for 13 weeks, which is popular in other countries--could garner a similar interest in the United States.

But anemic ratings and financial troubles for the 10 News Corp.-owned MNTV stations have prompted the company to switch course. The change comes after the network hired a dedicated leader in network president Greg Meidel. "The face of MyNetworkTV is changing," he said, as the new schedule was announced.

Keeping the telenovelas two nights a week, however, could allow the network to maintain some credibility and avoid a complete surrender when it goes before media buyers in the coming upfront.

On Saturday, March 10, MNTV will air a special, "The World Music Awards."