CueSport TV - The Blog

Today see’s the final section of the Grand Prix Snooker second round. The pick of the day is obviously Stephen Hendry v Mark Williams.

Yesterday I had a bit of a prediction over the correct score with John Higgins to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4, I was right, but sadly had no money on it!

You can today by betting with Sporting Bet right here: Grand Prix Snooker Betting

My prediction for todays big match is Hendry to beat Williams 5-3 which with the aforementioned Sporting Bet is 6/1, worth a go I reckon!

Watch it live here: http://www.viewtv.co.uk/bbc2

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This week there is of course the latest World Snooker ranking event, the Grand Prix.

Whenever there is a ranking event on this blog seems to get more traffic, thanks World Snooker, due to the fact that people are searching for live snooker streaming.

Now as a web tv channel operator, we at Cuesport TV do not condone any of the illegal streams that can be found on the web. I would also beg the question, why would you want to watch one, they are poor quality and generally on poor websites as well.

There are a number of places you can watch the Grand Prix Snooker legally online. I list them below:

1. The BBC Sport Website (UK Only)
2. ViewTV - The BBC channels are available on this video platform for free
3. Eurosport Player (Pay-per-view but open to the world)

If you know of anymore then please let me know.

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It was back in the mid-nineties when World Snooker decided to pull the plug on funding the women’s snooker tour.

Since that time player numbers have fallen and earning any money from the game is a non-starter even for the top ladies. Many of the multiple World Champions of the 80’s and 90’s have upped sticks and moved to the USA to play on the lucrative pool circuit. Those players, like Alison Fisher, Kelly Fisher and Karen Corr now earn very good money playing pool and the snooker background has given them a firm foundation over their US and Asian rivals.

There is still a lot of potential in the womens game with the likes of Reanne Evans, Maria Catalano and Katie Henrick sharing the major tournaments between them. However, it is unlikely that they will ever reach their full potential as there is not enough money in the game to warrant playing it full-time.

How good could these players be with a decent tour?

That comment is not flippant either as Mandy Fisher, who has run the ladies game since the 1980’s, does an amazing job with limited funds and time (she works for a living!)

My opinion is that the game for women needs a revamp, I have never understood the need for women to be dressed in waistcoats and trousers (like men) to play snooker. If we use the Pool circuit in the USA as an example, the players are smartly dressed but also in very modern clothing. Surely snooker should opt for this route? Another big issue is being able to sell the game to sponsors, when an event is held in a snooker club it is less-likely to receive any funding. I am however, massively aware of the cost implications of moving out of clubs but it is food for thought.

This weekend I am off to Derby to provide live Internet coverage of the Wytech Ladies Masters event. It will be the first time theWLBSA tour has received live internet coverage. But I think with the right plan going forward there may be an opportunity away from the Internet for the womens game.

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Note: Live coverage is free to view at Cuesport TV from 10am on Saturday 12th September.

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This week is the start of our busiest period of the year so far.

On Thursday we have the first two quarter finals and the first semi final of the TCC Snooker Pro-am. This week the feature match live on Cuesport TV will be Ryan Day v Matthew Stevens. This will be followed up by the semi final where the winner of the aforementioned match will play either Darren Morgan or defending champion Lee Walker.

At the weekend (1st-2nd August) we have the eagerly awaited first tour stop of the 8-ball Super Tour (This was the Oracle Super Tour last year).

The cream of the 8-ball crop come out to play in this £44,000 guaranteed World Rules series. Newly crowned WEPF World 8-ball Pool Champion, Phil Harrison, will be in action plus former champions Gareth Potts, Mick Hill and Carl Morris. In addition to the players of championship pedigree a myriad of tournament winners, like Simon Ward, Tom Cousins, Craig Marsh, Ben Davies, Ben Flack, Steve Munro and Lee Clough will also be in attendance.

Both of these events and more are available as part of a Cuesport TV subscription which can be bought from £2.90.

For further events throughout August visit the Live Event Schedule.

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I am back at the TCC Pro-am Snooker this evening with World Number 6 Ryan Day in action.

This week is one of the most exciting of the qualifying rounds with two other professionals competing. Matthew Stevens, who like Day is seeded into round 2, and Daniel Wells who will play in the first round.

Stevens and Day will start their own matches at around 9:15pm after the conclusion of the first round matches.

Tonights draw is below:

Round 1:

Daniel Wells v Jerry Connors
Andrew Pagett v Anthony Davies

Round 2:

Ryan Day v Wells or Connors
Matthew Stevens v Pagett or Davies

Main action starts at 7:30pm and once again is exclusively live to Cuesport TV Subscription holders.

Purchase a Subscription

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Here is a list of ideas from our latest video releases, all released since Thursday 2nd July:

• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Kishan Hirani v Darren Morgan 1 of 4 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Kishan Hirani v Darren Morgan 2 of 4 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Kishan Hirani v Darren Morgan 3 of 4 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Kishan Hirani v Darren Morgan 4 of 4 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Paul Davies v Darren Morgan 1 of 5 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Paul Davies v Darren Morgan 2 of 5 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Paul Davies v Darren Morgan 3 of 5 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Paul Davies v Darren Morgan 4 of 5 (Subscription)
• TCC Snooker Pro-am - Paul Davies v Darren Morgan 5 of 5 (Subscription)
• Michael Holt Interview - Paul Hunter Classic 2007 (Free)
• Stuart Bingham Interview - Paul Hunter Classic 2007 (Free)
• Ricky Walden Interview - Paul Hunter Classic 2007 (Free)
• Jamie Cope Interview - Paul Hunter Classic 2007 (Free)
• Paul Hunter Classic Behind-the-scenes (Free)
• Paul Hunter Classic Player’s Party (Free)
• Inside GB9 - Southern Masters 2009 (Free)

There have been another 10 videos also added but they were to complete missing files when we moved platform, more of these are still to come.

When you watch the videos listed above please comment and rate them it is always great to hear from our viewers.

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As of today you can purchase a Cuesport TV Subscription.

There are two types; a pass (one-off payment) and a subscription (recurring payment).

In order to purchase one you will need to do the following:

1. Login to Cuesport TV
2. Look at the package list and decide which is for you.
3. Purchase Credits (Find it at the bottom under Your Account)
4. Apply those credits to the subscription period you require.

In the future the credit system will be removed to allow more traditional purchasing and also allow purchase via SMS text message.

SPECIAL OFFERS
Until the end of Sunday July 5th you will be able to by the following launch offers:

1 Month Pass - £5.00 (Saving £1.90)
3 Month Pass - £12.50 (Saving £4.40)
6 Month Pass - £20.00 (Saving £9.90)

All of these special offers are non-recurring so when it finishes you will have to purchase another package.

Purchase Now and save money!

Buy a Subscription

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The wait is over!

The new Cuesport TV subscriptions are now live, however, at this time they are not quite how I originally wanted them implemented. For this week only you, as a subscriber, will have to purchase ‘credits’ in advance of buying a subscription.

You don’t need to pay twice but you will need to make two transactions. The first to pay for the credits, the second to apply those credits to the subscription you require.

This will change over the next week and it will be a lot easier to purchase from Cuesport TV in due course. Once again I am frustrated but have to understand the work that Prostream are putting in to make this right. Eventually it will be a very slick interface that even allows payment via mobile telephone SMS services.

There are 23 videos that are currently part of the subscription and this equates to around 10 hours of viewing.

The first live event that will be subscription only will be this Thursday’s event from the TCC Snooker Pro-am, those of you that viewed last week know the quality of the live stream and will hopefully be back to support it.

Try purchasing a Cuesport TV Subscription now.

Let me know if you encounter any issues.

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Last night saw the first of seven weekly transmissions from the TCC Snooker Pro-am. An event that has been running for 10 years at the Tredegar Cons. Club in Newport, Wales.

This years event has attracted Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens and Ryan Day plus a host of other professionals and top level amateurs.

For us it was our second move into live snooker streaming, and obviously it is key with the move to subscriptions imminent, that we provide a good show. From my own point of view I think yesterday went well, the number of live viewers was small but this was due in part to the event being advertised as a paid event. I think the viewers that did watch probably would have paid anyway.

The key ingredient to the success was the mounting of a ceiling camera to give the typical full table shot we see on the BBC and Eurosport. This was quite comical really, we had brackets designed specifically for the job, however, the camera then would not tilt so all we could see was the light rig - a nice light rig, but not quite what people wanted to see.

Rather than actually start drilling into the ceiling of the TCC we made use of the suspended ceiling and using a plank borrowed from my son’s old bed set about creating a mount for the camera, it paid off and gave us the desired result. Although I was sweating it a bit with the camera precariously over the second table, secure though I must add!

The club is quite small and with 80 spectators crammed in we didn’t think there was going to be space for two cameras, but we did manage to add a second angle through the use of a tripod. The natural lighting in the club was perfect and a great nights entertainment was had.

Streaming at 450kbps is a first for us as we are normally stuck with small standard connections but the stream was smooth with no buffering and very little delay thanks to Virgin Media for that one!

Anyway you can watch the videos for yourself later on this weekend over at Cuesport TV and feel free to make a comment or two.

We will be providing live coverage again next week as well so stay tuned.

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The TCC Snooker Pro-am which features the likes of Mark Williams, Shaun Murphy, Ricky Walden and Ryan Day will be streamed live on Cuesport TV starting on June 25th.

The tournament that is played in a social club with two snooker tables will have matches being played concurrently, due to space restrictions and bandwidth on site it is only possible to stream from one table.

However, as the other matches will also be of interest to our viewers we will be recording the second table for later broadcast.

What is going to be exciting about this is that it means for the first time we will be able to test HD recording and subsequently streaming. It will mean that the HD footage will only be able to be watched at around 3.5meg but the quality should be excellent.

Both the live stream and the HD recordings will only be available as part of the Cuesport TV Subscription which is due to launch iminently. It has already been delayed by two days due to solving some issues with the payment processing company.

HD is always something we have wanted to try but due to bandwidth issues and time constraints in the past it has thus far not been possible, this could be the future of Internet streaming as more and more companies are now trialing it. The BBC i-player now features HD versions of their programmes and cycle team Cervelo now stream HD content over at Bartape.net.

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