Competitive Intelligence

Rich Guys, Fame & Reality TV

What do these three guys have in common?

Yeah, they're all really rich. They've all got crazy hair. They're all opinionated. But, you might not have known they all want to be stars. Famous. As if they're not already... at least for being rich if nothing else and they have some celebrity status that they hope to parlay into something even bigger. They're all attention-seekers, to be sure. They've also decided reality TV is one way to get more of it. And, following the success of Donald Trump and "The Apprentice", they're not far off.

Trump whole career and life itself (see this great Fortune article) are singularly focused on building a brand around his name and using personality to get bigger and better deals.

Trump’s salary is supposed to “at least double”, from its current $50,000 per episode. ;-) Of course, that doesn't count his merchandise or production cut from the show, which is certainly many times more than that, or the gazillions saved in public relations. All in all, it's a pretty good deal for rich folks that need to build their fame.

According to Reuters, Branson's show promises to be more fun:

Mixing a bit of "Around the World in 80 Days" with Trump's hit reality series "The Apprentice," broadcaster Fox on Thursday said it has signed a deal with Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, for a new U.S. television series tentatively called "Branson's Big Adventure."

The new series featuring the flamboyant billionaire impresario, best known to the American public for stunts like trying to circle the world alone in a balloon, is expected to debut later this year.

Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd., said Branson will take "a select group of America's best and brightest" around the world, reliving his experiences and dealing with business dilemmas. Each week, the network said, one contestant will be left behind while the others continue to globetrot.

But, the Motley Fool was skeptical of the concept:

This isn't necessarily what the world of network TV needs right now - another show based on the concept that affluent cultural icons will dole out draconian tasks to unwitting players to see who can survive an embarrassing evaluation. To be sure (and fair), the show has yet to be fully developed, so that is nothing more than a guess as to its ultimate hook. But we can take a good stab at what it will be; after all, the show can't be boring. Good reality TV is 10% quality and 90% (contrived) drama, and if the angry-mentor antics of Simon Cowell on Fox's American Idol and Donald Trump on NBC's The Apprentice are any indication, we can expect at least a few uncomfortable moments of competitors trying to avert eye contact with their leader.

Still, it's undeniable, "Apprentice" has helped NBC's Thursday night and aspiring young Trumps can always catch the rebroadcast on the more-staid CNBC later in the week.

Meanwhile, Mark Cuban, arguably the luckiest dot-com billionaire out there, having sold out to Yahoo at the top of the bubble and then turned around to invest in a pro basketball team, has plans of his own:

More than 500 people eager to win $1 million from Mark Cuban attended an open casting call for the Dallas Mavericks owner's upcoming reality television show.

Sixteen people will be chosen from auditions in five cities and from submitted video applications. But there's still no word on what it will take to win the money on the ABC show "The Benefactor."

"It's like 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,'" Cuban told the Dallas Morning News for its Sunday editions. "When you walked into Willy's factory, you had no idea what the game was."

Contestants will live in a Dallas house for three weeks and participate in activities Cuban devises.

"The game is: What's Mark looking for?" executive producer Clay Newbill said. "Mark Cuban is our show."

Taping is expected to begin this month with the show's eight episodes expected to air in August or September. Newbill said the show is in negotiations for the house that contestants will live in, but he wouldn't reveal its location.

How far can this go? Are we gonna see Carly Fiorina or Barry Diller or Steve Ballmer with their own reality shows? Heck, even I would probably tune in and watch the two-hour finale at least... I've watched a lot more "Apprentice" than I ever thought I would… but, it’s still not what I’d call must-see TV.

- Arik

Posted by Arik Johnson at April 5, 2004 06:10 PM | TrackBack