Mark Burnette Creates AOL Competition Show

Mark Burnett and AOL: Together it may sound like a match made in hell, but we’ll see how it turns out. The Los Angeles Times announced that Burnett is creating a new reality/game/competition/whateveryouwanttocallit show titled “Gold Rush”, in which internet geeks look at something beyond porn and try to get clues which leads them to gold hidden somewhere in the USA. There are 13 sites with it and up to $1.6 million available. What’s interesting is that Yahoo! has announced they are doing “Treasure Hunt”, a show we previously reported on. AOL’s pulling a FOX here and basically ripping off an idea started already. The LA Times reported that Burnett tried to get into “Treasure Hunt”, but Yahoo! rejected him. Burnett stated the advantages of doing a show online than in traditional primetime. “Years ago it was a sin to make a personal phone call at the office,” Burnett said. “Now people are online all day long at the workplace. More people are hooked up electronically to receive images on that little box from 9 to 5 than will ever tune in to TV at night.”