April Fool's! We're not turning our backs on investing -- though we did fool some of you.
Alexandria, Va. -- April 1, 2008 -- Finance and investing company The Motley Fool today announced its plan to expand multimedia exposure by creating a reality television show called Surviving Advisor Island. The program, which will air on the growing Yeltom Network, is the first show to tackle the challenge of teaching investing-minded viewers to accomplish non-investing-related tasks.
The show features 10 of The Motley Fool's advisors competing in tasks that strengthen their physical and mental states. These challenges include a chocolate-pudding-eating contest, bare-hand fishing, coconut-dress designing, and navigating through a wilderness of bears.
Asked to comment on his participation in the show, Income Investor co-advisor Andy Cross said, "Did I like it? Oh, yeah, it was an amazing experience. Far better than my brief stints on Dancing With the Stars and Moment of Truth. Those turned out, um, not so great. But I can't go into the details because of the court orders."
According to TV Guide listings, current programming geared toward investors primarily provides traditional market and stock commentary. This reality programming will allow The Motley Fool to achieve two goals: reinforcing its brand among a new audience, and catapulting its advisors to celebrity status.
"Just like our motto says, we strive to educate, amuse, and enrich. This opportunity allows us to show the community that we genuinely want to help fellow Fools enrich their lives. We feel that our reality programming will do just that and in a way that general television programming has lacked," said Larry McClosky, vice president of reality programming for The Motley Fool.
Surviving Advisor Island will debut on April 31, 2008, at 9 p.m. ET on the Yeltom Network.
"We are proud to carry the Motley Fool television show on our network," Yeltom Network President Jordan OshGosh said. "This high-quality programming not only has strong potential but has already generated significant buzz among television critics. We feel that Surviving Advisor Island will be the next hit series for our network."
"This has been a dream of the Fool since we began our online venture 15 years ago. Not only have we strived to disrupt the financial outlet, but now we are setting a higher standard for reality television programming," Motley Fool co-founder and CEO Tom Gardner said.
To learn more about this television program, contact The Motley Fool.
About The Motley Fool
A worldwide investment and financial advisory services company, The Motley Fool has helped millions of people grow their wealth and achieve financial independence across a wide variety of online and offline media channels including: its award-winning website at http://www.fool.com/, 10 premium investment newsletter services, eight best-selling Simon & Schuster and self-published books, a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column carried by more than 200 publications, a nationally syndicated PBS television special, and the company's award-winning U.K. subsidiary, Fool UK (www.fool.co.uk).
About Yeltom Network
Yeltom Network was founded in 1993 and is currently seen in more than 45 million homes nationwide. It is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Loof Partners, based in Alexandria, Va. Check your local listings for the Yeltom Network and its diverse programming.
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