Some information about the Dragon's den TV show

Dragons' Den
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dragons' Den is a television programme which originated in Japan. The format, which now airs internationally, consists of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to secure investment finance from business experts — the "Dragons".

Show format
The contestants are people who have what they consider to be a viable and potentially very profitable business idea, but who lack funding. They have around two hours in which to present their business ideas, although only a short section of this is shown on air (usually five minutes, followed by questions and negotiations) in which to pitch their idea to five rich entrepreneurial businesspeople, the "dragons" of the show's title. They have before the show named an amount of money that they wish to get, and the rules stipulate that if they do not raise this amount they cannot get any. The dragons then probe the idea further, often revealing an embarrassing lack of preparation on the part of the contestants or sometimes vain subterfuge of troubling facts, and consequently rejecting the investment. It is common in a show to see five or six ideas and only one that attracts the dragons' money. In return, the contestant offers the dragons a percentage of the company, which is the chief point of negotiation.

Versions
Dragons' Den currently screens in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Sweden, Israel and Canada. However, the version that screens in Sweden is the UK production, not a local production. New Zealand has screened the UK series, and the Australian series, and a local series aired towards the end of 2006.

Japan
Titled Money no Tora (Money Tiger), this original version was created by and aired on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. It was the first entertainment programme in the history of Japanese television that dealt with the concept of business investment. During its three year run, as many as 16 business executives appeared in the programme as Tigers.

UK
In the UK, Dragons' Den is broadcast on BBC Two and is hosted by Evan Davis, the BBC's economics editor. The second series ended on 20 December 2005, with a "Where Are They Now" episode, giving details of the outcomes of some of the ventures from the first series, shown the following day. A third series commenced on BBC Two on 3 August 2006. Continuing the trend for the season finale, another "Where Are They Now" episode for the 3rd season also aired on 20 September 2006, with a further follow-up episode to follow in October.
A fourth series began on 7 February 2007. [2]
The theme tune of Dragons' Den has been credited to John Watt.
The Dragons are:
Duncan Bannatyne
Peter Jones
Theo Paphitis (replaced Simon Woodroffe from Series 1)
Deborah Meaden (replaced Rachel Elnaugh from Series 1 and 2) [1]
Richard Farleigh (replaced Doug Richard from Series 1 and 2) [2]

Controversy
In September 2006, in an investigation by the Sunday Mirror newspaper, it was claimed that most of the deals were unfulfilled after the programmes were shot. The article claimed that the Dragons either pulled out of the deals over minor technicalities, deliberately offered heavily unfavourable terms to the entrepreneurs in an effort to make them withdraw, or simply broke off all contact with them after the recording. The UK Dragons defended their record, with Duncan Bannatyne saying: "We don't hand over money to people who don't tell the truth.", while Theo Paphitis added: "I kept up my end of the bargain. The show is not about a cash prize, it is about us pledging to invest. But people must tell the truth. Simple." A BBC spokesman said: "After the initial agreement is made on camera, both parties enter a period of due diligence. Sometimes during this period the deals fall through." [3] In fact, the BBC has never made a secret of this, with follow-up programmes openly admitting that many deals ultimately fell through.


Follow this link to the breakdown of the money the dragon's doled out this season on CBC's Dragon's Den. We also break down the statistics by each pitch made by the entrepreneurs
Funding Stats:

http://www.dragonslayersden.com/show/statistics.html



I wonder if a good pitch was put in front of them they would bite...or is it all a show really...I think it is all about entertainment....you don't see the Mike Gera's or Jock Holliman's of the world on these shows..but time will tell...would love to chat anyone involved in the show..

Slainte

Gordon