Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was as if including "Las Vegas" in the title of a documentary was some Holy Grail for viewer ratings and, as familiarity with all the cameras and appreciation of all the "legitimizing" attention that generally portrayed the city in a positive light led to a more relaxed attitude toward filming on the part of casinos, both domestic and international networks were practically falling over each other to set their shows against the backdrop of Sin City. Green Valley Ranch, Golden Nugget, and South Point have all welcomed "reality" TV crews in for entire series, as has Metro.
In a previous incarnation, this writer produced no less than 19 shows/episodes set in Las Vegas, from in-depth analysis of the decor of high roller accommodations for HGTV (how many ways can you film a hot tub?), to the pathology of gambling addiction for BBC, not to mention a cast of showgirls and scammers, casino owners and cheats, math geeks, magicians, and mobsters across a spectrum of other projects for diverse networks. Anthony Curtis and the roster of expert authors at Huntington Press became well-known household personalities due to frequent featuring by Travel Channel, Discovery, et al.
In fact, it could have been one of those series, namely "High Stakes," a three-parter all about the history and current workings of Las Vegas produced for Discovery Channel in 1999, that you're thinking of, since the Rio was the hotel most amenable to filming and, hence, received most screen time. It sounds like you're referring to a dedicated profile, however, and it rings a bell with us but we've been able to locate anything specific; if someone out there can help, please drop us a line.
Las Vegas Sands Inc. has traditionally also been camera-friendly and in 2004 was featured in National Geographic's "Megastructures" series about the challenges of constructing major landmarks and achieving major feats of engineering for an episode named "Building the Venetian." In 2007, Discovery revisited similar ground in season 6 of its "Building the Impossible" series, which featured Palazzo as the subject of the "Construction of the World's Biggest Casino" episode.
Both of these should be available via the online store of the respective network or, if that fails, either new or used copies should be available at amazon.com (just make sure you purchase the correct season if you're not buying a complete set.) If you simply want to watch the shows without actually purchasing, first check the program archive of the network and if that fails, try searching YouTube, where the popularity of the city tends to ensure that most Vegas-related programs get posted by someone.
The obsession that spawned enough shows for entire "Vegas Weekends" on Travel Channel eventually waned, not least because of the over-exposure that had left few worthwhile stones left unturned, culminating in such real "scraping-the-barrel"-type concepts as Vegas trailer-park wives. Evidently, however, the U.K. viewing public has not yet reached saturation point when it comes to Sin City and in 2013, Channel 5 there aired a well-received show filmed at Venetian called "World's Busiest Hotel," which was shot on location at Venetian and chronicles the entire behind-the-scenes workings at the resort (including disclosing how many meatballs it takes to sustain a Strip megaresort on a daily basis), so you should check to see if that's available online or to purchase. (NOTE: If the latter, just be sure you can play the DVD on U.S. equipment; sometimes from our past experience, even digital formats don't necessarily translate across "The Pond".)
