Pool on ESPN vs Poker

[Timer]

I've been watching a lot of pool on ESPN lately (it seems to be mosly women's tournaments, and I have no idea why), and the coverage isn't bad. It definitely has some problems, like not ever mentioning how much the prize money is, or the incredibly stupid nicknames they give to every player, but overall the coverage is pretty damn good compared to the Norman Chad Lon McPherson poker coverage fiasco.

In the pool tournaments, they analyze the play, discuss the shots, think outloud about stragegy, and NOT ONCE have I heard an announcer tell an ex-wife joke--or any kind of insipid joke for that matter.

Why can't the poker coverage get anywhere near the respect the pool tournament coverage gets?

And finally, I quit watching the WPT events a year or so ago, because I just couldn't take the Sexton hype anymore, plus many of the other problems associated with that horrible broadcast. [Do they really think they could make me do a goddamn beer commercial at the end of the tournament?] It's just an unwatchable program.

But I did continue to watch the WSOP on ESPN. Last week was the final straw. They opened the program with a stupid ex-wife joke! Don't they have any idea how much their horrible coverage is hated? Now, I can't watch that program any longer, at least with the sound on. It is INSUFERABLE! It's actually PAINFUL to listen to those two [censored]ers spout off their ignorant [censored]it.

Poker on TV just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.

[MCS]

Maybe it's one of those things where the ratings are good, so they figure that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I read similar reasoning in a Dr. Z column on SI.com regarding ESPN's horrendously bad Sunday Night Football crew. A producer/director/talent scout/something similar wrote to Z and said that since the ratings were so good for the Sunday night game, ESPN was not going to make any changes.

Of course, Z pointed out that the ratings were gonna be high ANYWAY, because football is popular and it's the only game on Sunday night, so why don't they hire some better guys? Maybe the ratings would be even better then, eh? And the producer basically said ESPN doesn't care if announcers are "good" or not if the ratings are sufficiently good.

I think there are a lot of similarities with the WSOP coverage.

[kutuz_off]

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Don't they have any idea how much their horrible coverage is hated?

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They do. It's called ratings. Very very high ratings.

[Yeti]

Just curious, how well does the WSOP do? And don't gimme all those weird-ass list of numbers. I don't understand the USA TV viewing figures.

The pool commentators are usually Mitch and Ewa Laurence right? They're good announcers because they actually discuss what the player needs to do on the current shot and how they should navigate the table to win. An announcer discussing strategy in a televised poker tourney is really rare. About the only times I've heard strategy discussed were Cardplayer's WSOP ME audio commentary this year and when Lederer gets a chance to announce like at Turning Stone last year. The ESPN WSOP and WPT coverages are for mass audiences that apparently know nothing about poker and need to have the simpliest things explained over and over. I still watch these shows but I turn the volume off because I just can't listen to the ex-wive stories anymore.

[kutuz_off]

An article back in 2004 claimed that WPT was Travel Channel's not only highest rated program, but highest rated in its entire history. WSOP broadcasts gather about twice of the regular Sportscenter and above an average regular season "major" sports broadcast. Now compare the associated costs. Add in the repeat show value. It won't last forever, though.

[XXXNoahXXX]

ESPN WSOP Coverage averaged 1.2 million per episode in 2003, and I can only guess its gone way up since then since I can't find updated stats for that. To give you a better idea, the WPT episodes on the Travel Channel (Which far fewer households get, and has much lower ratings than ESPN) averages 3-5 million in 2005.

[Kevmath]

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ESPN WSOP Coverage averaged 1.2 million per episode in 2003, and I can only guess its gone way up since then since I can't find updated stats for that. To give you a better idea, the WPT episodes on the Travel Channel (Which far fewer households get, and has much lower ratings than ESPN) averages 3-5 million in 2005.

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Those numbers may be for the 3 times the show aired during the week. Here's Travel Channel's numbers from an article that was posted in the Stock Market forum (Look for the article titled WPTE) [ QUOTE ]
The World Poker Tour's TV ratings are down this year, according to Nielsen. In 2003, the show averaged 922,000 viewers an episode. That figure rose to 985,000 a show last year. So far this year, it is 888,000.

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I've been watching a lot of pool on ESPN lately (it seems to be mostly women's tournaments, and I have no idea why)

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People want to watch Jeanette Lee and Alison Fisher stretched out on pool tables. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I know that I don't find viewing Earl Strickland and company anywhere near as entertaining.

just my 2c though.

[poker327]

The women are not playing for a lot, that is why they never mention it. A recent tournament had a top prize of $16,000 for instance.