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The Creative Arts Department is developing and producin the Wampum Insider Network, which involves employees from throughout the casino as well as big-name entertainers who perform at Foxwoods.
WIN-TV airs 24 hours a day on televisions at the three on-site hotels as well as the Mystic Hilton and Norwich Inn & Spa.

It is Foxwoods' second venture into television programming. Foxwoods News Network, a show geared toward the 12,000 employees who work at the world's largest casino, has been on the air in the back of the house at Foxwoods for five years.

The debut show features segments on the casino's new mid-week matinee performances and a recent "Murder Mystery Slot Tournament," a special event for loyal slot machine customers. Entertainers David Copperfield, Bill Cosby, Dennis Miller, Wayne Brady and country singer Jo Dee Messina make guest appearances. The co-hosts and reporters repeatedly extol the benefits of the Wampum program, in which customers use their cards every time they gamble and accrue points that can be used at casino stores, hotels and restaurants.
Tom Cantone, vice president of entertainment, said he realized some time ago that Foxwoods had a TV station on its in-house network that was not being used. At the same time, the casino's marketing department was embarking on an effort to "rebrand" its Wampum players card. The card is now being promoted as a rewards program rather than a club membership.

"The timing was good," Cantone said. "We set out five years ago to be more innovative with how we communicate to our employees. FNN was created. Since then we've learned a lot about our capabilities to use television. When we saw another opportunity to use it, this time on the consumer side, we were ready from a technology and knowledge perspective."

Cantone said his longtime friend Bill Cosby wanted to do more than just make a brief appearance on WIN-TV. Cosby insisted on producing a segment in the Stargazer Casino, a high-roller area on the 25th floor of the Grand Pequot Tower. Cosby worked "off the top of his head," Cantone said, overseeing a three-camera shoot involving 10-12 people called "Don't Touch the Cards." It will air in January.

WIN-TV is probably the first show of its kind for a casino, Cantone said. When Foxwoods first started airing FNN five years ago, a team from Canada's Casino Windsor visited for a week to learn how the show was produced.

"Word spread to Las Vegas, and the word we got was that one or two casinos out there were doing the same thing," he said.