A new syndicated show promises to award what it calls “the biggest cash prize in the history of reality television $10 million.”
The show, titled “Tontine,” seems willing to test the limits of diminishing returns for a TV program. While history proves that contestants will humiliate themselves on TV for a chance at $1 million, will they act 10 times more ridiculous for $10 million?
Apparently the show’s producers have made that calculation as well as how the purse will affect their profit margins because the show is based on an investment fund.
The word tontine derives from the last name of Lorenzo Tonti, the French banker who invented the concept in 1653. A tontine is a fund in which every member contributes to a common money pool and then receives an annuity. If a member leaves, the payments to the remaining members increase big time.
“The entire fund goes to those who stay in the tontine for a specified period of time. It is a system that benefits the final participant at the expense of those who leave,” according to the show’s producers. “Tontines have been outlawed in the United States for the past 100 years because they were known to cause corruption and scheming among members looking to increase their standing.”
“Tontine” comes from the mind of former “Survivor” contestant Robert “Boston Rob” Mariano, and it follows a similar format. The new show will pit 15 contestants against each other in a last-in-the-lifeboat scenario, but using the fund as a backdrop instead of an exotic island.
This summer, Mariano will conduct casting calls in major cities, including Los Angeles. He hopes to recoup his investment when “Tontine” appears on the air in early 2008.
Upscale Niche
The parent corporation of Beverly Hills-based magazine “L.A. Confidential” has merged with two similar companies to create a portfolio of 16 upscale city publications.
Niche Media, owner of “Confidential,” will combine with Nevada-based Greenspun Media Group and Ocean Drive Media Group in Florida. The unified operation will distribute more than 750,000 copies of its publications and produce more than 24,000 pages per year. With an average of 5.9 readers per copy, the titles will reach more than 4.4 million readers.
All the publications will follow a controlled circulation strategy targeting wealthy households.
“Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, advertisers are assured that the majority of Niche Media readers maintain at least $250,000 annual household incomes, own homes valued at more than $1 million, and have liquid assets in excess of $1 million,” according to the company.
“We provide our advertising and marketing partners with a powerful and proven luxury magazine portfolio,” said Jason Binn, publisher of L.A. Confidential and chief executive officer at Niche Media.
Although technically a merger, the conglomerate will carry the name of Niche Media. The new company will have 300 employees.
Besides “Confidential,” Niche Media currently owns “Aspen Peak,” “Boston Common,” “Capitol File,” “Gotham” and “Hamptons.” Greenspun Media brings “Vegas” and the casino titles “Venetian Style” and “Wynn.” Ocean Drive has “Atlanta Peach,” “Bal Harbour,” “Ocean Drive,” “Ocean Drive Espa & #324;ol” and “Florida InsideOut.”
In addition to magazines, the new Niche Media will reach consumers in all 16 markets through hundreds of events, including fashion shows, parties and dinners.
The merger will give the magazines better access to national consumer advertisers. It also will “enable our media group to enter new markets more effectively in the United States and internationally, including Asia and Europe,” said Greenspun Media Group President Michael Carr.
BizBash a Smash
BizBash.com, a Web site about the corporate events industry, held a marketing event of its own with the first Los Angeles Event Style Show Expo on June 27. Through presentations by local event planners and celebrities, the show taught the basics of L.A. style for the company party set.
At the event, Mark Liberman, president of convention bureau LA Inc., discussed the glories of downtown for planners, while Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman explained how to get star endorsements. Other local pros in attendance included Vanessa Gonzalez, event planner at MOCA; Hollace Davids, senior vice-president of special projects at Universal Pictures; Marc Friedland of ad agency Creative Intelligence; and Judy Levy of fund-raiser powerhouse Levy Pazanti & Associates.
News & Notes
Burbank-based LBI Media Inc. has signed an agreement to buy KPNZ-TV (Channel 24) in Salt Lake City for $10 million. LBI, known as Liberman Broadcasting, already owns KRCA-TV (Channel 62) in Burbank. The Southern California Broadcasters Association has elected an executive board with Greg Ashlock as chairman. Ashlock serves as L.A. market manager for Clear Channel Communications. Returning board members include Val Maki-Candido, vice-president of Emmis Radio; Michelle Hohman, regional manager for Univision Radio; and Pat Duffy, market manager for news at CBS Radio. John Davison of ABC Radio joins the board.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at
[email protected]
, or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
