New low-budget Fox network debuts Tuesday

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SAN DIEGO, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Fox Television is set to launch a new low-budget broadcast network Tuesday that will feature sexy, primetime soap operas.

MyNetworkTV will borrow its format from Spanish-language broadcasters, which have made a fortune creating soap operas with cliffhangers in each episode -- and wrapping everything up with shocking finales after 13 weeks, compared with story lines on U.S. soaps, which can drag on for years.

The Spanish programming often racks up Super Bowl-size ratings, which is what MyNetwork hopes to duplicate, The Wall Street Journal reports.

MyNetwork's hour-long episodes are taped on shoestring budgets of $200,000 to $500,000 each, compared with $2 million to $3 million for most U.S. network dramas.

The sets are not as lavishly decorated as those in traditional network dramas and the actors are largely unknowns with limited experience, although Morgan Fairchild and Bo Derek star in the low-cost "Fashion House" as executives who run rival clothing labels.