This is going to sound strange and many of you might disagree with me, but that's okay, I can take the criticism.
I was watching a Heads Up poker match last night between two of the big names in poker - Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari. They were both mic'd for sound and there were two excellent commentators, Nick Schulman and Ali Nejad. Poker is a far simpler game than pool and yet there is complexity to the betting patterns and infinite possibilities on the outcome of each hand. That makes it interesting, plus the fact that you can get lucky and win even if you've misplayed the hand. All this combines for good television viewing. NBCSN was the network airing this show. For two hours might I add.
My observation was the banter between the players before, during and after each hand was very entertaining. The thought processes that went into the playing of each hand was always well explained and analyzed by the coms. The show kept my attention for the entire two hours and I was left wanting more. Sad to say that watching two mostly quiet and stoic pool players play a rack (or ten) of 9-Ball is not nearly as interesting. And usually the commentary is equally uncompelling. Now, for my point.
9-Ball has been the go-to game for pool on TV for a long time and it's gone no where. Even diehards like us get tired of watching it. The racks are too routine for the most part and it's easy to connect the dots to see where the next shot is going. You almost don't need commentary to watch it. I began to think how could pool capitalize on what I was seeing here, and it struck me. The much maligned game of One Pocket is the answer! Yes I said ONE POCKET! Now you will ask me why I came to that conclusion. First of all it is a very cerebral game where a lot of thought goes into each shot and the options are limitless. This fact alone opens the door for discussion between the commentators and also allows the contestants (opponents) to engage in conversation as well. In most games of One Pocket there will be banter between the players, and that can only add interest to the match, IF you can hear it.
I think new viewers might be turned on by what they are seeing, not just another game of boring 9-Ball. It's an opportunity to challenge your audience and grab their attention. They might actually learn something about the intricacies of playing pool if they watch this show. Believe it or not, there are a lot of intelligent people who watch TV and are looking for new and interesting content to view. That's the people I want to watch a show like this. They would see pool in a whole new way. We would not just have to depend on the One Pocket geeks to have an audience.
One more thing. In case you didn't notice (I have), it is the big One Pocket matches that draw the most viewers on PPV streams. Can you imagine Scott Frost and Tony Chohan jawing away, while they make one astounding shot after another. I'd like to give a TV audience a dose of that. And who knows, maybe some day I will.