The WPBSA has signed a landmark deal with 110sport.tv to stream the qualifiers of all professional tournaments on the internet.
It means snooker fans will be able to watch every ball of every qualifying match live, starting with next week's Shanghai Masters qualifiers.
I understand 110sport will also inaugurate new events to be screened on their website.
This is, by anyone's definition, good news.
When I have more specific details I will of course report them here.
59 comments:
This is the best news i have heard for snooker in while.
About time too.
Iam delighted by this
Dave
its my understanding that its at a cost of £2.99 per session.
any news on that ?
I believe that is correct, yes.
Fair enough i think the internet is the future and if the game can make money from the internet then why not.
many on forums thinks it should be free i for 1 dont.....if fans want a sport to evolve they will have to fork out in my opinion.
Great news - although, it looks to me as if 110sport.tv will only be available in the UK and the Far East, right?
That's amazingly great news, probably the best snooker news for a long time. I would have been happy with just a few of the glamour qualifying ties but all of them is great. The big downside is this could take over my life with betting on and then subsequently watching a lot of these games. Well done 110sport and the WPBSA.
£2-99 a session :(
Good joke, I can pay about 4 pounds for one month of EUS stream and 3 pound for ONE snooker session? :-D :-D :-D really good joke, it's really funny
£2.99 per session? As in per SESSION? Bollocks to that!
But well done Dave for being a champion of live streaming of qualifiers. It seems you have been listened to.
Will there be commentary?
Apparently Rob Walker is doing it
Rob Walker???
What on earth does he known about snooker?????
So you have to spend a small fortune to listen to Rob Walker?
Er, pass...
Its a step in the right direction, but 2.99 seems steep. in my opinion they should use the smaller tournaments as a free trial and charge for the UK and World Championship, they could raise the fee and I'm sure if the service is good snooker fans would pay for the coverage
I don't think many people at all will pay £2.99 to watch the qualifiers. I agree with the previous poster it is a step in the right direction but paying that per session is a guarantee that low numbers will watch it without any shadow of a doubt. £2.99 per tournament would be much better.
Excellent news but there is no way that I will be paying that anytime soon, haven't got the spare funds at the moment.
Still, it's positive overall.
how much would it cost you to go to prestatyn get a all day ticket and acomadation for the night..
about £40 to £50 minimum unless you live near to prestatyn.
Rob Walker "lets get the boys on the beer it's only £2-99 a session"
This sounded like great news until I read that it'll cost £2.99 per session.
This'll mean that the only people watching will be anoraks (yep, I'm one of them) and people who know the players involved personally.
I especially like the sound of 110Sport inaguruating their own events, which I think is a major story in itself.
I remember when TSN talked about doing their own events about 10 years ago, they dipped their toe into the water by screening the Regal Scottish Masters online.
People used dial-up in those days, which made the picture quality far from great.
In this broadband age, it's still far from perfect, but a much more feasable than it once was.
I understand why people think the cost is steep but I would defend the principle of charging for access to the coverage. 110sport is a business just the same as Sky is, Eurosport is and even the BBC is. You have to pay to watch all of those.
But maybe they should make the first couple of days free to introduce everyone to the coverage.
I wrote about prices of the EUS stream earlier - it's about 4 pound per MONTH not per session, I think it's big difference
Paying isn't the problem here, it's the price! If it was a fiver to be able to stream the whole event I would consider it, after all that would mean £30 for 6 tournaments. But £2.99 per session if you follow it all will be more expensive than subscribing to skysports for a month and I doubt it will be as professionally broadcast. Do we get HD for the price? Or will the players take into a private room for a personal online "chat"?
What about table selection? Do we get to choose the match we want to follow or is it decided for us?
3 pounds for session of qualifiers?
It must be joke.
Any idea if this will be accessible from Ireland?
Also, will there be on-demand replays of matches for those unable to watch live? I don't mind paying a fee, though £2,99 a session is quite steep, but I want some decent service in return. I think paying £2,99 a session for something that is streamed once, during working hours, is very steep.
You don't have to pay to watch the Premier League matches online, nor the Championship League ones, for that matter.
I don't think anyone's that strongly opposed to the notion of charging for the coverage per se, it's just the extortionate price. I'd happily pay at a more reasonable rate.
Great news but I agree on the general concensus as to the cost. £3 per session (note to others, it's £3 not £2.99 - the oldest con trick in the book) is outrageous, I wonder if there will be an opportunity to purchase a season ticket at a vastly reduced rate. I'd pay a flat fee for all round access but would be very reluctant to pay this per session rate. For the snooker fan this is far more expensive than a Sky Sports subscription.
So, what exactly is meant by session?. Are you getting a full match in a session? or just 4 frames and then have to pay another 2.99 for second half?.
Since I only get 2gb per month free streaming from my ISP I'd be going over my allowance and having to pay extra to my ISP on top of the 2.99 per session fee, so I don't think that I'll be doing that.
I'll be interested to read the comments of those who do wath it, though.
My understanding is that it is not every match, you have a choice of two matches per session at the moment, which is a start.
IMO, they should have the first tournament for free and also have the option of a season pass, as at the current rate it will cost nearly £200 for the year for watching each event, and that is far too much for the likes of me.
Well let's see, in the first session there are 2 standout matches, Li-Drago and Xiao-Thepchaiya. Let's hope those are the choices.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with Sky Sports or Eurosport charging subscriptions- they offer snooker events people want to see and that advertisers will support. The coverage is generally very good and it allows me to watch far more snooker than I otherwise would
This plan, on the other hand, will consist mostly of little-known players, and there is a real question mark over the quality of the coverage.
£3 per session is a lot of money for what is being offered.
Once again, snooker's whingers are out in force.
"It will cost me money!"
Everything costs you money. Snooker fans moan that there sport doesn't get the exposure, then when it does, they complain because they need to fork out.
Name me ONE sport you get for free please. Just ONE?
When i first heard this yesterday evening i was delighted and i assumed there would be a fee, but 2.99 a SESSION come on. Maybe for the final round of the world championships but really not even a match for 3 quid, a session.
My fear is that not people will bother paying this and the whole thing will be scrapped.
Lets hope they make the first tournament free and then charge something like a fiver for the grand prix with the option of a season ticket
11.22am
session is a best of 9 frame match or a session of 8,9,10 or 11 frames depending at the tournament
Yes from the world snooker website the 2 matches are already selected for each session of the qualifiers all week
Initially there will be two tables streamed per session.
There's been a lot of drilling and banging going on today in Pontin's while cables etc are installed ready.
I would be pretty sure that 110sport will select their own players if involved in that session, otherwise they'll go for other popular names.
It's also being mirrored for the Chinese market so we can expect to see quite a few of the Chinese/Asian lads' matches shown too.
It's normally £5 for the day ticket to come and watch and sometimes there's an additional charge for a specific match, so it comes out £1 more, but that's not accounting for your petrol to get to Pontin's, nor accommodation etc if required.
I can't for Rob Walker to say "Let's get the Seagulls off the roof"!!
The matches that will be shown are on the worldsnooker website.
To anon at 2:38pm - people aren't complaining about paying but if it's £3 per session then it will add up to a significant amount if you want to follow it all and most people won't be prepared to part with their hard earned cash at this rate especially in these hard times.
I think it's counter productive because if it's cheaper you'll get more viewers and probably more profit at the end of it.
I would pay £30 for a season ticket and no more. I think that's reasonable.
£2-99 a session and Rob Walker doing the commentary lmao, you could'nt make it up.
I wish it was on a proper TV channel rather than an online one....then I'd gladly pay £2.99 per session.
Incidentally the matches being covered have been chosen....it's a choice of 2, from the 8 in each session, and the first is either David Grays match or Xiao Guodongs match.
It's not a good idea picking the matches the week before. They're hoping Jimmy White and Parrott will get through. What of they don't? They should choose the matches on the morning of play based on what the most attractove are.
Also, there should be an evening session as this is when most people in the UK and Europe will be home from work.
And they should announce the the first day will be free so everyone can see what it's like.
Yes the spelling in that post was appalling - and I've not touched a drop!
We believe you occifer.
Sme of your favourite Sheffield haunts might have closed - but the pubs appear to have been open!
I like this, but I think they should make the first tournament or at least the odd match available for free, just to see if it'll actually be worth paying for.
And I think £3 a session is just too much. I think £5-10 a tournament would be better, I would have no problem paying that.
Anyone know what payment types they'll accept?
The "Legends" thing looks good, anyone have any more info on that?
Excuse the long post Dave. I've just had a good chat with 110sport who wish to answer some of the queries that have been raised.
1. There will be commentators. Terry Griffiths will be one of them, Rob Walker another and they're keeping a couple of surprises up their sleeve for you.
2. They will go on air 15 minutes before the start of play and a sesion broadcast will include interviews with players, referees etc.
3. They will have roving cameras to monitor other tables and be able to bring good breaks etc from other tables.
4. It will be satellite upload technology and there will be a total of 8 cameras in use around the venue. the production team is headed up by senior staff previously with Sky Sports and Setanta and the pictures will be full tv quality.
5. Initially the price is set at £2.99 a session. If you're unable to watch live there will be a "watch again option" on a delay, at a cheaper rate. If the uptake is good then prices will be reviewed accordingly and packages like day, event, and season tickets introduced.
6. There will also be other events being covered, that 110 are involved with or event managing themselves.
7. Perhaps the most important is that it is available worldwide. China will have its own separate mirror feeds and everyone else will pick up the feed from the UK and as long as you've got a decent internet connection you should have no problem accessing the broadcasts.
8. The team is coming into Pontin's tomorrow to get everything set up.
So all in all it sounds pretty exciting to me and it's long overdue.
Roll on Monday morning, let's watch some snooker!
Having Rob Walker commentating devalues the whole thing
Why don't they use Clive?
Janie - I agree, it is exciting. I've been calling for this for something like three years.
However, for all the production expertise 110sport has, I hope they also listen to people who understand snooker.
They're aleady listening David.
I think they're very pleased to get the feedback, particularly from the fans, and today the Chief Exec took time out to ring me and explain it all.
Are we entering a new era of touchy feely snooker I wonder!!
The thing is I'd happily pay £3 a session to see Jimmy White. Likewise others may be to see their favourite player. But I'd only really want to pay a couple of quid to see other matches. However to see all the qualifiers I'd pay probably up to £10 maybe £15. Especially if there were highlights of the other tables.
I think they should do a subscription service. Maybe £10 per tournament or a one-off fee of say £40 for the whole year.
Hi Just a question I am sure anyone with an IQ above 5 is asking,
We all now that the braodcast of the qualifiers is a fantastic asset for any production or broadcasting company to have and undoubtedly worth a considerable amount of money to them.
Why when there are very experienced webstreaming companies outthere charging significantly less for their product are we being served by 110 Sport, experience in Webstreaming and TV production nil.
Do 110 have connections at board level within World Snooker or the WPBSA I am sure some people may ask.
However I would not possibly comment
Quote: Why when there are very experienced webstreaming companies outthere charging significantly less for their product are we being served by 110 Sport, experience in Webstreaming and TV production nil.
110sport, or as they were then, TSN, were the first ever production company to provide live streaming, with commentary of snooker, anywhere in the world.
It was the 2000 European Championships. I believe a certain David Hendon made his commentary debut on that stream!
They did a whole raft of events back then, including having their own studio, player interviews and daily features and went on to cover other snooker events such as the Regal Masters.
They also covered other sports such as golf in similar ground-breaking style, when it was virtually unheard of to get any sort of web streaming.
So in point of fact they have more experience probably than nearly everyone who's followed them.
Ah, how young we all were! Spencer's in Stirling is where it all happened. I ate so many burgers in there that I was clinically dead for a month
afterwards.
People have maybe forgotten that 110 (or TSN as they then were) offered the WPBSA a fortune for internet rights a decade ago and were knocked back by the then board.
Janie i know all about that as i had a friend of a friend at tsn at the time, but id still say the comment you replied to is relevant even though not accurate.
for the last few years they have not exactly been at the forefront and now low and behold they have got the nod...
the price is far too steep and i do not give them credit for asking for such without even doing a recent trial for free.
to me they should do the first event for free and draw interest and see what figures are like once its charged for
you may well have been young Dave. I was already old!
I vaguely remember living on some excellent cheese omelettes non stop for two weeks of the Euros in 2000 and another two weeks of the World Under 21s in 2001.
I spent more time in Spencers than I ever did at my own club. But it was a great club and is sadly missed.
i miss it a lot too Janie. 2nd home.
ive been championing live streaming of qualifiers for almost a decade!!
"People have maybe forgotten that 110 (or TSN as they then were) offered the WPBSA a fortune for internet rights a decade ago and were knocked back by the then board."
so stupidaty has always been a criteria for a WSA Board member.
why the hell would they knock back a fortune ??????
it beggers belief the mistakes these pillocks has done over so many years with different people sitting on the board...
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