4/20 – After Sponsors Indicted, Most Poker Shows Continuing to Air

The “World Series of Poker” on ESPN and “World Poker Tour” on Fox Sports Net will air as scheduled following the indictments of gambling websites that spent almost $27 million on TV ads last year. Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s ESPN will carry the “World Series of Poker” in July, Chris LaPlaca, a spokesman, said today in an e- mail. The network pre-empted last night’s “North American Poker Tour Presented by PokerStars.net.” News Corp.’s Fox Sports Net has pulled PokerStars.net ads from “World Poker Tour,” said Lou D’Ermilio, a New York-based spokesman. ESPN, based in Bristol, Connecticut, won’t air the 10 hours of “PokerStars,” the network said. FullTiltPoker.net and PokerStars.net, two sites charged with fraud and money- laundering by the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, spent $26.8 million in 2010 on TV advertising, researcher Kantar Media said. PokerStars spent another $8.3 million on Web and magazine ads. Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)’s NBC airs the “National Heads Up Championship” and “Poker After Dark,” while the Game Show Network, owned by DirecTV (DTV) and Sony Corp. (6758), broadcasts “High Stakes Poker.” Chris McCloskey, a spokesman for NBC Sports in New York, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sean Jennings, a spokesman for Santa Monica, California-based Game Show Network, couldn’t comment. The seventh season of “High Stakes Poker,” hosted by comedian Norm MacDonald, started Feb. 26, the channel said on its website, according to Bloomberg.

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