Apprentice Drives Off with Chrysler

It’s unlikely that real estate mogul Donald Trump drives a Chrysler, but the automaker has been tapped as the exclusive automotive sponsor of NBC’s new reality show, The Apprentice.

In the show, 16 wanna-be business executives compete against each other for a chance at a high-paying gig in The Big Apple.

As part of the deal, Chrysler will get advertising in each episode of the series, promotional spot mentions and a Web site presence. The show’s winner and one viewer will receive the Chrysler model selected by viewers in the show’s last episode. Chrysler also will host local-market tie-in events to further promote the company, its brand and its cars.

The Apprentice premieres on NBC this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and then moves into its regular time period, Wednesdays at 8 p.m., on Jan. 14.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.