http://www.thestandard.com/article/0%2C1902%2C28846%2C00.html Comments for "eBay, Sony Unit to Launch TV Show" en http://www.thestandard.com/article/0%2C1902%2C28846%2C00.html <p><!--paging_filter--> <p> Internet auctioneer eBay has teamed up with Sony unit Columbia TriStar Television Distribution to create a television show based on its auctions and its community of collectors, Columbia said Wednesday. </p> <p>The show, which is expected to launch in the fall of 2002, will air daily and is designed to be carried by local stations during afternoons. It will be produced by eBay and LMNO Productions, the company behind reality shows like "Guinness World Records: Primetime" and "Boot Camp." </p> <p> "We are really looking at the world of collecting through the people and the stories," said Andi Sporkin, a Columbia spokeswoman. "We are looking to do what syndicated TV can, at times, do beautifully, which is tell people's stories." </p> <p>The show will be one of eBay's first ventures into television marketing. To date, the company has relied heavily on word of mouth for its growth. Earlier this year, eBay became a sponsor of "Antiques Roadshow," a PBS series with some 15 million weekly viewers. </p> <p>"Television viewers are very active collectors, and vice versa," Jim Davis, Ebay's VP of marketing, said in a statement. "What attracts people to both are, in fact, almost identical: the drama, comedy, passion and personalities behind stories." </p> <p>Columbia and eBay said they will offer local stations a number of cross-promotions and links between their Web sites and eBay auctions. Columbia is expected to begin selling the show to individual stations within a few weeks, Sporkin said. </p> <p> <br></p> Wire Wed, 29 Aug 2001 15:00:00 -0700 Baldwin Louie 88461 at http://www.thestandard.com