Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Pool on TV

January 6, 2010

We finally got around to watching the International Challenge of Champions 2009. They once again played it on the new Aramith Fusion Tables. I realized that this table is not for short players. The sides of the table looks wider than normal Gold Crown or Diamond tables, thus for shorter player, they will have to reach more to hit a ball that is in the middle of the table.

Besides the table, the production of the show was annoying. Let's say two player's are playing a match on the first set, and the score is 3 to 3 and the match is a race to 5. At the next commercial, they jump directly to the second set. What happened to the rest of the game in the first match?

Worse, the production of this show would show "The Super Shot of the Match" and the shot they show was not in any of the match they showed to the home viewers.

Imagine what home audiences would say if they were watching a MLB or NFL game and they cut off almost half of the plays to fit it into a one hour time slot. People would be outraged.

Isn't the point of sponsors who sponsor pool tournament is to get exposure mainly on television? Yeah audiences can go to the arena and watch it live, but you can probably only get 100 people or so in the Mohegan Sun venue, but sponsors get more exposure on television.

To make things worse I've almost had it with the pool announcer Mitch Laurence. He sounds like he knows little about pool even though he has been announcing for many many years. There is a forum on this topic on azbilliards. I guess if Mitch is doing it for little or not money, then I should not be complaining.

Quilt & Bitch

5 comments:

p00lriah said...

hi q&b. interesting post. this is a longish comment; bear with me.

. . . I realized that this table is not for short players. The sides of the table looks wider than normal Gold Crown or Diamond tables, thus for shorter player, they will have to reach more to hit a ball that is in the middle of the table.

true, but i wonder if the rail shots will be easier with the added area to bridge . . . :P

Besides the table, the production of the show was annoying. Let's say two player's are playing a match on the first set, and the score is 3 to 3 and the match is a race to 5. At the next commercial, they jump directly to the second set. What happened to the rest of the game in the first match?

Worse, the production of this show would show "The Super Shot of the Match" and the shot they show was not in any of the match they showed to the home viewers.


that is annoying. however, i'd imagine the production team has certain obligations to advertisers, which means running the commercials the ad folks paid for. it'd be bad to piss off the advertisers. after all, the programs are the vehicle to attract advertisers; the advertisers are the paying customers. i'm guessing the customers get the priority, not the programming. granted, the production team could probably edit the show better, but it is what it is. if you hate ads you can always buy dvds from various pool video vendors. we get what we paid for.

Isn't the point of sponsors who sponsor pool tournament is to get exposure mainly on television? Yeah audiences can go to the arena and watch it live, but you can probably only get 100 people or so in the Mohegan Sun venue, but sponsors get more exposure on television.

and the sponsors are probably getting their $$'s worth with ads and product placements throughout the entire televised event. if that means more ads and less pool then pool will get cut. money is the final reality check in tv world.

To make things worse I've almost had it with the pool announcer Mitch Laurence. He sounds like he knows little about pool even though he has been announcing for many many years. There is a forum on this topic on azbilliards. I guess if Mitch is doing it for little or not money, then I should not be complaining.

i don't know mitch laurance, but to be fair, i don't believe he ever claimed to be a pool expert. he's the tv host/announcer, and hopkins/segal/lee/fisher are the expert commentators that get to draw lines on screen. in fact, i think laurance's job is to prop up the commentators. i've seen other announcers (not pool) prop up the guests by playing dumb. so sounding like he knows nothing is probably an intentional technique, not an actual reflection of his pool knowledge. also, an announcer/reporter doesn't have to be an expert in the field they broadcast, much like a reporter doesn't have to be a criminal/police officer to report on crime. (if that's the case, we will not have any reporters!)

not trying to contradict you q&b, just trying to be fair. what do you think?

Quilt+Bitch said...

"true, but i wonder if the rail shots will be easier with the added area to bridge . . . :P "

Response >>
A rail shot is still a rail shot, I would think the added area to the bridge would make it harder because most players are use to resting their palm on the edge of the table. <<

"that is annoying. however, i'd imagine the production team has certain obligations to advertisers, which means running the commercials the ad folks paid for. it'd be bad to piss off the advertisers. after all, the programs are the vehicle to attract advertisers; the advertisers are the paying customers. i'm guessing the customers get the priority, not the programming. granted, the production team could probably edit the show better, but it is what it is. if you hate ads you can always buy dvds from various pool video vendors. we get what we paid for."

Response >> I totally agree about running the commercials the ad folks paid for. I am not complaining about the commercials, because of DVR, my point is, maybe they can split each match into two parts or it would be two 1-hour shows. They could probably even put more commercials in that way. <<

"and the sponsors are probably getting their $$'s worth with ads and product placements throughout the entire televised event. if that means more ads and less pool then pool will get cut. money is the final reality check in tv world."

Response >> Agree <<

"i don't know mitch laurance, but to be fair, i don't believe he ever claimed to be a pool expert. he's the tv host/announcer, and hopkins/segal/lee/fisher are the expert commentators that get to draw lines on screen. in fact, i think laurance's job is to prop up the commentators. i've seen other announcers (not pool) prop up the guests by playing dumb. so sounding like he knows nothing is probably an intentional technique, not an actual reflection of his pool knowledge. also, an announcer/reporter doesn't have to be an expert in the field they broadcast, much like a reporter doesn't have to be a criminal/police officer to report on crime. (if that's the case, we will not have any reporters!)"

Response >> I totally agree that announcers sometimes “prop up the guests by playing dumb”, but come on, that act gets really old after many years of the same script over and over again. In fact, I enjoy Dawn Hopkins announcing, and one time, Allison Fisher was in the booth announcing, and she was great. Yes, they are the expert commentators, so why not have two expert commentators instead of one announcer and one expert commentator? <<

p00lriah said...

yea . . . the info exchange continues . . .

A rail shot is still a rail shot, I would think the added area to the bridge would make it harder because most players are use to resting their palm on the edge of the table.

sorry, i was thinking when the cueball was resting right against the rail, not just regular rail shots. i should've clarified it better. but i totally see ur point about the table being tougher on short players. i'm no giant myself. i "look up" to most people. :P

. . . my point is, maybe they can split each match into two parts or it would be two 1-hour shows. They could probably even put more commercials in that way.

that'd be just lovely. however, since pool isn't exactly a popular ratings machine, i doubt espn will order more than three hours of programming for a single tournament. guaranteed i'll record it if they show it.

I totally agree that announcers sometimes “prop up the guests by playing dumb”, but come on, that act gets really old after many years of the same script over and over again.

i'm just guessing here, but formula works. it seems that mitch laurance is there to provide good segues, and make sure sponsors/product placements get read on time and smoothly. in short, it seems he's there to provide oil for the machine. also, i find it a bit surprising that laurance actually tries to share the spotlight, when there're many people on tv that will try to take over the show. personally i find it intriguing. not saying i like watching mitch laurance, but he seems pretty professional in his conduct. that i do respect.

. . . In fact, I enjoy Dawn Hopkins announcing, and one time, Allison Fisher was in the booth announcing, and she was great. Yes, they are the expert commentators, so why not have two expert commentators instead of one announcer and one expert commentator?

again i'm guessing, but i imagine it's a customary practice. when pool first showed up on tv, i don't think the pool pros studied tv broadcasting or broadcast journalism. so the tv stations probably brought in professional hosts/announcers/reporters and have the pool pros on as expert analysts/commentators. and the formula stayed til this day. just my guess. another thing i could think of is that pro pool players have their own obligations, e.g., tournaments to play. there probably will be scheduling conflicts to get the established pros to consistently show up in the tv booth. (well, maybe dawn hopkins. kidding!! i'm kidding!! don't get mad people!!)

what do u think?

Quilt+Bitch said...

I agree whole heartedly that Mitch does do a great job putting in sponsors and product placements and is very professional on tv. "The beautiful magnificant Olhausen table" or "The beautiful Delta-13 rank", "The beautiful Simonis blue cloth".

True, true about scheduling conflicts with pro players as expert commentator, so I guess Mitch might just be the perfect man for the job. People know him and he is a constant (besides Allison Fisher) when pool is broadcasted on television.

p00lriah said...

"The beautiful magnificant Olhausen table" or "The beautiful Delta-13 rank", "The beautiful Simonis blue cloth".

hehe. yeah, he does lay it on kinda thick, but i guess the sponsors like it that way. also, i think ML sorta built a brand for himself. if people like his style & presence it means he'll be around for some time. well, at least allen hopkins seems to like him.