Former pro anglers Peter Thliveros and Todd Hollowell will join the FLW Live broadcast team for the bulk of the 2019 FLW Tour season, FLW announced Tuesday. Matt Pangrac, a longtime contributor to BassZone.com and co-host of the web-based talk show "Bass Talk Live", will join step in for the FLW Tour stop at Grand Lake in late March. Thliveros and Hollowell will handle the balance of the schedule alongside studio host Travis Moran.
“We wanted to bring in pros with extensive knowledge of what it’s like to be competitive on the FLW Tour. Peter T. is a legendary angler who is loved by fans, and Todd Hollowell has had many successful years on the Tour and continues to fish,” said Peyote Perryman, executive producer of “FLW Live” and the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show. “Matt Pangrac is a younger guy who reports on the industry and competes at the Costa FLW Series level. All of our additions have some sort of experience to share with our audience.”
Known as ‘Peter T’ among friends and fans, Thliveros won the FLW Tour Angler of the Year award in 1996 and had a 16-year run on the FLW Tour, collecting a win at Michigan’s Lake St. Clair in 1999. The Florida pro also racked up six FLW Cup appearances and nearly $620,000 in earnings.
“I’m looking forward to the whole experience," Thliveros said. "With the amount of water I’ve fished over the years, I’m familiar with the terminology and have gained enough knowledge about the places the anglers are going to compete at. For 35 years I was the one occasionally getting interviewed. Now I’m going to be on the other end of it, and to me it’s just as exciting.”
Hollowell first fished the FLW Tour as a co-angler in 2009 before joining as a full-time professional in 2012. Since, Hollowell has earned two FLW Cup appearances, two top-10 finishes in Tour competition and more than $250,000 in career earnings.
“I think FLW is on the cutting-edge of bringing the fans what they want to see through FLW Live,” said Hollowell. “As an angler who has been competing on the Tour for seven years, it’s an awesome opportunity to sit in the studio and get an inside look at how some of the best anglers in the world break down these lakes. I also believe I’ll be able to help communicate some of the thoughts and feelings some of these anglers are experiencing. I’m very thankful to be a part of it.”
The 2019 season of “FLW Live” kicks off this weekend with live, on-the-water coverage on Saturday, Jan. 12 and Sunday, Jan. 13 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. CST at the FLW Tour at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The live on-the-water broadcast will air on days three and four of all FLW Tour regular-season events from the boats of the tournaments’ top pros, as well as all three days of the FLW Cup.
