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It's upfront time for TV networks, when executives at NBC, ABC, CBS, and the rest roll out their plans for the coming TV season and start to whet advertisers' appetites. NBC honchos, meeting on the set of their hit show The West Wing, brought out Sisqo, singer of The Thong Song, whom they plan to pair in a sitcom with -- are you ready for this? -- Bob Newhart. CBS, which did its presentation at The Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, where David Letterman now reigns, had its own list of promising shows, including one starring James Garner as a Supreme Court justice.
But the one I'm looking forward to doesn't have aging stars or bleached-blond rappers as its hook. It may have the most intriguing star of all: the Internet.
The show is called The Runner, and ABC has been struggling for most of the last year to find a way to get it on the air. Word is that the Walt Disney-owned TV network is aiming to roll it out in September. A reality-based show, like Survivor or Temptation Island, The Runner features real live folks in not-so real-life situations. But this show has an added kicker: It just might be what the future of TV will look like. From where I sit, it has the potential to be the first true "convergence" show on the tube.
A DASH OF INNOVATION. This is the premise: A contestant gets $1 million if he or she can travel -- on foot, by car, train, or plane -- around the country for 28 days without being captured. It's like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the futuristic 1987 film The Running Man, except no one will be after the ABC contestant with chainsaws and sharpened hockey sticks.
Although the details have yet to be worked out, contestants will try to avoid detection while performing as many as eight "missions" determined by the show's producers. Like, maybe, getting a Big Mac at noon in Times Square, or catching a trolley car in San Francisco. Imagine the endorsement possibilities: Burger King could muscle out McDonald's. Nike and Adidas can fight over which pair of sneakers the Runner gets to lace up.
The biggest tie-in, however, is likely to be with the Disney's still-struggling Internet operation. Viewers will be able to claim a prize if they're the "agent" who "catches" the runner. And to become an "agent," the viewer will have sign up on the Internet or by mailing in some sort of application.
Better yet, one of the many ways to keep track of where the runner is at any given moment will be via the Internet, which will provide clues from previous shows, notices of sightings (real or imagined) from other agents, and whatever tips the producers want to throw on the Web. If it all works -- well, that's convergence, ladies and gentlemen.
O.K., so that means, for the Internet play to have a chance, folks have to tune in to the show in the first place. And given the mercurial nature of new shows, that's asking a lot. To demonstrate it's serious about The Runner, ABC assigned Roger Goodman, a 36-year veteran TV producer with 18 Emmys, to pull the project together.
Goodman's record is pretty darn impressive, with shows like Monday Night Football and the Olympics among his credits. Among the other producers are actors/writers Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, whose Internet company, LivePlanet, came up with the idea in the first place. Until Goodman was hired, the general buzz in Hollywood was that the show was dead.
SPORTING CHANCE. Not so, says Lloyd Braun, president of ABC Entertainment Television Group. Braun told reporters attending ABC's presentation that The Runner has become a huge priority for the network -- one in which he seems to have a lot of faith. "We believe this program is going to be smash hit for this network," he told the industry newspaper Daily Variety.
Lots of things still need to be figured out, including how to stop the runners being physically attacked by folks who want to capture them. And other, similar shows are out there, including a Fox program called Wanted that's also scheduled for later this year. And ABC hasn't yet figured out whether it will air the show once or twice or week. But, with Goodman aboard, it figures to take on the look and feel of a sports event.
Which brings me back to the Internet. ABC has been the network leader in coordinating its TV shows with online efforts. It's all part of Disney Chairman Michael Eisner's efforts to make the Net a vital part of the company's distribution system. Of course, we all know what happened to Eisner's big Web effort, the ill-fated Go.com portal that he closed down earlier this year to the tune of more than $900 million in write-offs. But ABC has put a great deal of time and work into what it's calling "enhanced TV," which are basically shows tailor-made for people to watch while they swivel in their chairs and play along on the Internet.
CYBER STEW. It's a precursor to the days when your TV and computer will likely both be in the same box. Disney has been working on the concept for years in a Burbank warehouse that houses its WED Imagineering unit, the think tank that designs the innards of all its theme-park rides. In a place called the Telefusion Lab, a mocked-up living room has a TV set, which is hooked to a large computer that also sends data to another computer sitting on a nearby coffee table, all operating in sync. If a visitor to the lab sees celebrity chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck on the TV and wants the recipe for whatever he's cooking, just click on the screen and the recipe is printed out.
Disney has already had some success with this strategy. More than 3.4 million unique users logged in last year to ESPN.com when ABC, or Disney's majority-owned ESPN, were airing pro or college football games, Disney says. Visitors were seeking the latest player stats, which were updated as the game progressed, allowing them to check the information on a quarterback who had just, say, thrown a touchdown pass. But the big lure, says Disney, was an interactive game that allowed folks to compete against other viewers around the country, using actual game situations on the screen as they happened.
Disney has used its enhanced-TV operation for other shows as well, including linking live polls to its daytime talk show The View. An estimated 100,000 folks log on each night to play along with Who Wants to be a Millionaire in real time. Better yet, says Disney, they stay around for an average of 40 minutes apiece, allowing ABC to ply them with commercials, special offers, and all manner of other things.
CASH INCENTIVE. But The Runner could take Internet/viewer involvement to a new level. For the first time, the action on the show will be heavily dependent on the participation of folks who log in. Better yet, if you're sitting at home, you may very well need to be on the Internet to figure out the game and claim your prize. That's real money they're talking about -- not just the rush you get by being quicker with an answer than a contestant on Millionaire.
A lot has to happen for The Runner to make it on the air, get a sizable audience, and connect with viewers who have both a computer handy and a willingness to play along. But then again, convergence isn't going to happen overnight. Maybe this show will succeed. Maybe it won't. But I'm going to be among those who'll tune in when The Runner airs on ABC -- and I'll likely be among the first to sign on as an "agent." I have a feeling it's going to be more fun than watching Sisqo and Bob Newhart on NBC.
Grover is Los Angeles bureau chief for BusinessWeek. Follow his weekly Power Lunch column, only on BW Online Edited by Patricia O'Connell
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