RE: [Paddlewise] disaster- talk to the guy

At 02:09 PM 2/2/2004 -0500, Carey Parks wrote:
> > On 2 Feb 2004 at 10:50, John Fereira wrote:
> >
> > Which series has been a greater commercial success?  The Brit version
> > or the U.S. version?
>
>Is commercial success ("good for business") the measure of the worth of all
>things?

No. I don't think anyone is claiming that it is.  I was adding my two cents 
on the speculation that the guy planning the kayak race in Alaska was 
trying to create a "Survivor" like reality tv show.  In other words, 
presumably commercial success *is* his primary goal.  Based on that 
premise, I offered some ideas on how to faciliate a potentially more 
successful endeavor.

IMHO, there are a couple of things that make Survivor so popular.  First, 
is that the contestants have some sort of appeal.  Most are either young 
and sexy or they quickly show themselves to be someone that everyone loves 
to hate.  Holding the event at a venue where the participants are likely 
going to wear fewer clothes is likely going to draw a bigger audience than 
if the contestants are always bundled up in heavy parkas.  The other thing 
I think makes Survivor successful is that, for the most part, the 
contestants are just regular people, making easier for the audience to 
identify with them easier.  For the Alaska race as described, the level of 
skill required to complete the race, is likely held by a very small 
percentage of the worlds population.  I think someone mentioned one 
particular section that may not have been by anyone with the possible 
exception of Paul Caffyn.

I'm not suggesting that the race be structured such that is resembles 
Battle of the Network Stars,  but making it so difficult that basically a 
handful of people could even complete the race isn't likely going to make 
it interesting to the general population.
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