Why Poker TV will Continue to Grow

I recently wrote an article for Andrew Brietbart’s “Big Hollywood” site. The assignment I was given was to write about why the entertainment industry seems to be creating far fewer legitimate television stars, and far more disposable reality TV celebrities. After some extensive research that included my DVR, several pizzas, and extremely sympathetic and pleasingly built red headed delivery girl, the answer became glaringly obvious. It was all about money. After thinking about this, and living with the topic for an appreciable amount of time, it also became clear that money was the reason that poker shows were not only not going away any time but they seemed to be proliferating. Those who doubt this should have a little discussion with the guys who sign Charlie Sheen’s sizeable pay check. holdem rules, internet texas hold em, poker tools, poker secrets, pro poker players
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By the time the show “Friends” reached the end of its legendary run, each of the actors and actresses were being paid a million apiece per episode. This seemed like a big number until “Two and a Half Men” hit the airwaves. Today, Charlie Sheen makes two million per episode to do whatever people think makes that show worth watching. These are some big numbers especially considering the fact that the show’s ratings are not exceptionally great. The best ratings day for Mr. Sheen this year has been a 10.5. By way of comparison, the show “Magnum P.I” was pulling a ratings number of over 22. He was paid the (in today’s money) about $100,000 per episode and he delivered huge ratings. There are a lot of reasons ratings are smaller than they were, and the cable industry has had much to do with it. There is now tons of fierce competition for every time slot instead of just having to square off against two or three other networks (as it was a couple decades ago). In short, producers need to work harder for smaller numbers, and sometimes a high priced celebrity just doesn’t work in that equation. The solution for many has been reality television, and poker shows. holdem rules, internet texas hold em, poker tools, poker secrets, pro poker players
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Poker shows are relatively inexpensive to produce due to the comparatively low cost to drum up a cast. Mr. Sheen won’t show up to work unless somebody hands him a two million dollar check. Put out a box of donuts on a poker table in a television studio and you have to fight Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dwan, etc. with a stick. Even if a big prize, like a million dollar pot is offered, this is still 1/6 the cost of the main Friends cast for one episode and ½ of a day of filming with Charlie Sheen. Theoretically a poker show can be filmed for an entire season for less than it costs to produce one episode of network sit-com. Add to this the natural tie-ins with poker websites, audience participation in freerolls, and an almost built in audience, and producing a poker show makes sense for any entertainment entity with an eye on cost as well as a modest return on investment. holdem rules, internet texas hold em, poker tools, poker secrets, pro poker players
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Ironically, poker shows, from an entertainment perspective, are not a huge gamble. It is the sit-coms and dramas that that are far riskier. This is exactly why we will continue to see poker shows in the near and probably distant future (unless the culture goes sour on the game…and then we will be stuck with “Snooki” and “Situation” until MTV mercifully goes out of business.) holdem rules, internet texas hold em, poker tools, poker secrets, pro poker players
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