APT Slates Inventor Competition Series

American Public Television is debuting a reality competition series this month on noncommercial stations across the country that focuses on commercialization.

Make48 will feature 17 teams competing to develop and market a new commercial product during a 48-hour invent-a-thon.

The show is underwritten by tool company Stanley Black & Decker.

The teams have to create a prototype and marketing materials, then pitch the product to a panel of judges from QVC, Indigogo, Pivot International and Handy Camel.

Three inventions will be chosen, after which industry pros will go to work redesigning, creating new prototypes and producing marketing videos, then crowdfunded to see if the public is willing to back them.

The eight-episode flight has been picked up by more than 200 stations including in the top three markets, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The series is produced by Outpost Worldwide and presenting station is Washburn University's KTWU Topeka, Kan.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.