Stewart to Star in Trump Spinoff

The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising: "he final words will probably be a little more decorous than 'you're fired,' but Martha Stewart will soon join Donald Trump in crowning a new generation of young moguls on her own version of 'The Apprentice,' NBC officials announced yesterday.

The show, which will begin production sometime after Ms. Stewart is released from prison in West Virginia in March and while she remains under house arrest, will feature Ms. Stewart as a less brusque but equally imperious business legend in search of an assistant to help run part of her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. As on Mr. Trump's show, the winner will be awarded a one-year job with a salary of $250,000.

While Ms. Stewart is known for her household advice and cooking skills, the show will focus much more on the business and marketing acumen she used to build a multibillion-dollar company and will try to reveal a side of her that was not a prominent part of her previous television persona. Its contestants - probably 18 a season - will not be baking cakes or making wreaths but competing in tasks much like those on Mr. Trump's show, except in the business of lifestyle, not real estate.

Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group, said yesterday that the announcement of the new show, to be called "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," had been held until now because the network did not want attention for the spinoff to detract from the second season of "The Apprentice" and also because he did not want it to interfere with Mr. Trump and Melania Knauss's wedding last month. He declined to comment on how the two shows would be scheduled but said that he was very aware of the dangers of overexposure, which hurt "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."