GSTV Launches Contest to Find "BroadcaSTAR"
DETROIT -- Gas Station TV (GSTV) is launching a nationwide search on April 1 to find a face for its media network in place at gas station and convenience store forecourts, Advertising Age reported.
"We are not looking for Walter Cronkite, but more like someone on ['Entertainment Tonight']," David Leider, CEO of GSTV, told Advertising Age.
The goal of the "Wanna Be a BroadcaSTAR" program is to find "the most fabulous, fresh, outgoing, hot, adaptable, fun, smart, informative and trustworthy" person for the part, he said, adding he expects submissions to come from people between the ages of 23 and 35, although anyone 18 years and older can enter, the report stated.
"We're focused on making the network more interesting" by adding short broadcasts about other kinds of entertainment and information, Leider told Advertising Age, noting that GSTV wants a "different level of content" that could include topics such as hot technology, home improvement or travel.
To apply, potential candidates upload 30-second videos of themselves directly to a page on www.gstv.com or a social-media platform of their choosing from April 1 through May 4, 2008, the report stated. The search will be promoted on social networking sites MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and others, as well as its 5,000 screens placed in gas pumps, according to the report.
After the online auditions, GSTV will host a real-world, live audition in the Detroit area and narrow the list to three finalists with the help of a talent scout, TV commercial producers and its own content team, the report stated. Then, consumers can vote for their favorite from May 12 to 30, with the winner announced on July 17, the report stated.
The winner will receive $2,500 and all-expenses-paid trips to Detroit to film a series of segments for GSTV in August 2008 and January 2009, Leider told the magazine.
"This is not a full-time job. It's an opportunity to be a broadcast star," he told Advertising Age, adding it's "indefinite" how long the winner would handle the segments, and GSTV could retain the winner beyond the first quarter of 2009 "if they are great."
"We are not looking for Walter Cronkite, but more like someone on ['Entertainment Tonight']," David Leider, CEO of GSTV, told Advertising Age.
The goal of the "Wanna Be a BroadcaSTAR" program is to find "the most fabulous, fresh, outgoing, hot, adaptable, fun, smart, informative and trustworthy" person for the part, he said, adding he expects submissions to come from people between the ages of 23 and 35, although anyone 18 years and older can enter, the report stated.
"We're focused on making the network more interesting" by adding short broadcasts about other kinds of entertainment and information, Leider told Advertising Age, noting that GSTV wants a "different level of content" that could include topics such as hot technology, home improvement or travel.
To apply, potential candidates upload 30-second videos of themselves directly to a page on www.gstv.com or a social-media platform of their choosing from April 1 through May 4, 2008, the report stated. The search will be promoted on social networking sites MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and others, as well as its 5,000 screens placed in gas pumps, according to the report.
After the online auditions, GSTV will host a real-world, live audition in the Detroit area and narrow the list to three finalists with the help of a talent scout, TV commercial producers and its own content team, the report stated. Then, consumers can vote for their favorite from May 12 to 30, with the winner announced on July 17, the report stated.
The winner will receive $2,500 and all-expenses-paid trips to Detroit to film a series of segments for GSTV in August 2008 and January 2009, Leider told the magazine.
"This is not a full-time job. It's an opportunity to be a broadcast star," he told Advertising Age, adding it's "indefinite" how long the winner would handle the segments, and GSTV could retain the winner beyond the first quarter of 2009 "if they are great."