NBC, Carson Daly Launch Online Talent Search

NBC is making a bid to steal some of YouTube's Web traffic and user-generated video content with "It's Your Show," hosted by VJ impresario Carson Daly, of MTV "TRL" fame.

The show will offer cash prizes for the best videos submitted online in response to creative challenges posed by Daly on air--including, for example, making a sitcom about your family or a short horror film. The best (and worst) videos will be broadcast on NBC.

The show's general mission is to highlight the best user-generated content on the Web, according to NBC, which is positioning the show as a strategic marriage of the Web's democratic ethos and TV's promotional power. To help users augment their video creations, NBC is making a variety of content available for download online, including clips from classic movies and current television shows, news footage, music and other audio, and video graphics.

Four challenges will be issued each week at first, along with one carte blanche category, with a countdown ticker telling users how long they have to submit entries. The first five are already posted on the show's site, www.itsyourshowtv.com, and as challenges expire, new challenges will be shuffled in. The winning video in each category will earn a $1,000 prize, and will be considered for a $100,000 overall grand prize to be dispensed every week. The grand prize winner and other noteworthy videos may also be broadcast on TV, although the format of the show is still unclear.

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