Special Reports

NBC Buys 'Space Survivor' Program

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 13, 2000 / 9:33 AM EDT / CBS

NBC will reportedly pay $35 million to pay the latest reality television project from Surivor creator Mark Burnett, which will follow a dozen or so American contestants as they compete during Russian cosmonaut training for a single round-trip journey to the space station MIR.

The live finale of Destination Mir will feature the winner boarding a Soyuz rocket and blasting into space.

NBC will continue coverage of the winner's voyage throughout the 10-day visit onboard Mir and the eventual return to Earth.

The contestants will be trained at Star City, Russia, and each week, one will be eliminated from training and will be sent home by Russian space officials.

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The Wall Street Journal reports NBC has agreed to pay $20 million to Russia's MirCorp., which is partly owned by American investors. The other $15 million will cover production costs and Burnett's fee.

Burnett will also get a cut of advertising revenue from the show.

The Journal reports applications for the show will likely be accepted over the Internet later this year.

NASA passed on the project, the Journal reports.

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