One in a million, you

Trifecta Entertainment and Mark Burnett Productions are teaming up to launch a one-of-a-kind weekday strip: a singing competition.

Tentatively titled One in a Million, the show will feature aspiring contestants competing to win one million dollars (of course.) 

While the series is targeted for daytime, Million could also wind up in prime access and late fringe time periods.

The series is slated for a September 2011 debut and would have four singers compete a day and have a three-judge panel panel determine the winner. On Friday, the week's four winners would face off to determine a weekly winner then go on to a monthly semi-final. The winner will then go on and compete in the final, which would take place on the 185th episode of the season for the million dollars.

Trifecta plans to coordinate auditions with would be stations in each market to find contestants. Million also plans a strong internet component to the show, with online voting determining a slot in the finals. 

While this is an ambitious project, programs of a caviler like this as a strip have faltered in the past: In 1992, Television Program Enterprises tried a weekday version of Star Search in several markets, including Los Angeles (Chicago was not among them.) The experiment lasted just three months before it was scrapped.

And while this is mainly targeted for daytime, stand-alone half-hour slots in the daypart are simply not common, with most programs airing either as hour-long blocks or back-to-back half hours. Prime access would be the next most logical choice, but with the recent renewals of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy and off-network repeats of The Big Bang Theory scheduled to launch in 2011, Million would have a hard time getting into the door. 

Plus, American Idol is on a ratings downswing this season and is expected to decline even further in future seasons with the departure of Simon Cowell later this month (ironically, Trifecta distributes weekly hour American Idol Rewind in broadcast syndication.)

Still, hooking up with the esteemed Mark Burnett Productions - who will not be represented in syndication this upcoming season since Martha is moving to the Hallmark Channel -  isn't a bad idea. It's at least worth a shot.