Travel Channel Will Air New Professional Poker TourNew Show Premieres Later This Year |
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After five months of negotiations that survived the filing of a lawsuit, World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) and the Travel Channel have come to terms with an agreement that will bring WPTE's new show, the Professional Poker Tour (PPT), to the Travel Channel.
The Travel Channel is the home to the widely watched World Poker Tour (WPT).
The PPT will feature a series of invitation-only tournaments that are limited to the highest-ranked players in the world. The PPT is expected to begin airing in the third quarter of 2006 on Wednesday nights from 9-11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, following the completion of the fourth season of the WPT.
After finalizing the deal, both organizations issued the following statement: "WPT Enterprises and the Travel Channel are pleased to announce that they have resolved their differences amicably and terminated the litigation between them. Both parties look forward to continuing their mutually prosperous relationship."
"This deal allows Travel Channel to feature 44 weeks of premiere episodes of WPT and PPT programming each year, which is great for poker fans who have asked for additional premieres, and really bolsters our 'Wednesday Night is Poker Night on the Travel Channel' platform," said Pat Younge, the executive vice president and general manager of Travel Channel.
In September, WPTE filed suit against the Travel Channel accusing it of interfering with a developmental deal with a third-party network to air the PPT.
The suit alleged that after WPTE entered discussions with a third party for the PPT, the Travel Channel sent letters to the third party and WPTE offices warning each of them that WPTE broke the broadcasting contract by entering negotiations with a party besides the Travel Channel.
The suit, filed in California Superior Court, sought to keep the Travel Channel from interfering with negotiations with the other broadcaster.
The PPT will pit the top 200 poker players in the world against each other week after week. Like the PGA, players will have to qualify for a tour card in the PPT - through success on the WPT, the World Series of Poker main event, or other distinctions, including membership in the Poker Hall of Fame. The players will be fighting for a prize pool of $2.5 million dollars each season.
The five tournaments that will make up season one of the PPT have already been filmed. The show is hosted by poker pro Mark Seif and actor-poker enthusiast Matt Corboy.
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