Jay, Conan & The Professor: NBC To Debut Late-Night Poker

NBC will debut “Poker After Dark” on January 2 at 2:05am ET. The one-hour show will air nightly Monday-Saturday and will be hosted by Shana Hiatt, the former host of the World Poker Tour on The Travel Channel. Six players will play in a week-long tournament, culminating with one player on Friday night earning a winner-take-all $120,000 prize. Saturday’s show, which will air from 1:00-2:00am after “Saturday Night Live,” will feature a recap of the past week’s tournament with commentary from the winner. The show will be held in various casinos in Las Vegas and will feature players like Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, Jennifer Harman and Gus Hansen (NBC). “Poker After Dark” replaces a repeat of “The Tonight Show.” This is the net’s “first attempt to place original programming in a timeslot known more for repeats and infomercials” (DAILY VARIETY, 10/12).

SUNDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: BROADCASTING & CABLE’s Ben Grossman reports NBC is “tentatively planning” to air a triple-header of the first three episodes of “Friday Night Lights” on Sunday, October 22, in the timeslot usually held by “SNF.” No primetime NFL game is scheduled that night due to Game Two of the World Series. The net is also planning to air repeats of the show on Bravo and USA Network (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 10/9 issue).