Derby City Ring Game finally online for viewing

BCn

BCn

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello All:

After various technical issues and several contractual snafus with our online streaming agent, the Derby City Classic Ring Game is available for viewing at www.BilliardClub.net.

Anyone who's paid attention knows who won, so the suspense is gone, but the show is more than worth the time and $. It's more than 4 hours long and you get 5 days to watch as many time as your like. Check out the free preview and also the Trickshot program available.

Stay tuned for more to come.

Thanks.
 
Rob thanks for such a great job you are doing. I already bought both Ring games on DVD from accustats. I hope you would air stuff that is not being taped. Like Joss or Predator events. Even Grady's event coming up in December. Live events are always the best like you did with the Derby. Great job!
 
yobagua said:
Rob thanks for such a great job you are doing. I already bought both Ring games on DVD from accustats. I hope you would air stuff that is not being taped. Like Joss or Predator events. Even Grady's event coming up in December. Live events are always the best like you did with the Derby. Great job!
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Yobagua speaks for a lot of us Rob. If you can make money at the prices you charged for the DCC I'm sure you will get 100% or more additional viewers next time.
 
Thanks for the kind words. Over the past few months we've been forced to rethink our strategy and position, which is why the free shows online are no longer available. However, with a potential sponsor coming on board that may change. But until then we have to see greater participation from the market to justify operations. So, in order for that to happen, we'll be posting more programming online over the next few weeks and months. BCn online will become a virtual video library.

Also, with the U S Open only 97 days away we hope to announce some exciting news very soon. The wheels are in motion for a U S Open Ring Game and live programming just like the DCC.

Stay tuned.
 
BCn said:
Thanks for the kind words. Over the past few months we've been forced to rethink our strategy and position, which is why the free shows online are no longer available. However, with a potential sponsor coming on board that may change. But until then we have to see greater participation from the market to justify operations. So, in order for that to happen, we'll be posting more programming online over the next few weeks and months. BCn online will become a virtual video library.

Also, with the U S Open only 97 days away we hope to announce some exciting news very soon. The wheels are in motion for a U S Open Ring Game and live programming just like the DCC.

Stay tuned.
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Sounds great. I look forward to it...
 
How much does it cost? I paid the original $10 to watch the ring game live. I don't think I'd pay additional money to see it again, even though it was fun to watch.
 
Jimmy M. said:
How much does it cost? I paid the original $10 to watch the ring game live. I don't think I'd pay additional money to see it again, even though it was fun to watch.
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Was thinking exactly the same thing Jim.
 
Hi Rob. I dont think I really made myself clear. Two things that people are going to subscribe to is Live feed and Product they cant get anywhere else. If you repeat stuff that we can buy on Ebay its not going to be on our prority list. You could be of great service if you could be live on events that arent going to be filmed like Grady's straight pool and one pocket event, Reno, Allen Hopkins tournament, The Big Joss and Viking tournament finals, UPA major tournaments.
You could be doing this all year around. You wouldnt need to have top production on every event. One overhead cam and another on the ground. Like the old accustat tapes. Of course I have no idea of your production costs. I just know what I as part of the public need. Thanks for all your hard work!
 
yobagua said:
Hi Rob. I dont think I really made myself clear. Two things that people are going to subscribe to is Live feed and Product they cant get anywhere else. If you repeat stuff that we can buy on Ebay its not going to be on our prority list. You could be of great service if you could be live on events that arent going to be filmed like Grady's straight pool and one pocket event, Reno, Allen Hopkins tournament, The Big Joss and Viking tournament finals, UPA major tournaments.
You could be doing this all year around. You wouldnt need to have top production on every event. One overhead cam and another on the ground. Like the old accustat tapes. Of course I have no idea of your production costs. I just know what I as part of the public need. Thanks for all your hard work!
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Perfectly put Yo. My feelings exactly. There may be something we don't know that Rob does but I think the majority of fans feel as we do.

Hoping you can make a fortune "AND" make us happy, Rob,,,,,,,,$Bill
 
You could be doing this all year around. You wouldnt need to have top production on every event. One overhead cam and another on the ground. Like the old accustat tapes.
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I'm curious to know what you think it actually costs to produce a "quality" product and deliver it LIVE via the web? As others have proven, it's not as easy as it seems. Quality on the front end is absolutely paramount, and we don't feel that putting out a product that looks like crap or has inexperienced announcers is in our best interest!

Case in point, the Accu-Stats tapes and DVDs from the U S Open, Derby City Classic over the past several years are the best production they've ever had because of BCn production and direction. And frankly, we still need improvement. We've set the standard high and we've forced others to do the same. Do you think ESPN's barrage of billiard programming over the past months has been some revelation on the part of the program director? Not likely. 40+ consecutive weeks of BCtv on Empire Sports and Sunshine network with scheduled time slots three times weekly and repeats. Our production has indirectly given you more espn viewing opportunities.

However, we are preparing to produce a web-only program, to be announced soon. Ideally, this with satisfy the avid enthusiast like yourselves. The question is, are there enough of you out there to make it fiancially viable? We're not a charitable organization like many in the billiard market want all entities to be. Look at the league situation, what a mess. I wish nothing but great success to Mark Griffin and the New BCA.

Please keep this in mind, when we produce events, we have to look at the big picture and distribute the production in various formats; VHS and DVDs through Accu-Stats, Web Streaming online at www.billiardclub.net and most importantly, national and international Broadcast, which has been primary focus to this point. So the initial quality is extremely important to get the most for our production $, which comes in large part from our great supporting sponsors: Diamond, Simonis, Accu-Stats, Sardo, Aramith, Cue&Case, AzBilliards, www.Poolsites.net, etc, etc....

Many of you may not be interested in watching programms that you've already seen live at BCn or that are months old, but a large % of our online viewers are international customers that do not normally subscribe to Accu-Stats or have access to Empire Sports through cable or satellite. These people may not have seen the live show.

With all that said, we do thank you for your support and comments. Sorry for the rant.
 
Hi Rob
Dont consider it a rant at all. This is the kind of info we need. No we do not know what it all entails but we want to know so we know how we can contribute. I pay over a $100 a month for cable and its premiere channels. I think everything you have done is fair and above board. This is the way I feel about Pat Fleming. I am just giving you a fans point of view. This is the kind of discussion we need.

But know this. If I can buy the tapes I will not watch it on my computer. I get the whole Derby set. I get the whole US Open tapes. Maybe I am one of the few. But what I and some of the others fans would like is stuff we would not be able to see. Stuff no one else is taping or on tv. Your airing of the Derby was phenominal not for just the game coverage but behind the scenes. After the accustats tape was turned off. Like listening into a wire tap. This is stuff we could not get anywhere else.

Again I thank you for your work. Good luck!
 
I certainly agree with everything Yobagua said. I would add that when I was watching the DCC live, one of my favorite feeds was one with no commentators, the camera was aimed at one of the tables in the back and we were watching Efren and Cliff Joiner playing. Sometimes I just want to see the action and don't feel it necessary to always have commentators because I think they can get in the way of the action (no offense meant to anyone).

I would love to watch a match with a live microphone and camera over the table and another camera set back a little with just a caption telling me who the players are and what the game is.
 
Thank you, Rob.

BCn said:
I'm curious to know what you think it actually costs to produce a "quality" product and deliver it LIVE via the web? As others have proven, it's not as easy as it seems. Quality on the front end is absolutely paramount, and we don't feel that putting out a product that looks like crap or has inexperienced announcers is in our best interest!

Case in point, the Accu-Stats tapes and DVDs from the U S Open, Derby City Classic over the past several years are the best production they've ever had because of BCn production and direction. And frankly, we still need improvement. We've set the standard high and we've forced others to do the same. Do you think ESPN's barrage of billiard programming over the past months has been some revelation on the part of the program director? Not likely. 40+ consecutive weeks of BCtv on Empire Sports and Sunshine network with scheduled time slots three times weekly and repeats. Our production has indirectly given you more espn viewing opportunities.

However, we are preparing to produce a web-only program, to be announced soon. Ideally, this with satisfy the avid enthusiast like yourselves. The question is, are there enough of you out there to make it fiancially viable? We're not a charitable organization like many in the billiard market want all entities to be. Look at the league situation, what a mess. I wish nothing but great success to Mark Griffin and the New BCA.

Please keep this in mind, when we produce events, we have to look at the big picture and distribute the production in various formats; VHS and DVDs through Accu-Stats, Web Streaming online at www.billiardclub.net and most importantly, national and international Broadcast, which has been primary focus to this point. So the initial quality is extremely important to get the most for our production $, which comes in large part from our great supporting sponsors: Diamond, Simonis, Accu-Stats, Sardo, Aramith, Cue&Case, AzBilliards, www.Poolsites.net, etc, etc....

Many of you may not be interested in watching programms that you've already seen live at BCn or that are months old, but a large % of our online viewers are international customers that do not normally subscribe to Accu-Stats or have access to Empire Sports through cable or satellite. These people may not have seen the live show.

With all that said, we do thank you for your support and comments. Sorry for the rant.
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Rob, I must assume your question, "I'm curious to know what you think it actually costs to produce a "quality" product and deliver it LIVE via the web?",
is a rhetorical one. Because you know that we have no clue as to your true costs.

The question I, and I believe we, would like to find out is wheather you can make money at the $10 fee you charged for the, basically, entire event? As I have previously stated, I would be willing to pay the $10 for equally exciting events for ever.

I would trust what you say your costs are and whether you made money or not. I felt like, as others did, that you were testing the waters to find out how many viewers you could get at this, very reasonable, price. I'm sure you know that future live broadcasts would show an increased viewership. Especially if you could hold the price to $10 again.

This paragraph might be like cutting my own throat but I enjoyed your coverage so much that I want to see you continue and succeed in being profitable. One thing you might not have considered is that most of the viewership for the first DCC were single individuals, due to the very reasonable $10 price. When HBO, etal, has a pay-per-view event and charges say, $50. They get a large response because subscribing households throw "Fight" parties or alike. All the household has to do is invite 5 friends over and charge them $10 to view the fight or other event and the household can view it for free.

Rob, I was a shortstop pool player but every, "Square", dollar I have made in the last 25 years has come from marketing. I am very good at it. You can make this work. If I can be of any assistance, please PM me..........$Bill
 
I wouldnt mind paying a little more money if I could download the matches onto my computer.. I like watching matches over & over. I have matches on tape from the early 90's that I still watch from time to time. maybe you can break the files up into small sections, say, 100 megs each section. I like some people ordered the derby city classic & watched it live. but I wouldnt order it again because I only have 5 days to watch it. on the other hand if it were downloadable, I would purchase it in a second! accu-stats does the pay-per-view thing also. I really wish they would offer downloadable matches instead. I would of probably owned every single match they have by now. :)
 
Let me just give a few words about "quality". Yes I do have some idea of the cost of programming. Right now I have just finished working on a series for Disney where we did 22 episodes. We are in the middle of post right now. Each episode ranges from 1.2 million to 1.5. Im also doing work for Cartoon Network. 78 episodes. Each one comeing in under a Million. Ive worked on many network productions as well. I am just a worker on it. However one thing I can tell you is that if a show does not have substance in content I dont care how much money you spend for the frills people will not buy it. Particular sport enthusiasts. I dont care how beautiful the sets are or how pretty the participants are if it is not quality competition I am not going to watch.

Such is the case with ESPN. A short game between the same old participants who's game does not reach the level that I know exist with commentators who dont know anything about the game and with producers who think clapping after every shot brings about audience interest does not make it.

You talk about quality well I think a big mistake was made when a Jim Wych was brought in to substitute for a Grady Mathews. It was an attempt to Hollywoodize pool in my opinion. Nothing against Mr Wych but his knowledge is limited when it comes to the game and its players compared to Mr Mathews. It ruined the whole US Open tapes for me. In the past AccuStats used to just have one camera and no commentary. I know I have them and they are some of the finest pool games I have witnessed. Some of the finest one pocket and straight pool tapes that no longer exist on the accustats library but rich with great pool playing.

We pool players are still steeped in the game itself. I know I and my friends would much rather see a straight pool match between a Dallas West, Nick Varner, Jim Rempe, Mike Sigel, etc or a one pocket match between Cliff Joyner, Jose Parica, Scott Frost, Billy Palmer, etc with one camera and a Grady or a Diliberto than with a multi camera glitzy production with the current faves with T&A rack girls and "Hollywood" commentators. This of course is my opinion.

And also we like to think that the current mass of tv pool is not due to just BCN or Accustats but firstly and foremostly the fans who have demanded it. Put up quality with CONTENT and the fans will support. Like Hemicudas eluded to we would be fans forever and make sacrifices for it. But dont mistake our enthusiasm for weakness. We put every pool businessman on notice. Dont sell us short. Give us quality and we will go an extra mile. Again I applaud you for your efforts and hard work.
 
BCn said:
I' Quality on the front end is absolutely paramount, and we don't feel that putting out a product that looks like crap or has inexperienced announcers is in our best interest!

We're not a charitable organization like many in the billiard market want all entities to be.
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Rob,

I am so pleased to hear this. I couldn't agree more that quality is crucial to success and growth for the billiard industry.

I am someone who depends on the success of the billiard industry as a whole for a large part of my family income. That being the case, it pains me to hear people say that they will work for free. It devalues the individual, the product, and the sport. No wonder America will not invest in billiards.

It takes money to make money. The more money you make, the more money you have to invest; the more you have to invest, the greater your return. Until people stop acting like billiards is a charity and start acting like it's a business we are going to remain in the same rut.

You are truely an asset to this sport and I wish you continued success. Thank you so much for your hard work. We need hundreds more like you.

Vicki
 
I know everyone on this board appreciates all the effort at BCN and wish you guys the best. Sam
 
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