9-ball or 10-ball, which is more entertaining to you?
- Thread starter Celtic
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You should also put in a choice for no difference. I am 60/40 in favor of 10b, but really don't care. Just want a pool channel on my damn inhome comcast ripoff system.
Maybe the question should be: What is it about snooker which draws big ratings on TV in the U.K. - and big sponsors - and big money for the players?
If you ask me, snooker is made for TV. It is easy to see the difference between the red balls and the colored balls on TV. Your average viewer can quickly learn that the player needs to hit a red, then a colored.
With 9-ball, I can't easily tell which ball is which on TV.
Maybe it is something as simple as that?
FYI - In hollywood, they have special TV "marketing research" theatres. Each seat in the theatre has an electronic "viewer feedback" dial. You watch something on the screen and if you like what you are currently viewing, you turn the dial one way. If you don't like it, you turn the dial the other way. Or turn the dial to the middle if no opinion.
So they can play back the movie or whatever after the audience has watched it. Then if there are sections where most people disliked what they saw, cut those portions out. If there are sections where most people liked what they were viewing - then add more of that content. You wind up with something most people like.
If you ask me, snooker is made for TV. It is easy to see the difference between the red balls and the colored balls on TV. Your average viewer can quickly learn that the player needs to hit a red, then a colored.
With 9-ball, I can't easily tell which ball is which on TV.
Maybe it is something as simple as that?
FYI - In hollywood, they have special TV "marketing research" theatres. Each seat in the theatre has an electronic "viewer feedback" dial. You watch something on the screen and if you like what you are currently viewing, you turn the dial one way. If you don't like it, you turn the dial the other way. Or turn the dial to the middle if no opinion.
So they can play back the movie or whatever after the audience has watched it. Then if there are sections where most people disliked what they saw, cut those portions out. If there are sections where most people liked what they were viewing - then add more of that content. You wind up with something most people like.
Billy_Bob said:
If you can't tell which ball is which in 9ball, then maybe you should get your eyes checked. If somebody can't tell which ball is which, that isn't enough reason for people not to watch. And even if they couldn't tell, commentators use the telestrator thing to show each ball before every single shot.
Hey switch to the dish,better channels less expensive and you don't feel like Comcast is in your back pocket.Better video and sound.Black-Balled said:
I vote for 10 B.
Billy_Bob said:
Actually, this was one of the main reasons why the major networks in UK started broadcasting snooker. The increase in popularity of color tv's in 60's and 70's made them come up with a program which involved the use of colors. And snooker was perfect ! Or, should I say the snooker on tv made many viewers change their tv sets to color...
OldHasBeen
Tom Ferry
IMO - 9-Ball is best!
IMO - 10-Ball was invented for ring games back in the '70's because players with great breaks like Billy Johnson were too dominating.
Until Joe 6-pack is running 4 & 5 racks consistently - Why the need for 10-Ball?
JMO
TY & GL
IMO - 10-Ball was invented for ring games back in the '70's because players with great breaks like Billy Johnson were too dominating.
Until Joe 6-pack is running 4 & 5 racks consistently - Why the need for 10-Ball?
JMO
TY & GL
OldHasBeen said:
I think he should chage his nickname if he can't run a six-pack!
Maybe he can drink a 6-pack and run a 3-packRackin_Zack said:I think he should chage his nickname if he can't run a six-pack!
10 ball in my opinion is a bit more of a level playing field due to the break not being so consistant that an exceptional player wins more often. For some reaon in nine ball I can get to 9-12 in a tourney, maybe 7-8th but the break is the factor that keeps our local top guns firing on all cylinders and on top. However in ten ball I can almost get to the top. I am not a fan of 7 ball so much but the idea of no safeties is ineresting. I am an offensive player however. Just my 2 cents.
Sean
Sean
Billy_Bob said:
All the posts above relating to what Billy_Bob said are correct. The BBC were launching BBC2, their second channel which was primarily going to be broadcast in colour. To promote this, and to test colour TV broadcast, the BBC came along with "Pot Black" - the single frame invitational snooker tournament that lasted for over 20-odd years! It is what got me interested in the cue sports when I was a kid.
Why does snooker get so much money? Two words - Barry and Hearn. Simple as that. He made the snooker players become household names in the UK thanks to sponsorships, promotions and such like. Players were popping up on chat shows, playing trickshots or just sitting talking with the host. From that, and a lot of work in the background, tournament prize money started to grow until it reached the level we are at today.
To give you an example, when Cliff Thorburn made his 147 break in the 1983 World Championships, he got a total of £17,000 (approx $30,000 at today's exchange rate) for the Maximum, the High Break Prize and the award for the Championship record break. Jump to 1997 and Ronnie O'Sullivan's magical 5-minute maximum. He got £147,000 (around $265,000) for the maximum alone! I can't remember what he got for the highest break prize. Another instance was when Jimmy White made his 147 but lost in the final. He ended up with more prizemoney than that year's winner.
Another example is the first prize - in 1972, when Alex Higgins won his first World Title, he won £800 (around $1,400) and £100 of that was his entry fee! At the start of May, the World Champion will walk away with £250,000 (over $400,000).
I've said this in the past - give it time. It seems to me that prize money in pool will grow and grow. Who knows what sort of prize money the World Champion will be walking away with in 10 or 15 years time.
Best wishes
thecardman
www.scottish9ball.com
take into account that MOST of us here are POOL PLAYERS.............and MOST of the t.v. audience are NOT POOL PLAYERS.
they play pool but they are not pool players, if you catch my drift.
i for one prefer 10 ball, but this is not the case with the average joe, who has never even heard of 10 ball.
also take into account that snooker, is a relatively fast game when pro snooker players play. ronnie made his 147 in like 5 minutes...........thats only twice as long as the average 9 ball rack.
to be successful on T.V. you have to be fast so you won't bore people, and you have to have some excitement (i.e. luck.)
right now at this very moment, i don't think that the average joe is ready for 10 ball.
give it a few years, after the average person understands pool, and it becomes more of a mainstream game/sport. then and only then, can you make the game harder, as it has a large enough fan base, with enough of them having a good understanding of the game to appreciate the higher degree of difficulty......................which right now, pool does not have.
VAP
they play pool but they are not pool players, if you catch my drift.
i for one prefer 10 ball, but this is not the case with the average joe, who has never even heard of 10 ball.
also take into account that snooker, is a relatively fast game when pro snooker players play. ronnie made his 147 in like 5 minutes...........thats only twice as long as the average 9 ball rack.
to be successful on T.V. you have to be fast so you won't bore people, and you have to have some excitement (i.e. luck.)
right now at this very moment, i don't think that the average joe is ready for 10 ball.
give it a few years, after the average person understands pool, and it becomes more of a mainstream game/sport. then and only then, can you make the game harder, as it has a large enough fan base, with enough of them having a good understanding of the game to appreciate the higher degree of difficulty......................which right now, pool does not have.
VAP
Rackin_Zack said:I think he should chage his nickname if he can't run a six-pack!
Yuk-yuk-yuk.
vapoolplayer said:
I know exactly what you mean.
Thing is, tho that here in the UK, most people who watch snooker aren't snooker players. They just enjoy watching the game for what it is.
vapoolplayer said:
Snooker? Fast? Nah! O'Sullivan plays that quickly because he can. Simple as that. An average frame of snooker can last upwards of 15 to 20 minutes. Most times more. Why else do you think the World Snooker Championship Final lasts 2 whole days. And that's a race to 18 frames.
I suppose that it is purely a case of different cultures. For you guys in the States (to my mind) everything has to go at 100mph. American Football, Basketball and the WPBA have shotclocks of one form or another (I HATE THAT WPBA SHOTCLOCK!). Here in the UK, people can easily get wrapped up in a frame of snooker that can last anything up to an hour or more - especially when it is getting close to the end of a tournament. We sometimes find safety battles as enthralling and exciting as the likes of O'Sullivan or White or Williams pocketing balls at full flow.
Best wishes
thecardman
www.scottish9ball.com
thecardman said:I know exactly what you mean.
Thing is, tho that here in the UK, most people who watch snooker aren't snooker players. They just enjoy watching the game for what it is.
Snooker? Fast? Nah! O'Sullivan plays that quickly because he can. Simple as that. An average frame of snooker can last upwards of 15 to 20 minutes. Most times more. Why else do you think the World Snooker Championship Final lasts 2 whole days. And that's a race to 18 frames.
I suppose that it is purely a case of different cultures. For you guys in the States (to my mind) everything has to go at 100mph. American Football, Basketball and the WPBA have shotclocks of one form or another (I HATE THAT WPBA SHOTCLOCK!). Here in the UK, people can easily get wrapped up in a frame of snooker that can last anything up to an hour or more - especially when it is getting close to the end of a tournament. We sometimes find safety battles as enthralling and exciting as the likes of O'Sullivan or White or Williams pocketing balls at full flow.
Best wishes
thecardman
www.scottish9ball.com
i think the difference is that the audience in the UK may not play snooker seriously BUT they all UNDERSTAND it and APPRECIATE it.
thats not the case in the US...........people don't appreciate the game yet. you have to get them to appreciate pool, before you switch to 10 ball.
and thanks for correcting me on the snooker, i assumed that most of the pro players there played relatively fast.......not as fast as ronnie, but i figured fast anyway.
thanks
VAP
I've watched loads of snooker when I've been in England. One thing I really like is the overhead view of the table, which really makes it easy to identify all the balls and to appreciate the lay of the table. Snooker is really simple to follow.
As importantly, the pub is the social focal point of many a small town or village in the UK, and every pub has a snooker table, so the average Joe has seen it played often and already knows the game. Eight ball enjoys some of the same advantages in America, but no other pool game does.
Barry Hearn leveraged the fact that people in the UK were so familiar with the game, and mandated proper etiquette, demeanor, dress code, and yes, hairstyles, and the result was a well-known, respectable game.
Still, let's not overlook that the abrupt rise of snooker took place in a period when few in the UK had cable TV. That means the typical TV viewer had about five choices. When snooker was on the BBC, it was one of just five viewing choices, giving it an advantage telelvised pool will never know.
As importantly, the pub is the social focal point of many a small town or village in the UK, and every pub has a snooker table, so the average Joe has seen it played often and already knows the game. Eight ball enjoys some of the same advantages in America, but no other pool game does.
Barry Hearn leveraged the fact that people in the UK were so familiar with the game, and mandated proper etiquette, demeanor, dress code, and yes, hairstyles, and the result was a well-known, respectable game.
Still, let's not overlook that the abrupt rise of snooker took place in a period when few in the UK had cable TV. That means the typical TV viewer had about five choices. When snooker was on the BBC, it was one of just five viewing choices, giving it an advantage telelvised pool will never know.