MarkBurnett
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The internet of ratings: How makers became hip enough for reality TV
Technology wasn't always hip, and neither was Intel. The company, known for most of its 48-year history as the leader in PC chips, has in recent years branched out into more cutting-edge areas. That includes mobile, drones, robots and an assortment of wearables running the gamut from a high-tech paintball helmet to an augmented-reality hard hat. Now, in a sign of the times, Intel is joining forces with Mark Burnett, the man behind Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice and The Voice, to bring you a reality show about inventors. America's Greatest Makers, which premieres April 5th on TBS, follows 24 teams competing for a $1 million prize. Though the show follows a format similar to other reality contests, complete with auditions (pitches), guest judges and elimination rounds, the panelists are generally friendlier. Think: the NBA's Kenny Smith and celebrity dealmaker Carol Roth, not a Simon Cowell or Gordon Ramsay.
Survivor meets HDTV for the first time this summer
That's right, one of the biggest shows still stuck in 480i is making the switch when it begins shooting this summer, as announced by Sony and CBS at NAB2008. Coming into its 17th season (to air in early 2009), it's the first CBS reality show to make the HD jump, via Sony's XDCAM production system. Executive producer Mark Burnett is calling it a "new era" for the show, we're calling it "about time". It's just a bit embarrassing that the Miss USA pageant made the jump first, but we won't complain about more HD footage from the beautiful locales Survivor tends to visit. No word on how much that extra resolution will cost CBS, but with more people buying HDTVs everyday we don't see how they could afford not to.
