Cuban to be series regular on 'Shark Tank'

Billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, is to be a series regular on "Shark Tank" next season, ABC said. Cuban, who appeared in several episodes of the business-themed competition series last season, will become a regular on the "Shark Tank" panel in Season 3. "The show gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and possibly make a deal that will make them millionaires," ABC said in a synopsis. "Entrepreneurs who dare to enter the 'Shark Tank' must try to convince the panel of Sharks -- tough, self-made, multimillionaire tycoons -- to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they desperately need to jump-start their business ideas. But the Sharks have a goal, too -- to get a return on their investment and own a piece of the next big business idea." "Shark Tank" is an Americanized version of the Japanese "Dragons' Den" format created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The U.S. edition is produced by Mark Burnett, Clay Newbill and Phil Gurin.