Reality check: Mark Burnett’s kingdom

Burnett also perfected a critical revenue model in the reality form: the on-air product plug. Contestants voted off the island in "Survivor" were immediately handed a bag of Doritos and a can of Mountain Dew. In his second hit, "The Apprentice," which debuted in 2004, episodes were built around embedded brands. Dial (a part of Henkel) used the show to launch two products last year.

In one episode the contestants had to design a Web launch for Soft Scrub Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser (the winning "Webisode" was used by Dial). In another, they made a commercial for an air freshener (Renuzit). Placements cost on average $1.5 million per episode. Dial returned easily double that in ad value, says ITVX, which computes a payoff ratio for product placements. In the three-year run of the show Burnett and Trump have split $100 million in product placement revenues.

Burnett also takes equity positions in companies whose products have appeared on his other shows, including Everlast, a sponsor of the boxing show "The Contender." (He got an undisclosed number of shares at $3 in 2004; today the stock is near $30.) Thus his deals ensure he makes money even when his shows don't last, a helpful feature given the short network runs of the boxing series (now on ESPN), "The Casino" (about two owners of the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas) and "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart."

Now Burnett brings this penchant for product plugs to the online world. In making the online trivia show "Gold Rush" for AOL last fall, he partnered with CBS, which embedded clues in its prime-time shows. Onscreen a "vault" holding the gold was graced with sponsor Washington Mutual's logo. Contestants called friends for help on T-Mobile cell phones. The 11 million people who logged on to "Gold Rush" stayed an average of 16 minutes, close to the 22 minutes of content in a half-hour TV sitcom. "Gold Rush" cost $10 million to produce and raked in $25 million in ads.

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In his move into scripted TV series and dramatic films, Burnett has gone outside his production company to sign up writers. "I like what I've been reading so far," he says. "The ideas are completely different from what you see onTV now."

But Hollywood movies hold the most allure. "I can't accurately tell you howTV will look in ten years. The time-shifting devices like TiVo will have a huge impact in coming years. But in ten years I bet I will still be going to a movie theater and buying popcorn and watching a movie."

He adds: "I'll admit that the idea of making Hollywood movies is very seductive."

Thus "On the Lot," despite its tepid ratings, has offered Burnett an important upside — the chance to work closely with Steven Spielberg, one of the most successful filmmakers in history. For "On the Lot" the director is on set nearly every day and is intimately involved in casting, set design and music. "It's been a really good experience for me," says Burnett, who now is working on a feature-film script for DreamWorks, in which Spielberg himself is an owner.

"I love telling stories," says Burnett. "In the end my job is delivering content that people want to watch. It doesn't matter what you label it."

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