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personally i like the old poker on channel 865
any 1 else agree i prefer watching edd giggings and trevor harris they were great and used to watch all the time dnt watch it as much now kinda have to get used to the new people and studio i guess
Comments
Glen
However he would definately win the "The producer is guiding my line of questioning through my earpiece" award
Marathons - Snickers
Opal Fruits - Starburst
Grecian 2000 - Tikay
What I'm trying to say is it's not the wrapper that makes the difference it's ahats inside the packaging that counts!
We've still got Orford, Tikay, and Hartigan they were, and still are the foundations that made Sky Poker great. I'm sure in time the new set up will compliment the changes!
tution etc is ok but that doesnt have to be shown on a live night. I think Sky have made a major fo par on this one. and is probably the reason forteh falling numbers in the Primo and the needfor the guarantee to be reduced to £10,000
nail on head maybe re primo
In Response to Re: personally i like the old poker on channel 865:
Most Bankrolls could get there through satellites at affordable prices and could then Sky plus the show to see their hands analysed.
The increase in footage from Rollers, Ukops and other high tariff tournaments has diminished the incentive to watch or take part in the thursday and Sunday tournaments
Watching the same players having their hands analysed only after the bubble has been burst doesn't have the same entertainment value as seeing your friends making moves earlier in the tournament.
The only way to get help and analysis now is by playing Master Cash tables which are harder to evaluate because you're not only up against top players but also players prepared to make riddiculous calls to achieve their fifteeen minutes of fame.
I would never want to suggest they are lesser players because every one is entitled to play their own game
I'm just saying it makes the variance greater and does not reflect a true cash game scenario IMO
In Response to Re: personally i like the old poker on channel 865:
this thread has got more posts (21) than those contributing to the five hour live show thread (19).
now that the live programme shows so little of the evening's main tournaments instead uses material that can be replayed at any time, i hope that the improved repeat schedules are greatly valued by whoever watches them.
in the meantime, for me, the presenters and analysts do a tremendous job given the tasks they are now required to do with this format.
Morning Chaps & Chapesses.
Great feedback, thank you.
I'll respond in detail shortly, bear with me please.
Afternoon all.
Lot of good discussion points in here, I’ll try & address some of them as best I can.
Constructive feedback is always welcome.
The main problem here is two-fold.
1) The impossibility of pleasing everyone.
2) Understanding what Ch 865 is designed to do, & for whom.
Sky Poker is unique in Online Poker. I’m not aware of any Online Poker Site, anywhere in the world, that has its own dedicated 24/7 Poker Channel, which includes 15 hours of new, Live content every week. It’s frighteningly expensive, but it is done to satisfy two main criteria.
1) Acquisition.
2) Retention.
What is that in plain English?
“Acquisition” is the need of any (successful) poker site to attract new Clients. An Online Poker site will shrivel up & die if it does not attract a steady flow of new players, week in, week out, 52 weeks per year. It is that simple.
Part – PART – of Ch 865’s remit is to help with that. A set sum per annum is budgeted for 865, & the accountants do the sums every 3 months – “is it contributing its share of income relative to spend?”. It MUST do that, or it will be taken off air. Nobody is going to burn money, are they?
“Retention” is keeping the existing Client base happy, satisfied, & encouraging them to stay on Sky Poker. This is extremely important, too.
You can (try to) decide which is the most important! BOTH matter a great deal. Ch 865 MUST address both.
So, the EXISTING viewrship may want "this", whereas the potential new player base might want that......
More…..
So, bearing in mind those TWO criteria, let’s see where we are.
The ratings for the new Shows have gone off the dial, they are massively up.
How are “ratings” measured? Several ways.
1) Those who watch Ch 865 via their TV.
2) Those who “Live” shows watch via TV
3) Those who watch via the Webstream
4) How long those who watch the Webstream stay tuned.* (See below for *)
5) The new “segmented” Shows are able to be shown on You Tube & other such mediums – this adds to viewership numbers. Most of these viewers are new to Sky Poker.
*There is no measurement available for how long viewers watch via TV, viewers either watch a bit (or all) of it, or they don’t, it’s that simple. A viewer = "one" no matter how long they watch for.
In Webstreams, the average viewing time is measured, & is a very important indicator. The average viewing time is substantially up, as are the number of Webstream uniques. (A “unique” = every different individual that views the webstream).
Please also remember that Forum Feedback is important, but it only represents a very small % of the Player-Base as a whole.
Viewer feedback is important, too, rinse repeat.
NEW PLAYER feedback & activation is important, too......
Analysing the viewer base since the new Shows came in has shown that viewing figures by all measurement methods are up, & very substantially.
Analysis of the average duration of webstream views shows that more people are viewing for a longer average period than previously.
It is NOT possible to assess whether these viewers are in the “existing” Client category (“Retention”) or new/potentially new Clients. (“Acquisition).
As I noted earlier, it is critical that 865 address both.
The views via You Tube, Poker Tube & the like are very important, this is all “new eyes”.
A piece of a new Show was placed on Poker Tube last week & collected over 3,000 “eyes” in the first 24 hours alone. Almost all of those were "new eyes".
So something must have occurred to cause these better numbers…… In fact, lots of things caused it.
The key selling point of SKY Poker on TV is for the client to maybe see their hands played on TV and maybe the hands are discussed.
If SKY start to show less hands on TV then surely it becomes of less intrest.
Apart from being able to better package 1 hour segments, the new Shows have been pretty much accompanied by the new intake of Analysts, Redmond, Ryan, Stuart, Jen, Julian etc, with more being assessed.
Most, if not all, of them, have been well-received. (And yes, I’m looking over my shoulder every day!).
So, those new Analysts, plus the existing Analysts, mean there is not much room for any others…..
In the 5+ years Ch 865 has existed, quite a few faces have come & gone. It’s how TV is, things need to be changed, kept fresh & zingy, changed, things happen (some of which are never made public), da de da.
Without exception, when existing Talent, be it Presenters, or Analysts, move on, there is always criticism from some – there is bound to be, it’s quite natural. But 17 into 5, or whatever the sum is, does not fit, & never will. I can’t recall if it was Shakespeare, or Radiohead who said “The King is dead, long live the King”.
What can be said, though, is there never has been, & never will be, a line-up of 865 Talent that is set in stone. It will always be refreshed, moved around, added to, deducted from, new faces bought in, old faces bought back, etc. Old faces may or may not return, new faces will deffo keep coming. They get praised for good new Talent, & criticised when existing Talent move on. Such is life.
Whatever way you view that equation, there remains a single immovable. With 12 Live Shows per month, there is only room for so many Analysts. And the pressure is on every single one of those guys to perform to their very best, because if they don’t, they know what will happen.
Even Torres is not guaranteed a game these days.....
The maths are the maths I’m afraid, there is only room for so many. Leaving myself aside, which would be improper for me to discuss (Guilty, M’Lord) , & “old school” Carlo, all of the new intake have been tremendously well-received. And that is part of the reason why the viewing numbers are so robust.
Cakes cannot be cut into 6 quarters - even Sky Poker can’t manage that.
“New stuff”.
Yup, new stuff remains on the table.
A brand new Show is imminent.
It will not involve ANY of the existing 865 Talent. It will be weekly, & repeated. A whole bunch of legal & contractual issues had to be addressed to make this happen. Everything is signed now, just a few technical bits & bobs to sort. Please remember, that for ANY Sky-based Channel, notice of scheduling has to be given to BSKYB for the inclusion within schedules. Each Show will last for “several hours”.
The next “Sky Poker UK Cash Game” (or it’s 2012 equivalent) has been approved for purposes of budget, the format has been designed & agreed, the Studio has been booked (6 days in the Studio in total), & the player line-up is currently being constructed. The timeline for all this is many months, including Editing etc.
“Automated Poker” has been mentioned on several occasions. There are a few challenges with this, & players themselves are partly responsible for this. We could debate this until we are blue in the face, but any SB&G or BSKYB Company will take the same line, & it is never going to be open for debate – they have to be careful of “iffy” Aliases. From time to time, new players sign up using iffy aliases, which would be unacceptable on 865 for the reasons mentioned. There are automated filters to try & intercept these, but automation does not address phonetics yet, so a few slip through. Could they be removed manually? With enough labour resource, yes, but the number of weekly sign-ups is huge. Like “very huge”…..
That is just a single example of the sort of tests every new product or Show first has to pass.
Interesting, ‘innit?
More Tournament coverage?
They are trying to square that equation with all the other parameters I have mentioned.
Remember, there is FAR more Cash Game action than Tourney action on Sky Poker, & this is the case on any Online Poker Site. It has always been so. In the industry as a whole, (I’m not at liberty to disclose the Sky Poker numbers) cash action accounts for around 70% of the traffic. You can assume that Sky Poker’s split is “not too far” from that.
I hope that address a few of the questions & comments you have raised.
Please remember what I said in my opening Post. One size will never fit all.
Thanks.
PS – I’d like to just mention the “off-screen” people who make Ch 865 happen, everyone from Mother to the lighting chappie.
They all work hard, & they read all this stuff, not all of which shows them in the best light. The “Talent” have right of reply, & can defend themselves up to a point, but those behind the scenes, not so much.
Bravo to them, imo, I'd not fancy wearing those shoes.