The MyNetworkTV telenovelas were Fox Television's attempt to create a successful low-cost programming franchise by adapting Spanish-language telenovelas for U.S. viewers. While originally planned for syndication, the format became the original lineup of MyNetworkTV in 2006. Six limited-run serials were produced, each running about 65 episodes, and at least three others were halted in development. New episodes aired from Monday to Friday – and weekend clip shows recapped the shows' storylines. Producers planned continuous cycles of thirteen-week serials with no repeats. Once one series ended, another unrelated melodrama would begin the following week. In total, MyNetworkTV planned to air 600 hours of original dramatic programming in HDTV every year. The telenovela format was unsuccessful and ratings were unexpectedly low. An average of about 781,000 people tuned in to watch the telenovelas, according to Nielsen Media Research. Parent company News Corporation said MyNetworkTV lost two million dollars per week with the all-telenovela lineup. Under new network president Greg Meidel, production and development stopped in early 2007. "Trying to get people to watch serialized dramas every night on MyNetworkTV was asking the impossible," he remarked. The novelas premiered on September 5, 2006 and last aired on July 18, 2007. Production Development Syndication plans Paul Buccieri, Twentieth Television's programming chief, became fascinated by telenovelas in the 1990s, inspired by his Latina mother-in-law's devotion to such shows. He said that the nightly soap concept would work in the U.S. if given sufficient time. Along with colleagues Stephen Brown and Jack Abernathy, he started discussing the telenovela format in 2005. Before it announced MyNetworkTV, Fox offered the telenovelas in syndication under as an anthology titled Desire, which would air one hour each weeknight starting in the fall of 2006. It originally planned to air three serials per season. They were originally intended to air as late night time programming. In December 2005, Bucceri said the company had already bought enough novela formats to air original shows for five years. Fox then added a second hour and planned to use two umbrella titles: Desire and Secret Obsessions. After receiving lukewarm response from stations not owned by Fox, Twentieth Television decided to pitch the show for June 2006. It argued that teenagers are out of school and planted in front of their TV sets, while reruns dominate network schedules. The telenovelas were also briefly considered for placement on The CW. MyNetworkTV Fox Television Stations chairman Roger Ailes