Chris Cashman in the "1 vs. 100" voice studio in Redmond

Microsoft, best known for traditional software, has been experimenting lately with a completely different type of product: a live, primetime game show. But Pat Sajak wouldn’t know what to make of this one.

Microsoft’s digital version of “1 vs. 100” appears on a regular schedule on the Xbox Live online gaming system – combining the interactivity of video games with the spontaneity of live television. Tens of thousands of Xbox 360 gamers compete from their couches, using their game controllers, with animated characters representing them on screen.

“These aren’t people casually watching TV,” said host Chris Cashman, who narrates the action, appearing on screen as an avatar. “They’ve logged in, they’re here on purpose. That’s why I think it’s so much more interesting and fun than the other stuff I’ve done.”

That’s the same pitch Microsoft is making to advertisers.

“1 vs. 100” is part of an effort by the company to build its online business beyond standard Internet search and display ads. The pilot season of “1 vs. 100” began in the spring, with Sprint and Honda as sponsors. More than 2.5 million people have downloaded the game since its launch, and as many as 114,000 people have competed simultaneously in the North American live show, the company says.

Cashman's avatar

That pales in comparison to the audience for television game shows. The recent revival of ABC’s primetime “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” attracted about 7 million viewers on a Sunday night.

But Microsoft says the distinction between “viewer” and “competitor” is significant.

“It’s a ‘lean-forward’ experience,” said Jeanie DuMont, a senior product planner in Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, involved in the placement of branded advertising and sponsor content inside the Xbox Live system. “You’re directly engaged with the game, and you’re part of the action. So we’ve been able to create this ad-supported model that capitalizes on that high level of engagement.”

Sponsorship packages include advertising, product placement and branding inside the game. Sprint, for example, received naming rights for the virtual theater where “1 vs. 100” is played. Microsoft also offers video ads during commercial breaks, which aren’t subject to fast-forwarding.

“For me, this is reinventing a genre – not only video games, but television,” said Oren Stambouli, a television industry veteran who is now the producer of “1 vs. 100” on Xbox Live.

The company declined to publicly provide financial details of the advertising packages, but the L.A. Times reported that Sprint and Honda each paid about $1 million to sponsor the pilot season.

The season hasn’t been without bumps. Microsoft had to cancel the Aug. 14 live show in North America, for example, after a database problem prevented tens of thousands of Xbox Live users from getting into the game moments before it was scheduled to begin. It was back online the next night.

Microsoft, which trails Yahoo and Google in Internet search and display advertising, is trying to find new sources of advertising revenue in other digital venues. In its recently completed fiscal year, for example, the Redmond company posted overall advertising revenue of $2.3 billion – less than half of the $5.3 billion in advertising revenue posted by Google in its last quarter alone.

Microsoft offers advertising opportunities across its Xbox Live system, in addition to ads inside Xbox 360 video games themselves. In the short run, advertising in video games and online gaming systems represent a small fraction of the overall online advertising market, said Sid Parakh, an analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen.

However, the audience – largely 18- to 34-year-old men – can be an advantage. “You know who you’re marketing to, and many times that’s the problem with advertising online -- advertisers don’t know who they’re going after,” Parakh said.

“1 vs. 100,” which started as a traditional television show, pits a single contestant – known as “the one” – vs. a “mob” of 100 people in rounds of trivia questions. In the Xbox Live adaptation, the prizes are Microsoft “points,” redeemable for downloadable games and other items. Questions get increasingly harder, and the prizes increasingly larger, as the game progresses.

The idea is to “bring some of the best elements of TV entertainment – the anticipation that happens, and the excitement around scheduled TV events – and combine that with the social interaction and the stickiness that you see on console gaming,” said Manuel Bronstein, the show’s director. 

Microsoft’s version of the game supplements the “one” and the “mob” with the “crowd” – which is where the tens of thousands of additional contestants come in. People in the crowd can see their avatars on screen, surrounded by a group of additional contestants with whom they’ve been matched.

The game is free to those who subscribe to the premium “gold” level of Microsoft’s Xbox Live online gaming system. The biggest prize is 10,000 Microsoft points, the equivalent of $125.

Cashman, the son of Seattle-area broadcast personality Pat Cashman, hosts a two-hour live version of the show that airs in the U.S. and Canada on Friday and Saturday nights. James McCourt hosts a U.K. version on the same nights.

In addition, the company offers “extended play” shows throughout the week. Those shows don’t have a live host, and they don’t feature a “one.” Instead, everyone competes as part of the mob.

Xbox Live recently extended the pilot season of “1 vs. 100” to 15 weeks, from the previously scheduled 13 weeks, citing the strong interest in the show. Live season finales are now set for Aug. 29. Bronstein said the plan is to take a break, incorporate lessons learned, and return for a second season.