• Variety, Tuesday, October 6, 2009 11:57 PM

You may have thought of the NBC reality show "The Biggest Loser" as a slice of popular entertainment. But it's proving to be equally effective at promoting merchandise. The weight-loss competition is expected to generate $100 million from health and fitness products this year.

Add to that two new spinoffs from NBC and producer Reveille Entertainment: the show's first videogame, through publisher THQ, and the rebranding of Fitness Ridge in Utah as "The Biggest Loser's" official resort.

The resort offers a weight-loss program similar to what contestants on the series experience, and it will be featured in upcoming episodes of the show. The videogame, which bowed yesterday, is playable on Nintendo's Wii and handhelds, and includes recipes from "The Biggest Loser" cookbook. The push into merchandise and services seems obvious to insiders. "Television is still the greatest marketing tool, and we felt we could use it as a platform to expand," says Mark Koops, managing director at Reveille.

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