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TV This Week

For CNBC, big bets on small businesses

Show features billionaire Tilman J. Fertitta checking out mom-and-pops

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

March 22, 2016

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It’s pretty much the dream scenario for small businesses everywhere: A big investor comes along and offers to stake your company.

Imagine if that investor was a billionaire.

That’s the premise of CNBC’s new reality show “Billion Dollar Buyer,” which bows tonight at 10 p.m.

The program follows Tilman J. Fertitta, the owner of Landry’s, the restaurant company behind Morton’s The Steakhouse, Rainforest Café, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and more.

He travels to small businesses across the country and offers his advice along with suggestions for improvements. But he also brings his checkbook and has promised to sponsor the most promising of the bunch.

It’s a perfectly on-brand show for CNBC, which focuses on business by day but has always had a bit of trouble focusing at night, after the markets close and its editorial mission becomes less relevant.

Recently primetime repeats of “Shark Tank” have done very well on the network, accounting for the top 11 shows on the network last week among total viewers.

If “Billion” could draw even half the 449,000 “Shark” averaged in primetime that week, that would make it a decent draw for the network.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, MARCH 22
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	“The Flash” (D)	Barry and friends attempt to have a night out, but run into trouble along the way.
9 p.m.	NBC	“Heartbeat” (D)	Series premiere. New drama based on the life of Dr. Kathy Magliato and her book “Heart Matters.”
9 p.m.	Discovery Channel	“Deadliest Catch: A Season in Hell” (R)	New two-hour special featuring season highlights.
10 p.m.	CNBC	“Billion Dollar Buyer” (R)	Series premiere. The owner of Landry’s Restaurants interviews small-business owners in hopes of adding to his chain.
10 p.m.	Esquire Network	“Friday Night Tykes: Steel Country” (R)	Series premiere. Spinoff reality series following youth football in Western Pennsylvania.
10 p.m.	Freeform	“Stitchers” (D)	Season premiere. The lab is locked down sue to a mystery surrounding Les Turner.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA Basketball” (S)	Doubleheader includes Knicks at Bulls and Clippers at Warriors.
8 p.m.	Disney XD	“Kirby Buckets” (C)	Kriby has it good when his dad becomes friends with Principal Mitchell.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Modern Family” (C)	Phil and Claire take a trip to Paris even though they’re both nearly exhausted.
10 p.m.	Comedy Central	“Broad City” (C)	Abbi visits her childhood home in Philadelphia.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Little Women: LA” (R)	Season premiere. Penny tries to ease her tension with her surgery looming.
10 p.m.	Oxygen	“Preachers of Atlanta” (R)	Season finale. Gossip spreads at a block party organized by the pastors.
THURSDAY, MARCH 24
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	CBS airs two regional semifinal games, with two more on TBS.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (S)	The season’s remaining four singers perform.
9 p.m.	CMT	“Party Down South” (R)	Lyle breaks up with Santana over the phone.
10 p.m.	ABC	“The Catch” (D)	Series premiere. A private investigator is duped out of millions of dollars be her fiancé.
10 p.m.	FX	“Baskets” (C)	Season finale. Mom learns to cope with diabetes, and chip hits a new low.
10 p.m.	WE tv	“Sisters in Law” (R)	Series premiere. Reality show following black female lawyers in Houston.
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	Another pair of Sweet 16 games, with two more airing on TBS.
8:30 p.m.	Univision Deportes Network	“Soccer” (S)	A World Cup qualifying match between Mexico and Canada.
9 p.m.	Disney Channel	“Backstage” (C)	Series premiere. New sitcom following teens at a school for the arts.
9 p.m.	Fox	“Second Chance” (D)	Season finale. Pritchard and Duval attempt to save Gracie from Connor and Otto’s experiment.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Spring Broke” (N)	Documentary about the beginnings of spring break in 190s Daytona Beach.
10 p.m.	HBO	“Real Time with Bill Maher” (T)	Maher and guests discuss the latest round of primary results.
SATURDAY, MARCH 26
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Tour Golf” (S)	Quarterfinal coverage of the WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin.
6 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	First half of an Elite Eight doubleheader, sending two teams to the Final Four.
7 p.m.	ABC	“The Ten Commandments” (M)	Annual pre-Easter airing of the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille classic.
8 p.m.	TV One	“Chasing Waterfalls” (M)	TV movie based on the Biblical story of David but set in the fashion industry.
8 p.m.	Lifetime	“The Perfect Daughter” (M)	A father tries to restore his relationship with his daughter after he finds her drunk.
9 p.m.	Starz	“Black Sails” (D)	Season finale. Silver makes a sacrifice, while Flint gets support from an unlikely source.
SUNDAY, MARCH 27
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 p.m.	NBC	“PGA Tour Golf” (S)	The championship and third-places matches at the WGC-Dell Match Play, won last year by Rory McIlroy.
6 p.m.	TBS	“College Basketball” (S)	The first of two more regional finals, setting up next weekend’s Final Four.
9 p.m.	PBS	“Grantchester” (D)	Season premiere. Sidney and another priest are suspected of murder.
9 p.m.	CBS	“The Good Wife” (D)	Alicia and Diane defend a privacy rights case involving a drone.
9 p.m.	AMC	“The Walking Dead” (D)	Two parties head out to find someone who’s missing.
10 p.m.	HBO	“Girls” (C)	Marnie takes a walk following a fight with Desi and runs into someone from her past.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.