• by Wayne Friedman , March 8, 2012

Looking to build some momentum on what has become a throwaway night on broadcast TV, NBC will start a road/adventure reality series, "Escape Routes," with Ford Motor Company as a main sponsor.

The all-new SUV Ford Escape will be featured during the six-episode limited series. Each week, the six two-person teams will arrive in a new city, where they compete in a series of spontaneous adventures and interactive challenges using their Escapes.

"Escape Routes" begins in Los Angeles before heading to New York, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco and Las Vegas/L.A. The winning team will receive the $100,000 grand prize plus two new Ford Escapes.

Ford Motor Company executives say this is unique. "This is the first time an automaker has used prime-time television to launch a new vehicle, and it is a great showcase for the all-new Escape," said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president for global marketing, sales and service.

Show producers say viewers will be able to watch the progress of the teams in real-time -- as well as allowing viewers to interact with the show with many social media elements.

The series -- which will debut March 31 on NBC and its sister network mun2 -- will air Saturday evenings at 8 p.m./EST on NBC. It will also air on its sister network Telemundo's mun2, the network that caters to a young Latino American audience, Saturday nights at 11 p.m./EST. Each episode will also air on nbc.com and mun2.tv the day after the broadcast.

James Hoffman, executive vice president of sales and marketing at NBC, says: "We're excited about the show and think the concept of 'Escape Routes' and its unique use of social media will add a compelling element to Saturday nights."

Last fall, "Escape Routes" started up for Ford as an Internet/social media effort through Zynga, and with Jenny McCarthy competing against the whole country using the app Words With Friends.