It started back in 2004 when all 276 members of the studio audience watching a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show received a brand new $28,000 Pontiac (donated by the automobile company). These days, rewarding a live audience with a valuable surprise has become a common occurrence. During the holidays, in order to jack up ratings, this is taken to the extreme. For example, The Ellen Show has 12 days of audience giveaways for the holiday season. According to a story published today, Apple decided to promote one of its new iPhone models during one of these dozen episodes.