NBC Announces New Late Night Poker ShowPoker After Dark to Air First Week of 2007 |
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NBC announced it will air a show for those who would like to spend some quality time at night with Shana Hiatt, not to mention some of the best poker players in the world.
NBC invites viewers into the exclusive Las Vegas poker scene with its new late night show, Poker After Dark, which debuts Jan. 2 at 2 a.m. ET. The announcement was made today by Marc Graboff, President, NBC Universal Television, West Coast.
The nightly hourlong show will be hosted by one of poker's most recognizable faces, Hiatt. It will air Monday through Saturday and feature six poker professionals vying for a winner-take-all $120,000 first-place prize.
Each night of the original programming will feature an intimate look at one game as it develops over the week, culminating with a win on Friday night. Saturday night's show - the "director's cut" - will recap the week's events with Hiatt. That week's winner will offer commentary and insight into the player's winning strategy.
Set in the back rooms of various Vegas strip casinos, Poker After Dark gives viewers an inside look at a poker game usually reserved for the eyes of the professional poker players themselves. Poker After Dark will feature the best professional players in the world, all of whom will be miked-up during the weekly battles for over $100,000. Each episode will last an hour.
The pros include Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, Jennifer Harman, and Gus Hansen.
"We saw this as an opportunity to program this time period with original programming," said Graboff. "We're pleased to bring late night television viewers this inside look at the professional poker scene."
"I'm very excited to be working with NBC on Poker After Dark," said host Hiatt. "The unique format of the show will give viewers an incredible opportunity to see what it takes to be successful at the highest level of poker."
Hiatt, an East Coast native, hosted the WPT from 2003 to 2005. A former model, Hiatt has also appeared in the films Must Love Dogs and Grandma's Boy.
Poker After Dark is produced in conjunction with Poker Productions, the production company behind NBC's Heads Up Championship, two seasons of GSN's High Stakes Poker, three seasons of Fox Sports Net and NBC's Poker Superstars, and CBS's Intercontinental Poker Championship.