How long until there is a channel dedicated only to poker?

[lawpoker]

[theredwave]

ESPN8 - The Ocho!

I thought I had heard of new a satellite channel that was supposed to be everything poker. If not then I'd say within this year.

[benfranklin]

I have seen several articles over the last few months about a cable gambling channel in the works. It appeared to be actually happening, but I don't kow the status.

[Ogre]

nobody will make a cable channel because they all know its a fad and not a long term thing.

[Sheriff Fatman]

In the UK I think its coming in the next few months. There was a recent advertisement for a scheduler for 'The Poker Channel' according to a thread on the Hendon Mob forum.

I'll reserve judgement until I see it!

Sheriff

[Vern]

[ QUOTE ]
nobody will make a cable channel because they all know its a fad and not a long term thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, when it fades they will have to play Rounders like 10 times a day to fill the gaps.

[Beach-Whale]

By Joe in the diary (http://www.thehendonmob.com/diary.php):

One of Copenhagen's residents is none other than Jesse May who is working with ex Late Night Poker producer, Robert Gardner, on a series of shows for the new poker channel called Up Close. There will be a series of ten shows where Jesse interviews for 30 - 40 minutes players from the poker circuit much more in depth than has been done previously. As Rob put it 'The movers and shakers of the poker world'. Barny and I were invited to take part in the first series together with Greg Raymer, Dave Colclough, Marcel Luske and Padraig Parkinson and there wasn't a coffee cup in sight.

The Poker Channel will start on the Sky TV Network mid March 2005 and the EPT Scandinavian Open 2005 starts in about half an hour.

[Beach-Whale]

Had to vote "6 months," because there was no "1 month"...

[Beach-Whale]

Just got Card Player Europe in the mail, and here is what Jesse May writes on page 4:

March will see the launch of The Poker Channel, the first television channel in the UK dedicated to poker on a 24-hour basis. The first big tournament held on the channel will be live, aired three days a week for a six-week run with betting potential that will bring a whole new dimension to televised poker. The Poker Channel will also kick off with a load of poker shows that will offer something a little different. Television has gotten saturated with poker tournaments of such similar formats that it was beginning to feel like there was the Late Night Poker format and nothing else. But 2005 will be the year that mold is broken, and that bodes well for people who don't order the same thing every time they go to a Chinese restaurant.

[Mike Haven]

Sky TV Brings On "The Poker Channel"

Earl Burton

The United States has been at the forefront of the televised poker boom, beginning with the World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker, other professional events and moving on to the endless stream of "celebrity" poker shows as well. They have mostly focused on tape-delayed action, with the crown jewel being the World Series of Poker. Only Fox Sports Network has attempted to bring a poker event to the public broadcast live. But that will soon change, at least for part of the poker world.

England's Sky TV has struck ahead, over any action in America, by becoming the first to bring a television channel focusing on poker. Sky TV is currently finishing up their audio and video testing of the Poker Channel, an interactive channel that will feature documentaries, tips and live poker tournaments with the goal of signing on March 23rd.

An early premiere broadcast had a lot to offer the casual fan, and the hardcore poker enthusiast. Coming soon on the Poker Channel, The British Poker Open is scheduled for live broadcast, as well as the Southern California Poker Tour, and The Learning Zone (advice and tips on poker and other casino games). The Poker Channel will also feature player profiles and documentaries that will follow them as they tour the world.

Additional programming falls into the "reality" area. "Poker Godfather" will feature a poker professional as he (or she) visits an amateur player at home and aids them through an online tournament. Another "reality" feature will follow Barny Boatman of the Hendon Mob through the trials and tribulations of home game poker by playing at a different player's home game each episode.

Odds are that the channel will not be picked up in the United States as of yet. Sky TV is a satellite channel provider and, for DishNetwork or DirecTV to pick up the Poker Channel, it would more than likely have to take a block of programming from Sky TV. It would be a stretch to imagine either of these two US satellite companies signing on for such a block to get the programming of one channel, but it could happen.

With the resurgence in the great game of poker, it is a little surprising that this did not happen in America first. If you look at the history of poker on television, however, it was "Late Night Poker" in England that led to Steve Lipscomb envisioning the World Poker Tour. Leave it to the inventive British media to once again find a way to make a channel dedicated to poker a reality! Those of us outside of England and the rest of Europe will have to depend on our friends from that area to tell us how the Poker Channel works out.

From PokerNews. (http://www.pokernews.info/news/2005/03/poker-channel.htm)

[RollaJ]

I just voted for 6 months....... is that cheating?

[Mike Haven]

http://www.thepokerchannel.co.uk/jesse.asp