Travel Channel To Debut 3 New Series

Baggage-BattlesThe Travel Channel is making a bid to land a hit in the flourishing auction genre. Following the successful “Auction Hunters” on Spike and “Storage Wars” on A&E, the network will debut “Baggage Battles” April 11.

The show’s focus is what happens to all that lost, unclaimed airline luggage. Answer: it goes up for auction, where bidders purchase bags without knowing the contents. And, as the characters on the Spike and A&E series have found, there are some hidden gems inside.

“Baggage Battles’’ follows three teams scouring the world, from Miami to London, looking for the golden airline ticket. The show is from MY Tupelo Entertainment, partly run by Michael Yudin, who has experience in branded entertainment as head of Carat’s arm in the space. 

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“These are actual auctions that happen -- we didn’t stage them,” said Andy Singer, who oversees programming at Travel Channel at a media event Wednesday. He added that the show fits “both the information and entertainment part of our space.” 

Another upcoming show remains in the popular search-and-discover genre, with some similarity to History Channel’s “American Pickers.” “Toy Hunters” follows collector Jordan Hembrough as he searches for rare toys and old Barbies and tries to flip them into major profits.

Run by Scripps Networks, Travel will debut “Hotel Impossible” April 9, featuring Anthony Melchiorri, a hotel “fixer” who might turn a South Beach dump into a high-end boutique in a matter of weeks. 

Greg Regis, who oversees sales at Travel, said the network’s audience is about 55% male, and is making headway in signing new advertisers in the auto, finance and technology categories. Tablet makers Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble have offered a new subcategory within technology.

Another new series is “Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America” (working title). Richman, who starred in “Man v. Food” on the network, will scavenge for the most “mouthwatering masterpieces” in particular regions.

The network will also launch a series with David Arquette and best friend Mike McGuiness as they gallivant around the globe.

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