GSN Unveils World Poker Tour Lineup
Mirage Poker Showdown March 24 to Kick Off WPT on GSN
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/13/2008 12:27:00 PM
GSN unveiled its schedule for the sixth season of World Poker Tour.
The WPT began its television life on Travel Channel, where it ran for five very successful seasons, bringing the network a younger male audience that was parlayed into shows such as No Reservations. GSN acquired the rights to broadcast the WPT last April.
The first WPT event to be broadcast on GSN will be the Mirage Poker Showdown March 24 at 9 p.m. All told, GSN picked up 23 two-hour episodes, including three new stops for the tour.
GSN established itself as a player in the TV-poker game with High Stakes Poker, which the network billed as the only “cash” game on television. The popularity of High Stakes Poker made the acquisition of the WPT a natural fit.
“The WPT is one of the strongest brands on television, and poker fans will enjoy the action every Monday night on GSN,” senior vice president of programming Jamie Roberts said in a statement. “With the popularity of our original cash game, High Stakes Poker,and the World Poker Tour, there is no better place to watch poker on television.”
The network also announced that the announcing team for the first five seasons of the series, Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton, will return for the sixth season on GSN. The show will get a new hostess, however -- Layla Kayleigh, a former host on G4, will join the program.
World Poker Tour will air Mondays at 9 p.m. on GSN.
