Once upon a time, pro wrestling helped save UPN. And now it's serving largely the same function for its successor network, MyNetworkTV. There's a larger message here somewhere, and it's not just that a lot of young men like to watch beefy guys in posing suits smash each other's heads with choreographed fight moves.

A couple of years ago, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. launched MyNetwork with a full slate of low-cost telenovelas, such as the campy "Fashion House" with Bo Derek. The experiment attracted media attention because pundits were curious whether Americans would turn to nightly serialized soaps the way they do in other countries.

The answer, alas, was no. Ratings stank, and News Corp. reportedly lost $2 million per week on the strategy. So the cheap soaps were replaced with theatrical movies and cheap reality. And in October, the network began airing "WWE Friday Night SmackDown," which had previous gigs on UPN and the CW. As a result, MyNetwork, launched to skew heavily female with all those soaps, suddenly swerved to become a young-male destination, at least on Fridays.

The results have been pretty dramatic. Season to date, MyNetwork is up a whopping 73 percent in total viewers, to 1.7 million, according to Nielsen Media Research. Earlier this month it hit a high, averaging 2.4 million viewers. Season to date, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are all down compared with last year.

Obviously, much of that is due to "SmackDown." Fridays are up 150 percent in households compared with last season, far more than any other night. But it's not just a wrestling story. Even without "SmackDown," MyNetwork is still up 39 percent, to 1.4 million viewers.

Whether MyNetwork can keep this momentum, however, is a very big question mark. The network is piling up big gains now because (1) the early ratings were so terrible that even a small increase in absolute terms yields a large fluctuation percentage-wise, and (2) wrestling, no matter what its detractors say, is a proven magnet for young males.

Next season, of course, the comparisons won't be as favorable. And ultimately MyNetwork will face the same problem that UPN and the CW did -- wrestling can help draw audiences; getting those young guys to stick around to sample other programming is by no means assured. Shows such as "Street Patrol," which is essentially the outtakes from "Cops," and the Flavor Flav sitcom "Under One Roof" have not exactly electrified crowds.

Can MyNetwork survive long-term? Well, it's too soon to tell. But the odds remain daunting, with or without wrestling. Competition is increasing. Programming continues to be expensive. The Internet is siphoning viewers. Hits are few. MyNetwork is happily touting its progress this fall, but it's basically elevated itself to basic-cable-type numbers. And unlike basic-cable networks, MyNetwork can't count on subscriber fee income to supplement its ad revenue.

Broadcast TV is a tough business, in other words, and it's about to get tougher. Like the wrestlers on "SmackDown," the broadcasters these days have to scramble to avoid getting caught by a pile-driver.

Citing division among its membership, the Screen Actors Guild delayed a vote that would authorize the union to call a strike and bring the entertainment business to a halt.

SAG announced Monday it would delay sending out the ballots until Jan. 14 at the earliest, after the union's national board holds an emergency meeting. The union initially planned to send strike authorization ballots to more than 100,000 union members on Jan. 2, a date that would have put Oscar night within reach of a potential boycott.

Doug Allen, SAG's national executive director, said the union is split on whether to cast ballots. He said 2,524 members endorse the vote and 1,373 members are opposed, including A-list actors Pierce Brosnan and Cameron Diaz.

"This division does not help our effort to get an agreement ... that our members will ratify," Allen wrote in a letter to union members.

SAG leaders had been pushing for the vote amid stalled contract negotiations with Hollywood studios. But on Dec. 12 a New York faction of the union called for a delay, calling it "irresponsible" to threaten a strike while the industry was in an economic downturn.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major studios, have been negotiating a new deal with SAG since before the previous contract expired June 30. (Associated Press)