Poker, whether or not it’s a sport, is entertainment. The senior director of ESPN programming, Scott Hanley, said, “I think it's a sport and an entertainment. That's what we do. It's our name: the entertainment and sports programming network. That's how we try to show it. It's reality-based. You meet these players and you like them or you don't like them."
Besides the poker camera, which displays the cards of each player and has made poker extra accessible to television viewers, ESPN will air the first 32 hours of the World Series of Poker in high definition television (HDTV), another poker original.
Jamie Horowitz, ESPN senior producer, said, "There's an associated cost there. The value of going high-def is showing a game based on reading your opponent. You can see their eye movements, their hand movements.” He also stated that ESPN will persist in searching for coverage modernisations by its 2010 contract with the WSOP and, he added, “hopefully beyond."
Horowitz said that this year the network advanced graphics and music, making new tables and restyling the rooms where poker players are questioned, from an Old West atmosphere to an Ocean's 11 atmosphere, to mirror poker’s "modern" age. The network also increased the number of cameras from 26 to 40. By comparison, Horowitz said that 35 were utilised to televise the Kentucky Derby.
WSOP’s delayed coverage continues Tuesday and continues on ESPN to 30 October. ESPN is airing two hours, one each of chosen events, through 14 August.
Besides the poker camera, which displays the cards of each player and has made poker extra accessible to television viewers, ESPN will air the first 32 hours of the World Series of Poker in high definition television (HDTV), another poker original.
Jamie Horowitz, ESPN senior producer, said, "There's an associated cost there. The value of going high-def is showing a game based on reading your opponent. You can see their eye movements, their hand movements.” He also stated that ESPN will persist in searching for coverage modernisations by its 2010 contract with the WSOP and, he added, “hopefully beyond."
Horowitz said that this year the network advanced graphics and music, making new tables and restyling the rooms where poker players are questioned, from an Old West atmosphere to an Ocean's 11 atmosphere, to mirror poker’s "modern" age. The network also increased the number of cameras from 26 to 40. By comparison, Horowitz said that 35 were utilised to televise the Kentucky Derby.
WSOP’s delayed coverage continues Tuesday and continues on ESPN to 30 October. ESPN is airing two hours, one each of chosen events, through 14 August.
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