Mark Burnett is mounting another entrepreneurial reality show, this time with ABC.
The “Apprentice” and “Survivor” producer is teaming up with the network to produce a show called “The Shark Tank,” according to “The Hollywood Reporter.” (Sony Pictures TV is also producing.) The show is a version of “Dragon’s Den,” a Japanese show in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a group of tycoons in hopes of earning start-up money.
ABC has tried something similar in the past, airing two seasons of the Simon Cowell-produced “American Inventor.” That show focused on people pitching products rather than business concepts and was co-created and judged by British entrepreneur Peter Jones, who’s also one of the judges on the U.K. version of “Dragon’s Den.”
“American Inventor” debuted with a splash in spring 2006, drawing better than 14 million viewers for its premiere. Ratings slid from there, though, and the first season ended up averaging about 9.5 million viewers. A second season in summer 2007 averaged 6.4 million viewers.
Should the pilot go forward, it would be the first Burnett-produced series to air on ABC. He currently has shows on CBS (“Survivor”), Fox (“Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”) and NBC (“Celebrity Apprentice”).
