In television, novelas, borrowed from the Spanish-language networks, are hot.

MyNetworkTV is not.

Less than a month after its Sept. 5 launch, the Fox-Twentieth Television venture, created from stations left out of the WB-UPN merger, is seeing its ratings heading in a downward spiral. That comes after a launch that was itself disappointing, despite a two-week jump on the regular broadcast season.

That’s also despite two name stars, Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild, in one of those novelas, “Fashion House.”

MNT last week averaged just under a 0.7 household rating and 884,000 viewers for its two shows, not including Saturday recaps, according to ratings released yesterday by Nielsen Media Research. That was down from a 0.9 household rating its first week and just under a 0.8 in week two. Its first two weeks averaged 1.3 million and 1 million viewers, respectively.

Media buyers had thought MNT’s unique programming, coupled with familiar stars like Fairchild and Derek, would initially generate a 1 household rating and then level off to about 0.9 once the other networks began their new seasons.

Last week, “Fashion House” averaged a 0.4 in 18-49s, down from a 0.5 its first week and even with its second. The other series, “Desire,” pulled a 0.3 rating, down from 0.4 its first week and also even with its second.

MNT expects those numbers to improve. “I had no idea what to expect,” says Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations. “But, historically, novelas tend to do well then dip a little and then pick up toward the conclusion.”

Abernethy says he expects the network, which skews female, to see an upswing next month when Fox begins airing baseball in place of its regular lineup, driving women viewers to other networks. He also expects another ratings bump later in the year when other networks heavy-up on reruns.

But it will surely be a struggle for the new network to spring back. “This is a time when there’s a ton of promotional clutter for new shows, so it’s difficult for them to stand out,” says Sam Armando, senior vice president and director of broadcast research at Starcom. “I think they have to create awareness of the network, and what the network is, if there is any hope of growing its audience.”

The problem MNT faces--and this speaks to the risk it undertook at launch--is that it's airing only two shows, which limits choice, and that each demands that the viewer watch a full five nights a week for the full 13 weeks the novela runs. A five-nights-a week series is all but unprecedented in primetime.

Media people say it's asking a lot of viewers, and maybe too much, when they can choose between hundreds of programs on dozens of networks.

“I’m not surprised that they are not doing well,” says Susan McClellan, national media manager at Empower MediaMarketing. “I honestly don’t think people have the time to commit an hour or two every single night to stay up with storylines. I think the network was a grand idea but, frankly, I can’t imagine how they will grow.”

The question now for MNT is just how long it can stick to its current strategy.

The network was cobbled together earlier this year when UPN and the WB merged into the CW. Some Fox-owned UPN affiliates were left without a network. These stations formed the foundation of MyNetworkTV, which has since grown to a network of affiliates reaching 96 percent of households.

Most buyers think MNT will have to go to Plan B, whatever that might be, sooner rather than later. But for now at least the network says it will stick to its schedule of a full year of novelas with a new series beginning every 13 weeks.

“We are already halfway through shooting novelas three and four, and we’re beginning to cast five and six, and we have scripts ready for seven and eight,” says Abernethy. “We like what we see and we’re committed to it.”