Whatever Happened to poker on TV

[roystone]

I know you can watch any number of poker streamers these days and of course the big live events.
But why did all the smaller televised games seem to disappear?

I'm from the UK and used to love 'Late night poker'. I understand that the glory days of the general public liking poker may be over but it's a shame that some of the more quirky poker shows have gone (unless they haven't and i just don't know where to find them)

 

[mollymaggie]

Poker on T.V

I too watched the wsop and others on T.V but they moved online now thanks to the Chinese Virus

 

[PackinPat]

The poker shows relied on 6 or 9 handed tables either play cash games or MTT. All those games were shut down with the Covid 19 quarantine. I guess we will have to wait for the players and the sponsors to comeback.

 

[nellorossi83]

everybody is playing online poker. You can watch nice games in twitch, or find another streaming. This is the only way I know today to watch poker.

 

[neart13]

I know what you mean and Daniel Negreanu touches on this sometimes in the 'DAT poker podcast' but I think essentially tv networks stopped paying for it and people just aren't making that content anymore! One reason could be because people nowadays tend to want instant gratification more than ever so to edit shows like that together would take time and people would just search the results especially in tournaments! I loved the wsop show with Mike and Vince that was my favourite!
I think 'poker-go' is the only bet now to find stuff like that, now I'm not suggesting this as a fact because I don't have it but if there's something like that anywhere it'd probably be there!
Other than that follow 'live at the bike' on YouTube, turn on notifications and it'll pop up whenever they're doing things, the live streams don't stay on their channel that's why I recommend notifications but when live poker comes back they'll have stuff going for sure!

 

[Glaucopone]

I think everyone is watching the games on YouTube, as is the tendency of several programs, so TV stations are dying out some programs in various segments. Search YouTube.

 

[FoxMS]

Due to the spread of the virus, it is obvious that the number of public events has decreased significantly. I hope that this situation will change for the better in the near future.

 

[roystone]

I know what you mean and Daniel Negreanu touches on this sometimes in the 'DAT poker podcast' but I think essentially tv networks stopped paying for it and people just aren't making that content anymore! One reason could be because people nowadays tend to want instant gratification more than ever so to edit shows like that together would take time and people would just search the results especially in tournaments! I loved the wsop show with Mike and Vince that was my favourite!
I think 'poker-go' is the only bet now to find stuff like that, now I'm not suggesting this as a fact because I don't have it but if there's something like that anywhere it'd probably be there!
Other than that follow 'live at the bike' on YouTube, turn on notifications and it'll pop up whenever they're doing things, the live streams don't stay on their channel that's why I recommend notifications but when live poker comes back they'll have stuff going for sure!

I Agree, i think it is an instant gratification problem too.
Late night poker, for example, was basically just 6 guys sitting at a table playing a cash game and talking, telling jokes etc. Probably far too slow and boring for people nowadays.
But i miss the style.

Also, separate point. I wasn't meaning where have these shows gone in the last 3 months, obviously with Covid-19 live poker is taking a hit, i was being more general in raising the point of slow paced poker shows falling out of favour.
Watching streamers is fun but it's not the same, due to always being shown from that players perspective.

 

[Psyanide14]

Where I am in canada they’ve been showing a lot of poker on TV since there’s no hockey/baseball to show. Lots of world poker tour and pokerstars series. Nice to watch though to be fair, most are a couple of years old.

 

[neptun1914]

TV companies invest in programs which many people watch so that they can have income from commercials, tv rights and so on. Before black friday may people played and watched poker but after that the interest dropped. Now too low part of the general public likes to watch poker on TV so making such programs is no more profitable. People who like to watch poker now prefer watching it on youtube or using subscription based services like pokergo. It is a matter of evolution.

 

[1nsomn1a]

In our country as before poker was not shown on TV so now it is not

 

[NightStalker]

WSOP on local TV... Times that never come back.

 

[roystone]

I know i can still watch the big live events, using streaming services.
I was more lamenting the demise of the slower paced, lower budget shows like the UK's Late night poker. It was great seeing Devilfish, Boatman etc, chatting, joking and playing cards.
Watching a streamer is very different, its their perspective and not an overview.

 

[TDTODDY]

The poker boom came and went. You can still find streams here and there, but the days of weekly espn poker are long over.

 

[alexand8r]

Hm... Epochs is changing. It's time to admit that TV is giving way to YouTube, where everyone can choose what and what time he will watch

 

[Joco413]

It's not something people want to watch on TV nowadays.

 

[Deedgee]

I think that poker on television has suffered from chaotic scheduling and predictability. When I first watched the World Poker Tour, back in 2003 or 2004, it was shown as a two-hour broadcast, and it was fun to watch the tournament unfold over such a long period of time. I also very much enjoyed the European Poker Tour shows with John Duthie. Both of these formats have gone away now. I also think that poker on television suffers from being too contrived. When a program nears the end of it's time-slot, there's very little suspense because it's obvious that the show must end soon. Cash game shows have suffered because of the belief, real or not, that most, if not all, big-name pokers are being staked in such games. There just doesn't seem to be anything at risk, which takes away the fun for the viewer.

 

[Sebarios59]

In my country with all this pandemic and that there are no sports on ESPN, the world series of previous years passed. You will not find new chapters of live poker because the poker rooms of the big casinos where they were filmed are not yet open.

 

[tauri103]

I hope we can watch all these TV events again when the coronavirus is gone. in the meantime we can still watch professional players play online on youtube or twitch.

 

[whyfold that]

there still have poker on tv just not as much

 

[wagon596]

USA Government help destroy poker on TV. Many people to this day think playing poker online in the US is illegal, so those peeps have lost interest in the game. Many of those people stopped watching because they "can't" play. Just my thoughts.

 

[gwooof]

Man I miss it I loved watching the world series of poker events on ESPN they did such a great job covering it all use to have live coverage of the main event so much fun to watch

 

[maestro121920]

I think tv is dead, youtube is the way to go nowadays

 

[danoscar]

That excitement is gone. Not enough viewers.

 

[Herkstwin]

Nothing current because most poker rooms shut down due to covid. Not feasible to put 2,000-10,000 people in a room. How do you play poker 6 feet apart. Besides, the masks make it harder to read opponents.