The Apprentice is an American reality game show that judges the business skills of a group of contestants. It is closely associated with real estate magnate, businessman, and television personality, Donald Trump, who hosted 14 seasons of the show from its inception in January 2004 until 2015. The show is broadcast on NBC. It was created by English-born American television producer Mark Burnett. Billed as "The Ultimate Job Interview", the show features sixteen to eighteen business people who compete over the course of a season, with usually one contestant eliminated per episode. The original prize for the first six seasons was a one-year, $250,000 starting contract to run one of Trump's companies. Each episode typically ended with Trump eliminating one of the contestants with the words, "You're fired" (which has become a locution of both the program and Trump).