MySpace, Survivor inventor team to create interactive reality TV show

MySpace.com and reality television producer Mark Burnett today announced that they have joined forces to launch a new political reality television show that harnesses social networking and aims to shake up the established political parties and potentially identify a third-party candidate for the 2008 presidential election.

Independent, an interactive TV series created by MySpace and Mark Burnett Productions, will run a reality-based competition where Americans can vote online and offline for the candidates they feel best reflect their values, according to a statement from the two companies.

The producers will select contestants based on MySpace video applications. Those selected will participate in an interactive "town hall" environment on the show and receive online feedback on their performance from television viewers and MySpace users

The winning contestant, to be selected by MySpace members and television viewers, will receive $1 million that can be used to fund a run for the White House in 2008, the formation of third political party or a donation to an existing political action group.

MySpace users and television viewers will supply interactive suggestions to the winning contestant about how the money should be used.

"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," Burnett said in the statement. "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."

Tom Anderson, president and co-founder of MySpace, added that "MySpace puts political power back in the hands of everyday people, and Independent takes it to a whole new level."

The MySpace community will select the issues and challenges to be tackled by the contestants on the show. National politicians will be invited to participate in Independent as mentors to help the program's candidates wade through community and constituent relations, campaign crises and the election process.

Each candidate will create content on MySpace's Impact Channel, a portion of the social networking site devoted to politics, to market their campaign principles.

The show has not been picked up by a national television network.