Market Warriors

Overview

Market Warriors is an American reality television series that follows four professional antiquers as they buy assigned items at flea markets and antique shows on a budget. The items are then sold at auction, where the antiquers compete for the highest profit, which is most often determined by the lowest loss. Market Warriors has a number of connections to Antiques Roadshow: both are produced by WGBH, Boston, hosted by Mark L. Walberg, and share the participation of appraisers Miller Gaffney, Kevin Bruneau, John Bruno, Bene Raia, and Bob Richter. Fred Willard was the original host of the show; however, after his arrest for engaging in a lewd act at an adult movie theater, PBS dropped him as host and had Walberg re-voice the episodes Willard had already completed. On March 13, 2013, PBS announced it was ending production of Market Warriors, the series that premiered in July 2012 under Market Wars as a partner program to longtime ratings hit Antiques Roadshow, according to a March 14 WGBH, Boston, internal memo to employees. Marsha Bemko, executive producer of both programs, commented the decision was PBS’s and declined further comment.