From Broadcasting & Cable (Subscription Req.), by Steve McClellan, October 27, 2003:

(S)ince there's not enough room for every local ham (or would-be star, depending on your point of view) to appear on American Idol, Post-Newsweek Stations has a solution: It's syndicating a talent show format called Gimme the Mike!, a sort of local Star Search.

...The syndicated version is set to air for six to eight weeks next March and April, and Post-Newsweek has enlisted NBC Enterprises to help sell the format to stations in the top 50 markets. The pitch includes a presentation tape highlighting some of the two dozen episodes that Post-Newsweek has already produced.

"I think it's great for local television," says Alan Frank, president of Post-Newsweek Stations. "It's the type of show that local stations used to do and haven't done in a long time. It's an entertainment show with grass roots community involvement all rolled into one."

Ed Wilson, president and CEO, NBC Enterprises, said the project "stesses the value of having strong ties to the community. For us, it's an opportunity to be in business with local stations on a local project."

Although it worked well in 53rd-ranked Jacksonville, Frank concedes that the show probably isn't economically viable in many smaller markets, given the costs. Ad revenue probably isn't sufficient in smaller markets, either. "It would probably work to market 75, but, for the first time out, we're focusing on the top 50."

...Stations will pay a fee for the format rights, and Post-Newsweek gets a minute of ad time per episode to sell to a national sponsor, which Frank says is already lined up...Post-Newsweek has established a national office that will help stations set up local versions of the show, helping them with everything from running auditions and selecting candidates and judges to working on music clearances, says Frank...Among the choices stations have to consider are whether to do the show live or taped and whether to do an hour or half-hour version. The finale is always live.

...(W)hile there will be one major national sponsor, (Frank) says local advertisers are attracted because it's unusual to find locally produced programming outside of news and sports. "Clients can be very involved in a local entertainment show like this in ways that would be inappropriate for them to be involved, say, in a newscast."

...And just as Idol gets a lot national press, Gimme the Mike! gets a lot of local press, which almost guarantees high sampling levels.