(Boston – November 26, 2012) WGBH’s newest prime-time series, Market Warriors, returns in the new year with nine new episodes and new picker Benedicta “Bene” Raia. Owner of Raia Auctioneers, an auction house in Holliston, MA, Bene (pronounced “Benny”) will be introduced to PBS viewers nationwide Monday, January 7, at 9pm on WGBH 2. Market Warriors, a game of finding the best antiques at the best price before time runs out, immediately follows the season premiere of Antiques Roadshow—making Monday nights on public television a true destination for all things antiques and collectibles.

Market Warriors kicks off the new year Monday, January 7 at the Iowa Walnut Antique Show with new picker BeneRaia, a professional auctioneer and mother of four from Sherborn, MA. Bene has owned and operated Raia Auctioneers in Holliston, MA for more than 15 years, selling numerous highly coveted items belonging to serious collectors. A generalistwith specific interests in furniture and American folk art, Bene’s core specialty is antique dolls. She joins Warriors’ rotating cast that includes Kevin Bruneau, John Bruno, Miller Gaffney and Bob Richter. Each episode of Market Warriors will feature four pickers.

“Bene brings to Market Warriors the insights, instincts and true market knowledge of an auctioneer,” says Executive Producer Marsha Bemko. “In her professional life, she sees thousands of antiques and collectibles go through her auction house in any given month and knows the crucial hammer prices that make up the marketplace. It’s a perspective that we wanted to highlight in 2013.”

“Market Warriors is a dream for me,” says Bene, “going all over the country in flea markets buying. I love competition. I have an eye for things that might make money; that might make value. I just feel very lucky to do what I love.”

From the producers of Antiques Roadshow—PBS’s most-watched prime-time series—Market Warriors follows antiques pickers on a nationwide treasure hunt, scouring flea markets for antiques and vintage valuables with an eye toward selling their finds for profit at auction. Over the course of nine new, one-hour episodes, viewers will enjoy an up-close look at the fierce competition andobstacles the pickers face in the marketplace each week, as they make theirbest guesses about who will come out ahead at the end of each episode. Showcasing what different areas of the country have tooffer the intrepid antique hunter, the 2013 episodes were filmed at flea markets across the country among them Walnut, IA, New Milford, CT, Long Beach, CA, and Greenwich, NY.

The Market Warriors websiteextends and enhances the broadcast experience through Web-exclusive videos and profiles of the series’ expert pickers; a blog featuring behind-the-scenes news from the series, along with articles about featured objects from the episodes and insights and tips from the pickers and other experts from the world of antiques and flea markets; a Scoreboard further encouraging audience participation by tracking each picker’s season-long successes and failures; and full episodes streaming on demand. Market Warriors Web content is available via social media channels, and fans can contribute to conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and share their own favorite flea market finds on the series’ website.

Market Warriors is produced for PBS by WGBH. The Executive Producer is Marsha Bemko and the Senior Producer is John Kalish. Sponsored by PBS through the support of public television viewers, Market Warriors is closed-captioned for viewers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing by The Media Access Group at WGBH.

 

About WGBH

WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Curious George, and more than a dozen other prime-time, lifestyle, and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBH 44, and the digital channels World and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black, High School Quiz Show, and Neighborhood Kitchens. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Boston Public Radio; Classical New England; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of programs for public radio (including The World), a leader in educational multimedia (including PBS LearningMedia, a free online service providing the nation’s educators with curriculum-based digital content to meet 21st-century learners’ needs), and a pioneer in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or visually impaired. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards…even two Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.

###