PRWEB:
Where have all the viewers gone? If the buzz being generated on the Internet is any indication, it seems they’re turning off their TV sets and getting ready to tune into the world’s first competitive internet reality show.
A mainstay of primetime television for the past decade, reality programming is attracting fewer viewers than ever before. Network executives and producers are watching their audiences dwindle at an increasing pace as consumers are presented with more viewing choices from different mediums. A large number of viewers are turning to the Internet for entertainment, though there has been very little original programming designed to keep their attention for more than a few minutes.
The major networks have been scrambling to put more content online. In February, NBC released a study of its online streaming video player. ‘Our viewers responded strongly to the streaming video on our site,’ said Jeff Gaspin, the president of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Digital Content and Cross Network Strategy. ‘Contrary to conventional wisdom, consumers are ready to watch long-form entertainment on the web and we plan on making more available.’ At the time of the study, nearly 42 million full length episodes had already been streamed from their website.
While the networks have found a new revenue stream by re-broadcasting their TV shows, they have yet to produce a full-fledged made-for-internet series. In April, The New York Times reported that Mark Burnett (creator of Survivor and other reality series) might produce a political themed reality show to be hosted on MySpace in 2008. Whether it will happen remains to be seen, but if it does, it will not be the first reality show to hit the web.
Television execs and those in the entertainment industry are watching closely as Internet entrepreneur, Joel Comm, is set to premier the world’s first competitive Internet reality show, ‘The Next Internet Millionaire.’ Designed to appeal to reality fans of all ages, Comm’s original program intends to entertain as well as educate how he and others generate millions of dollars on the Internet. More.
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