Redemption Inc. (also known as Redemption Inc. with Kevin O'Leary) is a nine-part Canadian reality television game show hosted by business commentator Kevin O'Leary, broadcast on CBC,[1][2] produced by Proper Television.[3] The show stars 10 ex-cons, from cocaine dealers to fraud artists, in an elimination-style competition that results in the winner earning $100,000 of O'Leary's money to launch their own business.

Redemption Inc.
Created byWide Eyed Entertainment and Formatfreak Ltd.
StarringKevin O'Leary
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes9
Production
ProducerCathie James
Running time60 minutes
Production companyProper Television
Original release
NetworkCBC
ReleaseJanuary 9 (2012-01-09) –
March 9, 2012 (2012-03-09)

Format

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On Redemption Inc., every week the contestants are plunged into another business, in order to prove themselves to the business manager and O'Leary himself. O'Leary assigns a team leader (or multiple team leaders) and they are given a business task that they are to meet. Often there will be a training day followed by the business day.

Eliminations proceed as thus: All contestants come into the studio to discuss the pros and cons of the business challenge, and then Kevin selects players to stay behind with him and those players make their case to stay. Finally, Kevin offers someone an exit package, to start up their own business. The exit package does not have to be taken; however, the package cannot be offered again.

The contestants were:

Name Age Hometown
Aaron 33 Nanaimo, BC
Adam 35 Toronto, ON
Alia 26 Prince George, BC
Brian 26 Ottawa, ON
Jeff 39 Petawawa, ON
Joseph 52 Toronto, ON
Leslie 39 Campbell River, BC
Nicole 29 Toronto, ON
Ryan 41 Vancouver, BC
Samuel 28 Toronto, ON

Elimination Table

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  = Winner of the show
  = Runners-up of the show and left with a consolation package
  = Designated leader or co-leader in challenge
  = Ranked low in performance
  = Designated leader or co-leader in challenge and ranked low in challenge
  = Accepted the exit package and left
  = Declined the exit package and stayed
  = Forced to accept exit package and leave
  = Quit the show
Episode #: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Contestant Results
Alia LOW IN IN IN IN IN IN WINNER
Brian LOW IN IN IN IN IN LOW Runner-Up
Samuel IN IN IN IN IN IN IN Runner-Up
Jeff IN IN IN IN IN IN OUT
Adam IN IN IN IN LOW OUT
Joseph IN IN IN IN QUIT
Ryan IN LOW IN OUT
Leslie IN LOW OUT1
Aaron LOW OUT
Nicole OUT

^1 Leslie was designated as the team leader for this task.

Reasons for Elimination

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  • Nicole: Gave too many excuses, Kevin felt she didn't participate in the challenge as much as her fellow participants. She also crashed a car.
  • Aaron: His fellow participants had many problems with his attitude, and found him hard to work with.
  • Leslie: As leader, his fellow participants had many problems with his attitude, and didn't respect his leadership.
  • Ryan: Failed to show up to challenge and failed to give any reason why. In the boardroom he gave excuses that nobody, including Kevin, believed. In the end Ryan was forced to leave with his exit package, he was not given the opportunity to turn it down and remain in the game.
  • Joseph: Even though Joseph was asked to stay behind, Kevin gave him another chance. However, after Adam revealed his decision to stay Joseph told everyone he couldn't handle the competition anymore (saying it was like when he was incarcerated) and quit.
  • Adam: Was named leader in episode 5, and was ranked low in performance. He chose to stay on. In episode 6, he was successful at selling art, but was viewed unfavorably by the store owners and fellow competitors. Despite declining an exit package before, Kevin decided to give half of the previous package to Adam. However, he was forced to take it and leave.
  • Jeff: Made the least amount in profits. Expenses made the difference in the assessment of performance.
  • Brian and Samuel: Challengers were given the opportunity to present a business plan to a panel of business people, and Alia was declared the winner. Brian and Samuel received consolation packages.

Viewership ratings

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2012 season[4]
Episode 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
Date 2012-01-09 2012-01-16 2012-01-23 2012-01-30 2012-02-06 2012-02-13 2012-02-20 2012-02-27 2012-03-05
Viewers 789,000 600,000 536,000 504,000 438,000 457,000 526,000 543,000 672,000

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Andrew Ryan (2012-01-04). "Kevin O'Leary offers ex-cons a chance at Redemption". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  2. ^ Bernard Simon (2012-01-17). "A televangelist for business". The Financial Times.
  3. ^ "Redemption Inc". Proper Television. 2011.
  4. ^ "Canadian television ratings".
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