• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 6, 2007

A top executive at one of MyNetworkTV's leading affiliate groups said Tuesday the new network's performance has been so poor that its refashioned fall schedule isn't likely to generate much advertiser excitement. He said advertisers are likely to be wary about committing dollars to the network, given its poor track record and bare ratings.

"That particular issue has really cost us about a year, because even with all those changes, the advertising agencies are going to look at the MyNetwork programming and say without numbers, we're not going to be aggressive and give you any credit," Sinclair Broadcast Group CFO David Amy told a group of investors.

Amy said the network will have to build credible ratings this fall before it can become "salable" for the Sinclair channels.

Sinclair executives indicated that MNTV's troubles have cost the station group revenues somewhere in the $5 million to $10 million range. However, that's not a large hit for a company that posted $150 million in revenues in the just-completed first quarter, and has a healthier batch of 19 Fox and 10 ABC stations.

The station group runs 17 MNTV stations, as part of its overall 58-station portfolio. And MNTV programming only accounts for 12 hours a week, albeit in prime time. MNTV launched in September with an all-telenovela lineup. And while the nightly soap operas have proven successful in other countries, they failed miserably here. The net has since jettisoned the novelas and is going with a mélange of reality shows, mixed martial-arts action and movies for the 2007-08 season.

"We'll see how all that works out come this fall," Amy said.

Separately, Sinclair, which expects to post some $60 million in retransmission consent-related revenues this year, announced that it has reached a four-year deal with Cox cable. The deal covers nine Sinclair stations in six markets, including duopolies in Las Vegas and Oklahoma City. Sinclair officials said all their retrans deals give it the right to air digital multicast channels.

On the ad sales front, the company said the auto category continues to be weak, and spending in Ohio--where it has stations in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton--is languishing. That could change drastically next year if Ohio again proves to be a hot battleground in the presidential contest.