ESPN On Sloths and Toothbrush Color
Date: Wed, Apr 30, 2008
A while ago I read a post about ESPN's WSOP coverage on the 2+2 poker forums that I haven't been able to forget, so I thought I'd share it with you:
The reason the ratings are declining is because they have evolved the WSOP TV brand into the Degree All-In Preflop Fest thats more concerned about telling stupid back story promos than SHOWING ACTUAL POKER. I, for one, just don't care what color Kido Pham's toothbrush is....
Stop "The Nuts" segments... and the rest of that filler garbage. Stop all the stupid backstories about people. I know, I know: he was born with a sloth hanging out the back of his head... and he's made it his dream to play in the main event... yadda. Stop It.
ESPN needs to concentrate on trying to get at least three hands into each segment and evolve from there.
Deal Opens Friday, WSOP Live Next Week
Date: Thu, Apr 24, 2008
The movie Deal opens Friday, but I recommend you avoid it: it's bad even for a poker film.
Monday's WPT episode is the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship. The players are Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby, Danny Wong (Hendon Mob stats), David Levi (Hendon Mob stats), Shawn Buchanan, Thayer Rasmussen, and David Haddad. Hamby became famous as an online tournament phenom under the screenname TheWacoKidd, and since 2007 has had great success in live tournaments (interview, Hendon Mob stats).
Thursday, May 1 at 6 PM WSOP Live is airing the WSOP Circuit from Caesars Palace.
Check our poker on TV schedule for the list of shows regularly running new episodes, sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to our feed, and contact me with any suggestions or corrections.
Differing Takes On National Heads-Up Poker Championship Ratings
Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2008
POKER PROductions, producer of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, issued a press release touting record ratings:
The first two weeks of NBC's exclusive coverage of the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship have drawn higher overnight ratings than in any of the previous three seasons. Ratings show that coverage of the Round of 64, which aired on April 13 and on April 20, averaged a 1.45 rating and a 4 share, solidifying NBC's coverage of this event as the most watched of all poker-related televised programming. The ratings are especially noteworthy in that the first episode was aired in some major markets during the time that coverage of The Masters Golf Tournament was taking place on another network.
This would seem to indicate that poker is still very popular among viewers...
Equally impressive is that the National Heads-Up Poker Championship on NBC, which began in 2005 as a replacement for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs which did not take place because of a lockout, has continued to score high ratings despite some who have said that the poker boom peaked years ago.
Player agent Oliver Tse looked at final ratings for the first week (the above release is based on overnight ratings), and came up with quite a different take:
Year-to-year comparisons vs the episode(s) with similar content:
2008 vs 2007: minus 6.7% in households, minus 12.2% in viewers (2007: 2 1-hour episodes on April 8 and 15)
2008 vs 2006: minus 20.5% in households, minus 19.4% in viewers (2006: 1 1-hour episode on April 16)
2008 vs 2005: minus 19.1% in households, minus 20.8% in viewers (2005: 1 1-hour episode on May 1)
Would You Like To Write About Poker On TV?
Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008
I'm looking for one or more people interested in writing about poker on TV. Position(s) may be paid or unpaid, and involve editorial or non-editorial content. Please email me if you're interested.
ADHD Onscreen (A WSOP Europe Review)
Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008
* The World Series of Poker Europe is one of the worst poker broadcasts I've ever seen. Consider my experience watching the first episode. The episode was mostly about Phil Hellmuth, but when they did show some poker... what was I watching? They didn't tell me (it turned out to be day 1a of the Main Event). They also never told me who the players at the featured table were, what their chip stacks were, or how much the blinds and antes were.
The show has perhaps the worst case of ADHD I've ever seen. Sit still for a minute! They're constantly flitting from table to table to show bustouts or the end of big hands. It's impossible to cover an entire tournament well: the number of hands off the featured table they show should be zero. When they're not flitting, they're interrupting the poker with non-poker content. I don't watch a poker show to hear Dave Ulliot telling jokes or Robert Williamson telling me how to fold. The number of nonpoker segments they show should also be zero (I might make an exception for brief biographical bits). This show is more a collection of unconnected clips than it is the story of the featured table.
Occasionally they do show a hand from the featured table, and it usually involves one or more high pocket pairs. They don't show the action onscreen, and there isn't competent play-by-play to make up for it. You may not even know if a player raised or called, let alone the amount. They don't show most of the hole cards either.
I've written extensively about the problems with WSOP telecasts in the past, and this show pretty much fits the mold. The production has no redeeming feature, other than that it covers an important event. If you feel the need to watch it, I recommend you watch only the last two or three episodes, which feature the eventual champion.
You can download or stream the World Series of Poker Europe from the usual places.
World Poker Tour and Players Settle Lawsuit
Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008
The World Poker Tour and a group of players have settled the players' lawsuit over the WPT's release form. The players objected to the WPT's expansive release form, which gave the WPT rights to the players names and images. The lawsuit was settled after the parties agreed on a new release. We can once again expect to see plaintiffs Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, and Howard Lederer participating in WPT events.
WPT Press Release
PokerNews.com Article
WPTLawsuit.com
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Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2008
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