MySpace and Mark Burnett Unite to Launch Groundbreaking Political Reality Show

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--America's most popular website and television's most successful reality television producer announced today they are teaming up to launch INDEPENDENT, a groundbreaking political reality show. MySpace and Mark Burnett are uniting to find the nation's next great politician through an online, offline, on-air multimedia campaign expected to launch in early 2008.

From Mark Burnett Productions and MySpace, INDEPENDENT is an interactive television series that will engage and empower young Americans to participate in the political process at an unprecedented level. The show is a reality-based competition where America will select a candidate whom they feel will best reflect the voice of young Americans.

By combining reality-competition television with the Internet, INDEPENDENT will help reshape the face of American politics, including the next Presidential election.

"INDEPENDENT represents a giant leap in the re-democratization of American politics," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace. "MySpace puts political power back in the hands of everyday people and INDEPENDENT takes it to a whole new level," added Tom Anderson, President and co-founder of MySpace.

"Through this new network television series and the partnership of MySpace, we're going to discover in a big way, what America really thinks, and bring to light the issues that are closest to those who now finally have a chance to be heard," said Mark Burnett. "The largest number of eyeballs able to be reached at any one time is still network television. But clearly, the world's largest social networking community is found on MySpace and this huge, powerful group of young Americans will definitely generate strong opinions, and unquestionable influence. What will the INDEPENDENT community say? What will they decide? We're going to hear in a big way, what America really thinks!"

Rather than the traditional reality competition series where contestants are holed up in an isolated bubble, the contestants on INDEPENDENT will be out in the public each day, interacting with supporters, protestors, activists, and everyone in-between. Through an interactive town-hall environment, they will receive feedback from the viewing public both within the network television series and online through the MySpace community.

In INDEPENDENT, the winner will receive an award of one million dollars that they cannot keep. What they do with that million dollars is subject to a list of options, all political in nature, but the choice the winner makes will be greatly influenced by the MySpace community and the viewers of the network television show.

Will the winner choose to donate the money to a political action group (e.g. global warming or education reform)? Will they provide the initial donation to form a third political party that better represents the voices of young Americans? Will they make their own run for the White House in 2008? All of these decisions will be shaped by viewers who watch the show, and influence our winner.

With the access that MySpace's powerful social networking tools allow, the candidates will have deep real-time access to their viewers/constituents in a manner that is unprecedented in reality programming.

All candidates interested in running as INDEPENDENT will submit themselves via MySpace Video. Once the candidates are chosen, each will create MySpace Impact profiles to serve as their campaign platform.

Over the course of the series, through a combination of Internet-powered direct democracy and the broad reach of TV, viewers will be empowered to put a genuine stamp on which issues they care about most and identify the one who truly represents them. INDEPENDENT will shape the upcoming election by opening the eyes of a new generation of voters to the power of their opinions and the value of their passions.

Issues and challenges presented to INDEPENDENT candidates will be proposed by the MySpace community and battled out in the hometowns of those most affected by the issue. In addition, prominent national politicians will be invited to participate in the show as INDEPENDENT mentors while candidates struggle with community and constituent relations, campaign crisis, and the election process.

As one of the most popular content platforms on the Web, MySpace's partnership with Mark Burnett leverages the vast reach of the community and spotlights its Video and Impact channels. MySpace Video is a community-driven experience that blends premium, user generated, and original content. The recent debuts of Prom Queen, the dedicated film trailer community Trailer Park, and INDEPENDENT continue the high volume of upcoming product and content developments for MySpace Video. Through the politically focused Impact Channel, MySpace recently announced community-wide straw polls beginning in May and the MySpace Presidential Primary to be held January 1 & 2 of next year.

MySpace and Mark Burnett will be taking INDEPENDENT to networks to determine the most appropriate broadcast partner.

About MySpace.com

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community. As the second ranked web domain in terms of page views(a), MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off. MySpace's international network includes localized community sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Canada, and New Zealand.

About Mark Burnett Productions

Mark Burnett Productions (MBP) is a leading production company in content for both primetime television and the internet. MBP revolutionized television with hits such as Survivor (CBS), The Apprentice (NBC), The Contender (ESPN), Rock Star: INXS (CBS), the new smash hit Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (FOX) and an upcoming co-production with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Television, On the Lot (FOX). Other MBP future projects include: Pirate Master (CBS) and the 2007 MTV Movie Awards (MTV) for which Mark Burnett will serve as Executive Producer. MBP also recently partnered with AOL on the highly successful interactive adventure Gold Rush, the first-ever unscripted project to be produced exclusively for the internet. MBP has established a scripted division and is developing comedies and dramas for television as well as feature films. MBP also successfully reintroduced product placement as an integral part of each of its shows and has garnered a total of 46 Emmy nominations since 2001.

(a) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, January 2006. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com.