“Project Pitch It,” the Wisconsin entrepreneurship pitch show modeled on “Shark Tank,” is returning for a third season on WISN-TV Channel 12.
Applications are now being accepted for the coming season, said Mark Gesner, executive director of the Stritch Hub for Innovation and Community Engaged Learning. The deadline for applications is Oct. 1.
Gesner expects to receive about 150 applications, and then about one-third to one-half of applicants will be asked to come in for an audition. A total of 24 entrepreneurs will appear on season 3 of “Project Pitch It,” but their identities will be kept under wraps until their episode of the show airs, Gesner said.
The businesses featured on “Project Pitch It” must be based in Wisconsin, and should be a newer company with a compelling story, he said.
“We’re looking for an idea that’s beyond the napkin stage, that’s actually begun to take shape and is a going concern,” Gesner said. “We want to see how the show is going to truly benefit the entrepreneur so that we know this is a good fit for them.”
The new season will begin airing in early February.
Bev Greenberg, executive producer of “Project Pitch It,” said the viewership for each episode of season two was about 90,000, which was aided by carriage on networks across the state. She said the figure improved over viewership for season one, and season three is expected to have an even larger viewership.
“We’re very excited to have season 3 on WISN TV 12,” Greenberg said. “We have some very new and exciting improvements to the ‘Project Pitch It’ TV show.”
Peggy Ann, the founder of Milwaukee-based concierge move management company LifeMoves, a new presenting sponsor of the show, will come on as a new mogul this season. The three other moguls returning to “Project Pitch It” to serve as judges are Stuck co-founder Jerry Jendusa, attorney David Gruber and former Nevada Corp. president Deborah Allen.
Also new this season will be a People’s Choice award winner, in which viewers can vote on which entrepreneur they like best.
“The show is very unique, actually, in the country, which is making it very successful,” Greenberg said. “And we have had some great, phenomenal success stories. Locally-produced shows are traditionally rare in these times. I think that ‘Project Pitch It’ fills a void, but most importantly, the goal of the show was to highlight how beautiful Wisconsin is and to feature entrepreneurs so that Wisconsin would grow in its status as a destination for entrepreneurs.”
BizTimes Media is a sponsor of “Project Pitch It.”
