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Mark
Burnett Productions and AOL to Produce Reality Show for AOL.com
1/31/06
MARK BURNETT PRODUCTIONS AND AOL TO PRODUCE ‘GOLD RUSH!’ --
FIRST-EVER REALITY TREASURE HUNT EXCLUSIVELY ON AOL.COM
New York, NY - January 30, 2006 -- Mark Burnett Productions and AOL
have signed a major production deal to develop a real-life reality
treasure hunt airing exclusively on the AOL.com website. Called “Gold
Rush!”, the show will track real-life challengers searching for hidden
treasure across the United States.
The clues, expected to be extremely challenging, will be placed
throughout the AOL network, including websites such as AOL.com, AIM.com
Moviefone.com and MapQuest.com. The clues and the show will also be
promoted on other media, including television, print and wireless.
“With ‘Survivor,’ ‘The Apprentice,’ ‘The Contender’ and
‘Rock Star,’ I’ve been amazed by the volume of fans who constantly
want to communicate online about each of these shows. They clearly want a
lot more content than they can enjoy during one hour of television per
week,” said Mark Burnett. “The world is changing and the Internet is
about to become the next broadcast network. With the volume of people able
to watch content on their computers between 9am to 5pm, it could very well
become the new primetime. The immediate future will take advantage of
content that utilizes television, print and the Internet in concert. AOL
and I are embracing this immediate future through ‘Gold Rush.’”
“This is a totally original concept that comes to us from the guy who
created reality television,” said Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of
America Online. “It defines engagement; it’s disruptive by nature and
it will certainly be habit forming – all the best of the Internet in one
fell swoop.”
About Mark Burnett Productions Mark Burnett Productions (MBP) is a
leading production company in the world of primetime non-fiction
television. MBP revolutionized television with hits such as Eco-Challenge,
Survivor, The Apprentice, The Contender and the upcoming Rockstar:INXS.
MBP also successfully reintroduced product placement as an integral part
of each of its shows and has garnered a total of 33 Emmy nominations since
2001. Mark Burnett was listed as the #1 Most Valuable Player by TV Guide
and in Time Magazine’s Top 100 most influential people in the world
today.
About America Online, Inc. America Online, Inc. and its subsidiaries
operate a leading network of Web brands and the largest Internet access
subscription service in the United States. Brands include the AOL(r)
service, the AOL.com(r) website, and the AIM(r), MapQuest(r), Moviefone(r),
Netscape(r), CompuServe(r) and ICQ(r) services. America Online offers a
range of digital services including the TotalTalk(r) voice service. The
company also has operations in Canada and Europe. America Online, Inc. is
based in Dulles, Virginia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner
Inc. (NYSE: TWX).
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