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Yahoo May Run “The Runner”
An ABC show championed by ex-ABC president and Yahoo Media Group head Lloyd Braun could get a second life as an online concept.
Back in 2000, ABC began developing "The Runner," a reality show about a fugitive who contestants would try to catch for a $1 million prize. The Wall Street Journal noted the show flopped as a concept at ABC. But Braun appears enamored with the concept, and as Yahoo's top man in Santa Monica, he may be able to get the show done as an online version instead.
Two production companies, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's LivePlanet, and another headed by reality show guru Mark Burnett, have spent the past six months working with Braun and Yahoo to develop the concept, according to sources cited in the report. Burnett brings not just his lengthy list of reality credentials, but the product placement knowledge to bring advertisers on board.
Braun and Yahoo addressed logistic and insurance concerns by altering the format of the original show. A number of Yahoo properties like search and maps figure prominently in the concept, where Yahoo users get a chance to win prizes while chasing the fugitive.
Online, the show will have an espionage theme, and reports say an ex-CIA officer has the role as the Runner. Regular updates about the Runner's location via video, instead of fixed episodes, offer the most significant change between television and the Internet.
Yahoo hopes to improve on the performance of prior efforts like the war correspondent-driven "Hot Zone" and travel site "Richard Bangs Adventures," both suffering from minimal viewership. The company's sendoff of Howard Stern and his last day of traditional radio delivered 4.4 million video streams, but "The Runner" won't have Stern's star power.
Braun has to make participating in "The Runner" a solid enticement for Yahoo users or risk seeing it largely ignored. How seriously they will attempt to draw viewers won't be known until more details about the show and prizes emerge.
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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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