Poker: Gambling TV Backers Hopeful

Published on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 12:50:43 PM

Anyone who has watched any television over the past year has likely stumbled upon a program or series related to casino gambling. The Travel Channel's "World Poker Tour," ESPN's "World Series of Poker," NBC's "Las Vegas" and the Discovery Channel's "American Casino" are among a few of the programs that transport viewers to a Las Vegas that is part fantasy, part reality. For people who can't get enough, several groups of investors are vying to be the first to market with an all-gambling television network.

Some say up to eight groups of investors are hunting for partners and distributors. Most of them are startup enterprises with contacts that gear toward the cable industry rather than companies affiliated with casinos or gaming companies.

One is Casino Gaming Network Television, which burst on the Las Vegas scene a year ago with an idea to show poker and other casino games in action along with programming dedicated to other segments of casino entertainment such as nightlife, shopping, concerts and spas. The network, led by an executive who helped launch the Fox Sports and Outdoor Life Network channels, aims to get distribution sometime next year.

CGTV Chief Executive Nick Rhodes, who attended the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this month, said there's pent-up demand for a gambling network.

"It's a big market," he said at the conference. "They're passionate about it."

There's a much larger market of potential gamblers and casino-goers than for fishing, tennis or even golf -- all of which have their own special interest channels, Rhodes said.

The economics also make sense, he said. Programming could be created relatively inexpensively using camera-friendly Las Vegas as a backdrop.

"We're not buying rights from the NFL," Rhodes said.

Another group that is already well-established in the casino industry is Players Network, a public company that has been broadcasting gambling-related material into casino hotel rooms for more than a decade.

Company Chief Executive Mark Bradley claims his company is the "furthest along" in creating a gambling network than any other group and that he is close to announcing a cable distribution deal.

"This has been a very long haul for me," said Bradley, a former television producer who arrived in Las Vegas in 1989 with plans of launching a gambling channel.

Years ago, broadcasters were skittish about showing gambling on television and some are still bound by contracts that prohibit them from airing shows that discuss sports betting because the networks also broadcast sporting events, Bradley said. Today, digital cable is opening up new opportunities for niche content but broadcasting costs have skyrocketed, making a new cable launches more challenging, he said.

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