CueSport TV - The Blog

Ever since we launched Cuesport TV back in 2008 we have been talking about a suitable way to make videos available for download in a cost-effective way.

That time has now arrived! From today selected content from Cuesport TV will be available to download on a paid service.

At the moment we are looking at around £2.49 ($3.99 approx) to download an entire match to your hard drive.

Longer videos like money matches will command a higher fee as storage and delivery costs are increased.

As fans of the site you are going to have to tell us what videos you want to download. Only selected content will be available at any one time and certain videos may only be available for limited periods.

The downloaded file comes as a ZIP file, within the compressed zip the actual WMV videos files will be contained that you can play back on your PC or Laptop.  MAC users will need to download VLC media player or Windows Media PLayer 9 for MAC. VLC is a great player and plays almost any video file thrown at it!

With your purchase you get 48 hours access to download the video files. Once on your computer they last for as long as you want them to.

Payment can be made with credit or debit card but you will need to login in order to purchase.

Currently available in the download store:

Craig Marsh v Kristie Caulfield - EBA Masters Final 2010

Tony Drago V Jayson Shaw - GB9 British Grand Prix 2009 - HD

Chris Melling v James Kay - GB9 British Grand Prix 2009 - HD

We need your help to make this a success, please download the videos this will help towards keeping live and on-demand video free. If you want to see a certain match/video available then please drop us an email or comment on this blog.

General 8-ball, 9-ball, billiards, cuesport tv, downloads, pool, snooker, video

As if we would let you you forget, this weekend it is the return of the GB9 Tour.

The third event of 5 in this years calendar takes place in Daventry and will be live on Cuesport TV. You can watch it for free on the 17th and 18th of July.

The tournament will feature Karl Boyes, fresh off the back of his first Eurotour victory, plus Daryl Peach, Darren Appleton, Mark Gray and more…

9-ball Pool, Live Event News 9-ball, 9ball, cuesport tv, darren appleton, daventry, gb9, karl boyes, pool

It has taken longer than anticipated but all of the videos recorded at the Paul Medati Trophy are now available for viewing.

If you want to watch a specific match then simply type a players name into the search box. This will bring up a list under the video player.

Alternatively go to ‘Media Catalogue’ in the left menu and then select 9-ball pool.

Please rate and share the videos to help us grow Cuesport TV.

9-ball Pool 9-ball, blackpool, gb9, paul medati, pool

After months of me talking about it on this blog, Facebook and Twitter, In the Frame, our magazine show, finally launched with the pilot episode today.

This first episode features Ben Davies and Mel Harley and was filmed at Snook’s in Weymouth last month.

The 2nd year Media degree students at Weymouth College were reposnsible for the filming, directing and editing and have done quite a nice job.

The only thing that lets it down is my good self in the presenters role!

We need two presenters for this show in future preferably one male and one female quite young and interested in either sport as a whole or with a specific interest in pool and snooker. If you are interested in this then drop us an email to intheframe@cuesport.tv

You can watch the first 18 minute trial episode by following this link:

Cuesport TV Launch In The Frame - You can still enter the on screen competition!

General cuesport tv, in the frame, magazine show, pool, snooker

It has been a long time in the pipeline but tomorrow finally see’s us record the first edition of our new magazine show called ‘In the Frame’.

The 1/2 hour show, filmed in conjunction with Weymouth College Media School students, will feature news, interviews and competitions for fans of pool and snooker.

This edition will feature 2005 EUKPF Professional World Champion Ben Davies and top pool referee Mel Harley.

The show will be filmed between 1pm and 3pm tomorrow (28th Jan) at Snook’s in Weymouth.

English/UK Pool ben davies, in the frame, mel harley, pool, uk pool

To be honest on paper I thought it was a foregone conclusion that Europe would romp away with this years Mosconi Cup. There are still three days to go of course but the USA dominated in last nights first session.

After taking the team match (a format I have to say I don’t like as it lacks fluidity and does not allow the players to settle) 6-4, they never really looked back and went into the last match of the evening with a 4-0 scoreline.

Ralf Souquet, ever the European stalwart, managed to claw one back for Europe in the final singles game of the night - he beat USA rookie Oscar Dominguez 6-5.

Play continues tonight at 7pm and Europe could do with a 3-2 or 4-1 scoreline in order to stay in contention.

One thing I did like about this years opening night was the addition of the Captain’s pick, instead of picking for their own team Alex Lely and Nick Varner had to select a player from the opposition side. I was very surprised to see Souquet selected by Varner and thought he may well have opted for Darren Appleton (Europe’s only Mosconi Cup rookie this year).

Team USA 4-1 Team Europe

You can follow updates on Twitter.

9-ball Pool 9-ball Pool, 9ball, mosconi cup 2009, mosconi cup live, pool, ralf souquet

Today see’s the delayed launch of GB9 Leagues a new amateur league structure for 9-ball pool players in the UK.

I was originally involved when this was first tried in the UK and after 12 months due to lack of support from sponsors and venues it failed to get beyond 12 months.

This time under the tutelage of Tony Weafer, a player on the GB9 Ball Tour and successful businessman, the league structure has much more planning and impetus to be successful behind it. Tony has worked tirelessly with Rileys (the UK’s leading pool and snooker provider) to bring them on board en masse. What this means is that the leagues will launch in around 100 venues simultaneously in January 2010.

It is an important time for such a scheme to get started, Britain as a nation has been achieving great results on a professional level with the likes of World Champions, Darren Appleton and Daryl Peach plus excellent performances from the likes of Imran Majid, Karl Boyes and more recently Chris Melling and Craig Osborne.

GB9 Leagues in my opinion will help us further strengthen our position internationally by developing the game and the interest at grassroots level. Yes, it will be full of amateur players wanting to have some fun, and why should it now be? However, it will also be a proving ground for young players and players moving across from other cue sports like snooker and English Pool.

Never has there been a better time in the UK’s history of 9-ball pool than now. Our professionals are performing better than ever and our official tour has announced plans to move into hotel venues for 2010 and beyond.

I wish the leagues every success and will actually be using them to get myself playing pool regularly again. The prize money, the county selection and ultimately spots on the GB9 Tour are all reasons why this will be a success.

9-ball Pool 9-ball Pool, 9ball, amateur pool, american pool, gb9 leagues, gb9 tour, pool

It has been a while coming but I thought I would post some early news about a brand new show that Cuesport TV are producing called ‘In the Frame’.

The show will have a magazine feel with fresh, young presenters, initially the show will be live for 30 minutes once per month with the possibility of extending this to 1 hour twice monthly based on the results of the trial period.

Each show will feature two guests, interviews, ‘Rackrunner Challenge’, news, events calendar and competitions. A date and guests for the first show are not yet confirmed but it is likely that snooker professional Ricky Walden and Managing Director of Global Snooker, Neil Tomkins will take part.

The live show (and video-on-demand) will be completely free and there is the possibility of website owners taking an embedded version of the show to place on their own websites.

Each month will take a different feel with guests from the world of pool and american pool lined up for future editions. It is not only about the playing side of the game however as cuemakers, manufacturers, coaching and media pundits are also lined up for 2009/10 onwards.

When the date is confirmed I will post again but please look out for this one it will be a celebration of cue sports every month!

I forgot to mention that it is being produced in conjunction with Weymouth College Media Dept. Students on the degree course will be given the opportunity to take part in all aspects of the production as part of the work experience element required on the course.

More information later.

General cuesport tv, in the frame, pool, ricky walden, snooker, weymouth college

It is very nearly upon me, for the second year in a row I will be making the journey to the Irish sea where I will find the Isle of Man.

Last year the Villa Marina venue, in Douglas, hosted the Isle of Man Festival of Pool, this year it goes one better with the EBA European Blackball Championships being hosted in the magnificently refurbished venue.

Watch our short promo video here to get a feel for the place: European Blackball Championships 2009.

Last year we simply provided a basic live stream, this year will be so much better with much more interaction with our viewers. It is planned to shoot and edit a number of short ‘diary’ videos to be uploaded each day, so if you miss the live stream you can still catch up with some of the action. In addition, there will be multiple camera’s, live scoring, commentary and also competitions. Look out for the Cuesport TV promo girl, Emma, who will be doing the rounds selling subscriptions and competition entries.

The first day will be completely free to watch, subsequent days will only be available as part of a Cuesport TV subscription, due to the contract with Sky Sports we do not know until the actual day whether we will be able to stream the finals live, we hope we can!

Look out for a special subscription promotion as well which will tie in with the work Emma is doing for us.

English/UK Pool 8-ball pool, blackball, cuesport tv, isle of man, live pool, pool

I have always seen the potential of Cuesport TV as that of an online community, at this moment, the users have not quite embraced this though.

I am coming up with a few things like getting users to send us their own content, this is both video and of course photos. But how can we further develop Cuesport TV as a ‘community hub’?

I would be glad of any ideas.

The first thing I am looking for is amateur videographers/photographers to showcase some of their work with us, as long as the video work or photographs have some element of pool, snooker or billiards then we are interested.

You can email us with any ideas to enquiries @ cuesport.tv or post a comment on this blog.

General community, cue sport, cuesport tv, cuesports, photographs, pool, snooker, video