Travel Channel to dump WPT?

[mhcmarty]

This is some what interesting and informative

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USA Network, now part of NBC Universal Cable, was the self-proclaimed #1 cable TV network last TV season.

Furthermore, USA Network was one of the first to climb aboard the new trend in sports entertainment TV when it signed Major League Gaming (MLG), one of the 3 "professional" video game tournament TV series to hit the U.S. TV market in the past 12 months (the others are EA Sports on ESPN/ESPN2 and World Series of Video Games on CSTV.)

At this point, NBC Universal Cable has all the poker it needs, with re-runs of NBC Heads-Up airing on CNBC.

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In any case, the new deal for WPT Season 6 is done with GSN, for $300,000 per episode (down from about $500,000 per episode Travel Channel currently pays).

In this tight market for TV poker in the US, ANY rights fee is better than no rights fee.

One would expect WPT to be the highest-rated product on GSN in 2008.


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This is not!!

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Don't lose sight of the big picture with WPTE: the "real money" to be made by WPTE will be made with WPTOnline.com, if and when WPTE is able to secure government-granted MONOPOLY licenses in juristictions in EAST and SOUTHEAST ASIA.

Philippines, South Korea, and Hong Kong would be the 3 logical targets for WPTE to start with, with mainland China being the ultimate prize eventually.

The Philippines, where WPTE already has a deal with ABS-CBN which involves giving the PAGCOR government monopoly its cut, is a template for other deals.

If and when WPTE gets into Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) will have to be given a significant cut. The HKJC, being the government-granted monopoly, can pick and choose its poker partner based on whoever is willing to pay the HKJC the most money.

Also note that WPTOnline.com has set up shop in Israel, a country which recently kicked out all offshore online gaming outfits, particularly Victor Chandler. WPTOnline.com has both its software development and customer service centers in Israel.





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[Jack Bando]

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Drink!!!

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MY LIVER!

Seriously though, USA would be a good fit, WPT>Law and Order SVU reruns.

[TexRef]

The WPT could really help itself by showing some of the action BEFORE the final table. That is one thing that I think that the PPT got right (along with a whole list of wrongs!) ... It would be interesting to see some "featured tables" from the first rounds of the WPT events. They don't have to stretch it out as much as the PPT, but maybe into 2 or 3 nights instead of one night of just the final six.