One of the game's biggest brands extends its global reach with broadcast deal in Asian poker hotbeds
Poker’s continuing rise and rise towards total world domination has taken another step forward as the World Poker Tour announces a deal to broadcast in Asia.
Reflecting both the global appeal of poker, as well as the high levels of interest in the game in Southeast Asia, the landmark TV show will now be shown in Macau and Singapore.
Macau, a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, is one of the highest volume gaming centers in the world. Macau Cable will air the WPT’s Season I. MediaCorp, the largest broadcaster in Singapore, will feature Season II for its viewers.
The agreements elevate to 154 the number of territories in which WPT shows now air.
"These two deals give us a secure foothold in Southeast Asia, along with our deals in the Philippines," said Gary MacKinney, WPTE Executive Director of International Distribution. "With the long history of gaming in Macau and the recent licenses issued to a number of international gaming giants who will build or run major new casinos, this area is only going to get hotter."
Regionally, WPTE has an ongoing relationship, established in 2004 with Solar Entertainment, to air the U.S. version of the show. Additionally, WPTE has an agreement with the largest integrated media and entertainment company in the Philippines, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., to license and air on its network local staged WPT events.
Other recent deals include the first WPTE broadcasting commitment in Spain where Fox will air WPT’s Season I. In addition to the PPT, Canada’s City TV will air the recently completed WPT Season IV.
"WPTE’s continued international broadcast expansion has fueled the worldwide poker phenomenon and has given us first position in the increasingly larger global poker marketplace," said Steve Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPTE. "The demand for our programming has been gratifying and the speed of growth exhilarating."
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