NBC Stays on 'Biggest Loser' Diet

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES -- "The Biggest Loser," which will wrap up its third season in a couple of weeks, will continue to wage the battle of the bulge in 2007.

NBC has picked up a fourth season of its weight-loss reality series, which has been a steady performer on the network's otherwise unstable Wednesday-night schedule this season. A timetable for the new season hasn't been set, but it seems likely that it will appear in 2007-08.

"'The Biggest Loser' is a valuable franchise and proven competitor in a very challenging time period," NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says. "The producing team has come up with unique ways to keep the series fresh, and we anticipate the next cycle will continue to produce life-changing results for the contestants and jaw-dropping reveals for the viewers."

So far this season, the show has averaged 7.4 million viewers per week and a 3.1 rating among the adults 18-49 that NBC targets. That's down by more than 2 million viewers overall and one rating point in the 18-49 demo compared to last season.

However, those ratings have come in a very tough timeslot opposite CBS' "Criminal Minds" and ABC's "Lost" and "Day Break," and they're a big improvement over what NBC was doing in the hour last season with "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart."

The show's current season began with contestants from all 50 states; 14 remained with host Caroline Rhea and trainers Bob Harper and Kim Lyons while the others were sent home to work on their own weight-loss programs.

The Dec. 13 finale will bring all the contestants back. The contestant with the greatest percentage of weight lost in the home-based group will win $50,000, while the best performer among those who were voted off the show gets a hundred grand. The title of "Biggest Loser" carries a $250,000 prize