The Northern Territory news Mon 14 Dec 2009
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2009-12-14
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C1968A00063
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/215422
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/711789
www.ntnews.com.au Northern Territory News, Monday, December 14, 2009 17 P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 1 4 -D E C -2 0 0 9 P A G E : 1 7 C O L O R : C M Y K Producer survives world of reality television Nineteen seasons on and Survivor has delivered its best season ever. If you gave up on the series or youve never watched, now is the time to start. Theres one simple reason why and his name is Russell. Survivor has had its share of villains, but none like Russell. Survivor: Samoa Channel Nine, Tuesday, 7.30pm OUTWIT, outlast and outplay is an apt description for howMark Burnett has played his career. Its also themotto for contestants on Burnettsmost successful reality TV show,Survivor. WhenSurvivor burst on to our TV screens in 2000, critics said it would be a flash in the pan. But the first seasonwas amonster hit worldwide and now, 20 seasons andmore than 300 episodes later, fans are still watching andBurnett (pictured) has become one of themost powerful (and richest)men in television. Its rumoured hewas paid a $455,000 licensing fee for the first season ofSurvivor andmanaged to negotiate for himself a healthy percentage of advertising revenue for the series. If theres truth to the scuttlebutt, he ended up collecting a lazy $10 million from series one. Its believed before the commissioning of season two, he agreed hewould no longer share in ad revenue, but would instead receive $1 million in licensing fees for each Survivor episode. As the show is in season 20, his reported earnings fromSurvivor alone are around $450 million. Its a far cry fromhis childhood in Essex, where his father worked night shift for 30 years at the local Ford factory. Burnett doesnt rate his success by the volume of television he produces, rather by the longevity his shows enjoy.Survivor has already stood that test but his other creations arent far behind:Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is up to episode 267 and is screened in 55 countries and The Apprentice is into its ninth season. Burnett says the key to producing both popular and successful television is to focus on quality, rather thanmoney. If I look back at why Imade it, it was a singular focus of trying to do work that I like, he says. I have never focused on the money, if you do great work hopefully youll get paid. Anyonewho starts off in a creative enterprise with the idea ofmakingmoney is completely insane, it is thewrong thought. DANIEL HOY