The first sign that Prima TV had a lot riding on its new reality show VyVolení (Chosen) came at the initial press conference announcing the program, held almost three months before its premiere Aug. 14. Unlike the usual Prima press conference at the Marriott with cold cuts and house wines, this one was held at the restaurant Brasileiro, followed by a sumptuous Brazilian feast with some of the best wines to wash down the constant flow of meat and fish.

Then, three days before VyVolení's premiere, the hottest ticket in town was a bash thrown by Prima at the riverfront Podolí grounds of Zluté lázne. More than a thousand revelers, including Prime Minister Jirí Paroubek, braved the nippy night air to rub shoulders with a who's who of Czech television and show business. The VIP tent, live band, fireworks and unlimited supply of barbecued meat and liquor kept the crowd going well past midnight.

"Never in the history of Prima has there been such a campaign for any program," says Milos Zahradník, Prima programming director. "It also helped us that Nova came out with a parallel introduction of Big Brother."

TV Nova's version of the voyeuristic people-locked-in-a-house show debuted two weeks after VyVolení, with considerably less fanfare. Apparently secure in the knowledge that most viewers had already heard of Big Brother, which it licensed from Dutch developer and owner Endemol, Nova limited its promotional activities mainly to discreet press releases. (Endemol has threatened to sue Prima for stealing the concept.)

The two shows went head-to-head for the first time Aug. 28. According to ATO Media Research, 2.016 million tuned into Big Brother, and 1.340 million watched VyVolení — nearly 3.5 million viewers, or a third of the country. Actually, the majority of viewers probably zapped the remote back and forth for an hour and 50 minutes — an unprecedented event, especially considering that the shows are basically indistinguishable.

There are minor differences. Nova pre-selected its 12 contestants, who are ensconced in a specially built house near its studios in Barrandov. Prima built interest (and pulled up to 1.5 million viewers) by allowing the audience to choose, via SMS messages, the 13 contestants lodged in a villa in Prague 9–Vysocany.

Elimination is also being done differently. VyVolení viewers will decide by their SMS votes which contestants stay on; the one who receives the fewest votes has to leave. Big Brother mixes the traditional reality show format of the cohabitants voting one of themselves out with audience participation. Every other week, contestants will nominate two of their number to leave. Those two then have a week to convince the viewing audience they should stay; the final decision will be made by audience vote. In December, the audience also gets to vote on which of the last three contestants wins the grand prize.

In the case of Big Brother, the winner takes home 10 million Kc ($410,000). The VyVolení winner gets 11 million Kc. Highlights of the housebound dramas will be aired several times a day every single day for more than three months. And four nights a week, wrap-ups will be broadcast simultaneously in primetime slots (VyVolení gets a jump by starting five minutes earlier), setting them up for a head-to-head collision.

Why are the networks doing it?

Similar strategies

First and foremost, the showdown is a battle for viewers, visibility and, ultimately, advertising money. Since the amount of commercial time available to state-owned Czech Television is now almost certain to be restricted by decree of law, television advertisers will be forced to reallocate their budgets. And by showcasing their networks, both Prima and Nova hope to grab as big a piece of the new pie as possible.

But why take the risk of running two virtually indistinguishable shows simultaneously?

"Every such project is a risk," says Petr Dvořák, managing director of TV Nova. "But Big Brother, because of its proven concept in tens of countries, is more likely to succeed than VyVolení. We are the market leaders, and in my opinion we have a more professional team to realize such a project than does Prima."

"Yes, it is a bit risky," admits Prima's Zahradník. "I expect a certain amount of cannibalism to happen. On the other hand, up until 2004, Prima's average market share was 21 percent. But with Rodinná pouta [an enormously successful soap opera that premiered in spring 2004], it at times climbed to 40 percent and more. As a side effect, people who were not used to watching other Prima programs tuned into our popular shows like Receptář prima nápadů [a home and garden improvement show] and Nikdo není dokonalý [a Sunday night talk show]. VyVolení is not the only program on the channel."

However much they may promote their reality shows as different, the stations' broader strategies are the same. Nova's Dvořák echoes Zahradník's sentiments: "We don't rely on only one big project like Big Brother. For the fall, we will begin broadcasting the first daily soap, Ulice, a new series Ordinace v růžové zahradě, and other programs. Our strategy is to balance [a mix of] programming."

In that sense, both shows are a great draw — and it doesn't matter who ends up winning the battle for ratings. The sheer fact that two peas of the same pod premiered two weeks apart on competing commercial networks has created an incredible buzz among the media and the viewing audience, giving both networks the kind of visibility that neither would have had if they had not gone head-to-head.

Cold reality

What may be most remarkable about all this is a comment made three years ago by one of the editors of TV Tip Serial. Reporting on Kelly Clarkson winning American Idol and reaping a million-dollar recording contract and cross-country tour, she wrote, "On the other hand, by us, they sing more for the fun of it and not for money."

A little over a year later, Nova debuted the Czech Republic's own version of the show, Česko hledá SuperStar, which just finished its second extremely successful season with more than one-third of the country watching. Those kids were singing not so much for the fun of it as for the recording contract and fame.

Then there are the homegrown matchmaking shows, such as Milionový pár and Balírna, which were "inspired" by American shows and attract as many as 700,000 to 800,000 viewers, with contestants vying for a million-crown prize or a dream trip for two.

Critics also made disparaging comments about the debut of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which turned out to be not only one of the most popular shows on Czech television but also one of the longest-running versions anywhere in the world. The same people said that reality shows such as The Weakest Link (which was not as successful but ran for three seasons in the Czech Republic as Nejslabší! máte padáka!), Big Brother and Survivor wouldn't work in the Czech Republic either, because Czechs don't like to be humiliated. And certainly not for money!

It seems the television networks know better.