MUMBAI: Yahoo! Inc. and Mark Burnett Productions, which is the producer of reality TV programming, announced a multiple programme content relationship in which, Yahoo! will produce, host and sell advertising for the official website for the second and third season of The Apprentice.
As a part of the deal, Yahoo! will also integrate exclusive Apprentice content throughout it's network. Also, additional reality programmes on which Yahoo! and Mark Burnett Productions are expected to collaborate will be announced soon.
The Apprentice's official website goes live today at http://apprentice.yahoo.com, through Yahoo! TV, or through the SBC Yahoo! DSL front page, and will be operational throughout the show's four-month run. "We chose to work with Yahoo! because of its tremendous reach on the Internet, as well as its ability to develop a comprehensive and entertaining user experience," said Burnett. "The fans of The Apprentice are very devoted to the programme and can now enjoy a deeper relationship with our programme and its contents by going online to Yahoo!"
Each week, The Apprentice's website will feature up to 40 minutes of exclusive video footage from each episode specially edited for the online audience and not seen on TV, such as additional task footage, taxi confessionals and boardroom drama. In addition, Sam Solovey, who was famously ousted from the first season of The Apprentice will write an exclusive weekly column with play-by-play commentary. Users will also be able to download a themed Apprentice IMVironment background in Yahoo! Messenger, as well as use a verbally animated "You're Fired" audible to taunt their friends while instant messaging.
Other site features include an inside tour of the candidates' residence, extensive photo galleries, biographies, episode recaps, task overviews and team statistics and strategy. "This relationship with Mark Burnett Productions helps further Yahoo!'s commitment to provide the next generation of original and compelling broadband content for our consumers," said Jim Moloshok, senior vice- president of entertainment and content acquisition. "At the same time, advertisers will have the opportunity to reach a large, engaged audience within an extremely attractive demography."
Yahoo!'s advertising inventory for the site, which includes sponsorship, broadband video ads, and banner ads, is proving popular with brand advertisers wanting to take advantage of Yahoo!'s reach with the 18-49 year-old online audience attracted to The Apprentice. As the season progresses, Yahoo! will add additional elements to the official Apprentice site and throughout the Yahoo! network. Integration of The Apprentice content will ultimately span six Yahoo! destinations reaching more than 60 million unique users per month, via Yahoo! TV, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! HotJobs, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Finance, and LAUNCH, Music on Yahoo!
Previously, Yahoo! and Mark Burnett Productions had announced a relationship to promote The Apprentice on Yahoo! HotJobs to encourage show viewership and drive contestant applications.
