Pokerography and Live at the Bike! have seen their linear TV runs cancelled with the shutdown of the Poker Central network from December 31, 2016, MultiChannel reports:
Poker Central, the newbie (October 2015) network built around poker players and enthusiasts, confirmed that its linear programming stream, including the TV channel, is shutting down at the end of this month. The network, primarily funded by Cary Katz and featuring a programming mixof library shows from producers including World Poker Tour and new event programming and original series such as Pokerography and Live at the Bike!, had a distribution deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative and is carried on Buckeye Broadband and Sony’s PlayStation Vue. It had not announced other pay-TV distribution agreements but one person close to the network (who asked not to be identified) said deals with other pay-TV distributors had been signed and were scheduled to begin rolling out over the next several months. The decision, made by Katz, to pull the plug on the linear network was a surprise and a disappointment to network executives, the person said. Clint Stinchcomb, who had been the network’s CEO, could not be reached for comment on the shutdown.
Despite the linear shutdown, Poker Central president Joe Kakaty says viewers will continue to see a ‘playlist’ of Poker Central programs (such as Inside Poker With Matt Savage) via free, on-demand, ad-supported video:
“It’s a digital pivot because we saw our millennial audience wanted more content. But they wanted new, original content.”
RIP.
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