Business reality shows in vogue

Television news channels are on a launch spree of business reality shows.

New Delhi: After Bloomberg UTV`s `The Pitch`, now business channel ET Now is set to launch show "Pioneering Spirit - A Product of Lufthansa", where contestants will be given entrepreneurial opportunities.

The eight-part series, sponsored by German airline Lufthansa, has been shot on a set modelled on a Lufthansa first class lounge. It will go on air Thursday. The show is divided into three distinct segments. The first will showcase defining moments from the lives of eight pioneers, followed by the second segment where a pioneer will review innovative business plans of three entrepreneurs selected out of hundreds. In the third and final segment, the pioneer of today will select one among three as a pioneer of tomorrow, who will be rewarded with a free return ticket of Lufthansa business class to Europe, as well as a mentorship by the Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), knowledge partners on the series, said a press statement. Each episode will feature one pioneer out of eight names including - Prathap Reddy (founder, Apollo Hospital Group), Jagdish Khattar (chief managing director, Carnation India), Raman Roy (founder, Quatrro), B.S. Nagesh (vice chairman, Shopper`s Stop), Vikram Bakshi (managing director, McDonalds India - north and east), Anjan Chatterjee (founder, Speciality Group of Restaurants), Rajeev Samant (founder and CEO, Sula Vineyards) and Shantanu Prakash (chief managing director, Educomp Solutions). IANS