Does Pool Need better TV Production Quality?

Four reality shows...all staged.

NASCAR...constant possibility of death in every race.

Poker...edited to get rid of mind numbing hours of doing absolutely nothing.

Barring loser dies pool tournaments or turning it into pro wrestling with dramatic story lines set up in advance I consider those comparisons irrelevant. That leaves us with poker.

I have said before that if you edited one pocket like poker it could be a good TV show but you would have to almost cover a whole tournament to come up with enough exciting things for a couple hours of programming.Ever been to the WSOP to see what they put into that production? I have and its insane.

If your point is that its possible to make pool more exciting by spending millions on production I agree to a certain extent. Now we come to the the same question we always come to in the end. Who is going to pay for it ? By that I mean both for production and who is going to buy the finished product ?

There is a reality show in pool for sure but it would have nothing to do with actual competition. Personally I have no desire to see Jersey Shore in a pool room and thats what it would take. Even then there are hundreds of other ideas it would have to beat out. I have recently been involved on the edges of a reality show project in another field. Everyone and their brother is pitching shows. Actually selling one is very very hard. Even then the people on the show make very little money unless it becomes a giant hit and even then the majority of the money comes from appearance fees, books, merchandise and things like that. Which is all good in the end if if a million things fall right.

Pool is a game people like to play in this country not watch. It is what it is. I really wish someone would prove me wrong.

Can't really blame you for not wanting to get into the reality show aspect, but I think some of that will be necessary to expand the audience, there's a reason why HBO does the 24/7 shows. They sell more PPV when they do the reality show to promote the PPV. People need to care about the players to have an interest in their game. BTW, I love the pre-TAR interviews with the players, perhaps now's not the time but at some point seems like paying a film school student a few bucks to do something closer to a 24/7 type of promotional video would be good marketing for TAR events. That is assuming you think there's room to expand the PPV audience. How many more viewers would you have to get for it to make sense?

Also I think that this isn't about us, we're addicts. I'll watch all sorts of streaming steaming piles of shit if there's a cue ball involved. The audience needs expanding beyond the incestuous AZers, the only way that's going to happen is if there's some character development, and teach as you stream / televise. When someone who will play 8 ball in a bar for several hours tunes into a show they should know that there's a reason why these guys are great at what they do and that they are capable of making shots that mere mortals cannot. Most of the broadcasting has a strong element of assumed knowledge.

Perhaps Bonus Ball is the answer, I would like to think that there's room for everyone who's streaming or producing for TV to elevate the craft. If not, then we should just accept defeat and look for some methadone.
 
Of course pool needs better TV production quality.

Additional cameras capable of "seeing" different angles, especially angles from the player's viewpoint would be great.

Replays, showing slow-motion movement of the cueball, especially when it curves or when it massés would be beneficial.

A production crew feeding information to the commentators would be great as well.

A production manager deciding which video to show to the viewing public.

Replays showing different camera angles would be pretty cool. Missing a couple of no-brainer shots would be fine. They do it in golf. Why not in pool? Better to highlight the things that the viewing public will want rather than the obvious.

I imagine camera operators with hand controls that can be manipulated 360 degreees, so that practically any shot can be shown as the way it really looks rather than what one fixed camera shows.

Having stats to share with the viewing audience is a big plus as well.

Having current data (such as ongoing matches) fed to the commentators is a good thing, but with a production manager making the decision about what is shared and what is not shared.
 
Of course pool needs better TV production quality.

Additional cameras capable of "seeing" different angles, especially angles from the player's viewpoint would be great.

Replays, showing slow-motion movement of the cueball, especially when it curves or when it massés would be beneficial.

A production crew feeding information to the commentators would be great as well.

A production manager deciding which video to show to the viewing public.

Replays showing different camera angles would be pretty cool. Missing a couple of no-brainer shots would be fine. They do it in golf. Why not in pool? Better to highlight the things that the viewing public will want rather than the obvious.

I imagine camera operators with hand controls that can be manipulated 360 degreees, so that practically any shot can be shown as the way it really looks rather than what one fixed camera shows.

Having stats to share with the viewing audience is a big plus as well.

Having current data (such as ongoing matches) fed to the commentators is a good thing, but with a production manager making the decision about what is shared and what is not shared.

Hey, JoeyA, how are you surviving down there with Isaac? The weather reports look brutal. Hope you brave the storm okay. At least you still have power; otherwise, you wouldn't be posting this morning. ;)

When Oprah ended her 25-year hit talk show on ABC, she began a new venture by starting her own Oprah channel. It is not a success and is losing money. My thought on this is why on earth didn't Oprah offer HDTV for her O channel?

Most people today have HDTVs. I don't want to watch a channel that is blurry. You would think that since the majority of folks do own HDTVs, more and more channels would offer HDTV capabilities. I don't understand why, other than cost.

The HDTVs are getting cheaper and cheaper in price, making them affordable. I tried to give away three of the old-fashioned TVs to charity recently, and AmVets and Purple Heart won't accept any TV unless it's a flat screen. Can you believe that!
 
If Joe Rogan said tomorrow he was getting behind a pool related reality show and wanted some investors I'd sign up and send a check.

I just wonder if it would be a smash or a bomb?
 
Thanks!

I actually already built the system to support all games. It even works for 1P, 14.1, 8ball, 9/10ball, etc. It understands all rule sets, and even supports handicapping, ahead sets, score capping, slop/no-slop, shot-clocks/set-clocks/time-banks, and the countless possible conditions for when the game ball will count (on the snap, normal, or last ball down).

I spent months coding it as part of a series of live events that I was going to put on myself, but Bonus Ball came along and postponed them. Once I saw Bonus Ball for what it really is, I put all my own projects on hold. It really is that good, and I'm confident people will see it for what it is soon enough.

PS. Here's a sample of Bonus Ball and the overlay and stats engine in action (attached it to an earlier post as well). It supports custom skins too, as I have my own Runout Media skin for my own upcoming events.

bb_preview.jpg

Keep up the great work Nathan!
 
Hey, JoeyA, how are you surviving down there with Isaac? The weather reports look brutal. Hope you brave the storm okay. At least you still have power; otherwise, you wouldn't be posting this morning. ;)

When Oprah ended her 25-year hit talk show on ABC, she began a new venture by starting her own Oprah channel. It is not a success and is losing money. My thought on this is why on earth didn't Oprah offer HDTV for her O channel?

Most people today have HDTVs. I don't want to watch a channel that is blurry. You would think that since the majority of folks do own HDTVs, more and more channels would offer HDTV capabilities. I don't understand why, other than cost.

The HDTVs are getting cheaper and cheaper in price, making them affordable. I tried to give away three of the old-fashioned TVs to charity recently, and AmVets and Purple Heart won't accept any TV unless it's a flat screen. Can you believe that!

Jennie,
I just got back the Internet, television and landlines a few minutes ago. Not too much damage to the house and property.

I lost those yesterday but have had electricity for the entire storm so we are LUCKY. A little minor damage. Lots of water, lots of limbs and debris but for the most part we are doing great. Thanks for noticing. Many other Louisiana people aren't so lucky.

My brothers are direct in the path of a dangerous dam break that they are forecasting for their area along the Tangipahoa river.

Swollen rivers, canals, lakes etc are always a problem even if you are not in a bowl.
 
Hey, JoeyA, how are you surviving down there with Isaac? The weather reports look brutal. Hope you brave the storm okay. At least you still have power; otherwise, you wouldn't be posting this morning. ;)

When Oprah ended her 25-year hit talk show on ABC, she began a new venture by starting her own Oprah channel. It is not a success and is losing money. My thought on this is why on earth didn't Oprah offer HDTV for her O channel?

Most people today have HDTVs. I don't want to watch a channel that is blurry. You would think that since the majority of folks do own HDTVs, more and more channels would offer HDTV capabilities. I don't understand why, other than cost.

The HDTVs are getting cheaper and cheaper in price, making them affordable. I tried to give away three of the old-fashioned TVs to charity recently, and AmVets and Purple Heart won't accept any TV unless it's a flat screen. Can you believe that!

Oprah REALLY, LOL WOW
 
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Bonus Ball was always my favorite game the second I first played it. I forged a partnership with Larry when he retired from his successful pool venues in Winnipeg, Canada. We don't see eye to eye on everything but we do share one vision. To present this game the best we can to the world. Yes, we decided to go away from the old and dated look of pool balls and created our own modern looking ball set. No big deal. Yes we took all the best from other games and mixed it into one game, common sense really. Added a few modern ideas from other successful sports and came up with this game that is ridiculously more strategic and fun to play! I think it's all good.

Larry likes to be meticulous about things at times and I am a whirl wind of come on, let's get it done. I suppose we compliment each other in many ways. There is one thing we always agreed on for sure. Make the production as professional as possible and serve up an entertaining game and we will gain our market share. We aren't set on taking away viewing from other billiard events, we want to create our own form of entertainment.

We have the venue and we expect to be starting the league as soon as possible. We don't talk much about the WPBL because we are waiting for all the legal documents to be filed with the proper channels. Soon though, we will announce all the information about the WPBL. It's no secret about the league format, which is the same as football, baseball and of course, hockey. It will house many pro players that many pool players have heard of and will feature the game called Bonus Ball.

Johnny Archer has made no secret of what he feels the game has to offer for professional players and amateurs alike. The game choice of Bonus Ball is really no different than choosing to run a NASCAR stock car instead of a INDY type race car. Same sport, different game and different rules but still pool / billiards. It will find it's following if it is accepted is going to be nothing to do with the game of Bonus Ball, it will be pool players deciding they like this new concept and the way it is presented. That is the bottom line. Can we entertain pool players with a league that will have statistics to following, scoring and measuring sticks that will say after one season, hey, The Atlanta Scorpions are the best team in the WPBL or will it be the Toronto Blue Sharks. If we don't entertain then we fail.

We are not coming into town riding on a big white horse as knights in shining armor. We are just ordinary pool lovers that are putting together a business and we have planned for many, many hours over the past years. To consider us stupid or uneducated is simply foolish. Justin is not far off with his numbers. It may seem like a big number but really it is not if this does work out. 2-5 million expense is a small business and it's simply going to live and die like any other small business. No interest, no income, no business. However, we will be putting together a great production and we hope it will entertain you. Give it a chance and then decide about our future. If we disappoint you, then we have wasted our time. If we entertain you, then we have accomplished what we set out to do!

Watch for our advertisements in Azbilliards and our major announcements forthcoming withing the next few weeks. You can also add me as a friend on facebook, Barry Bremner and you can go to our www.playbonusball.com website for more info on this game! Thanks for reading!

Barry Bremner
 
Jennie,
I just got back the Internet, television and landlines a few minutes ago. Not too much damage to the house and property.

I lost those yesterday but have had electricity for the entire storm so we are LUCKY. A little minor damage. Lots of water, lots of limbs and debris but for the most part we are doing great. Thanks for noticing. Many other Louisiana people aren't so lucky.

My brothers are direct in the path of a dangerous dam break that they are forecasting for their area along the Tangipahoa river.

Swollen rivers, canals, lakes etc are always a problem even if you are not in a bowl.

I'm glad to learn you weathered the storm, JoeyA. I was thinking about you. It just doesn't seem fair that Mother Nature seems to hit New Orleans with all her wrath so close in time to Katrina.

Hope your brothers stay safe. :smile:
 
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