- Elena Malykhina

More than 2,000 viewers tuned into ItsEasyToWin.com last night to watch an online game show dubbed Pick Til You Win. The game show gave away $300 to viewers in instant-win prizes, which Eric Friedberg—who launched the site earlier this month—claims is the new wave of sweepstakes.

Friedberg, whose company developed the technology to stream live game shows, said ItsEasyToWin.com is a way for consumers to participate in promotions, games and sweepstakes on the Web with instant gratification.

"Consumers that tune in can interact with the host live and immediately win a prize," Friedberg said. "We feel we're ahead of the curve and are using the Web as the vehicle to enable this."

In order to play, consumers must tune in and be randomly selected to come into a one-on-one chat with the host. (Think Deal Or No Deal, where players must pick various briefcases containing a value to win a prize.) The instant-win game lineup ranges from "Texas Hold Em" to "Scratch and Win." Consumers have to register to play and registration is free.

In addition to instant-win sweepstakes, Friedberg said his live game show site offers companies branding opportunities. ItsEasyToWin.com already has several sponsors onboard, such as Aruba, Modell's Sporting Goods and Jollytime Popcorn. The goal is to incorporate the sponsors and their products into the game shows. For example, in last night's Pick Til You Win, players were asked bonus questions about sponsors and won a prize if they got the right answer. "It really forced people to learn about each sponsor," said Friedberg. And in next week's game, 40 boxes of Jollytime Popcorn will be used to conceal prizes.

Going forward, the sponsors and other companies will be able to use the technology to build live game shows for their brands. "This will give [companies] a new way to engage consumers in sweepstakes, while also exposing them to the brand," Friedberg said.

ItsEasyToWin.com plans to give away more $1 million in cash prizes over the next year. Additionally, several new features will be added to the site, including Web camera-to-Web camera capabilities for 100% full audience participation, and a social network platform to engage more consumers.