''Billion Dollar Buyer'' is an American

reality TV show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

starring American business owner,

Tilman Fertitta Tilman Joseph Fertitta (born 1957) is an American billionaire businessman and television personality. He is the chairman, CEO, and owner of Landry's, Inc. He also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Houston Rockets. Fertitta is ch ...

, CEO and owner of

Landry's, Inc. Landry's, Inc., is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining, hospitality, entertainment and gaming corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. Landry's, Inc. owns and operates more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos and entertainme ...

Each hour-long episode features Fertitta traveling the nation to sample new and innovative hospitality products. Small business owners compete to impress the business mogul and land the "deal of a lifetime" - the opportunity to partner with

, as a supplier to Fertitta's over 60 leading Landry's restaurants, hotels, and entertainment brands. The program premiered on March 22, 2016, and is broadcast on

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

Premise

The show follows

as he visits cities across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to assess potential products for his restaurants and casinos (anything from food and drink, to linens and spa goods) that are produced by small businesses. During each episode, Fertitta meets with two businesses to sample their wares and determine their compatibility with Landry's, Inc. Fertitta shares his assessment of the products and operations with the owners and recommends improvements to help the businesses meet Landry's standards of quality and finance. Contestants are then given time to implement Fertitta's advice. At the conclusion of the episode, Fertitta has the contestants join him at the Landry's, Inc., headquarters. There, Fertitta reveals his decision whether he will offer a contestant the "deal of a lifetime" by placing a substantial purchase order from their business. A deal may be offered to one, both, or neither company.

History and production

''Billion Dollar Buyer'' was first advertised in January 2016 and the series premiered on March 22, 2016. The first season contains six episodes and while the series is filmed in cities across the

, the episode always ends at

headquarters in

Houston, TX Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

. CNBC has called the first episode its "most watched premiere hour ever." With the first season showing such success, Fertitta announced that filming for the second season is planned to begin in summer 2016 and feature almost twice as many episodes. The third installment of the series premiered on January 3, 2018 with new businesses making the pitch.

References

{{CNBC Business Day 2016 American television series debuts 2010s American reality television series CNBC original programming English-language television shows 2018 American television series endings