NBC and ABC have accused Fox of stealing their ideas, and Fox has fired back, saying it’s just part of the game.

Gail Berman, the President of Fox Entertainment, has all but admitted that copying the ideas is part of their strategy. Berman says it’s a technique that all networks use, have used, and will use again.

“There’s nothing new about this; this is a competitive business,” Berman said during the Television Critics Association press tour.

“Producers see what’s working and come up with another take on it. This is the way the business works. It’s unfortunate that they’ve created some sort of drama around something that is the way business works in television and, frankly, the movie business.”

NBC won the rights to “The Contender,” a reality show about boxing. Two months later, Fox launched a similar show called “The Next Great Champ.”

ABC has a program called “Wife Swap,” in which two wives switch houses. Fox then launched a series called “Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy.”

And who can forget “Popstars” and “Making the Band,” which all came before the even-more successful “American Idol”?

Legally, the other networks don’t have much of a case. CBS sued ABC last year over the show “I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!” which they claimed was a clone of Survivor. The court said there were many differenced that set the shows apart.






Related Stories: