News Corp.'s MyNetwork slumping and losing millions

What is going on with some of the traditional broadcasting properties of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.? While News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) continues to receive attention in the new media space -- and rants and raves about the purchase of MySpace are still heard today -- some facets of its older businesses are, well, not doing so hot.

The launch of "MyNetwork" last fall set ambitions for the replacement of the now-gone UPN Network with original programming from an all-new lineup of shows that included been-there, done-that soap operas. As a result the new "MyNetwork" programming schedule saw some of the lowest rating on network TV. Nice.

How was this measured, and what were the audience numbers, you may ask. Try this on for size -- 570,000 average viewers watched MyNetwork's prime-time lineup in the week starting January 15th according to Nielsen Media Research. Ouch. First of all, that is barely half a million viewers when a nightly viewing audience is in the tens of millions in many cases. Even worse, only 270,000 viewers age 18 to 49, the target demographic, tuned in. Double ouch. Going for broke, it's estimated that MyNetworkTV's losses are $2 million a week. Triple ouch.