Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[AndrewT]

(In the same way that, though many do not realise this, the blonde Forum exists only to keep Kinboshi and Boldie off the streets, in fact).

FYP

[pokefast]

I risk making an ass of myself here but hey ho.

But if i buy duty free cigarettes in Spain i can consume them here. So if they have aquired duty frees from anywhere other than here,why can they not consume them in British waters?

The cigarettes do not belong to the Crew, they are sold to them, I assume, by the quartermaster or whoever. The Tankers have, I dunno, 4,000 or 5,000 ciggies "in stock", & as they were purchased elsewhere, & that's above the duty threshold, Tax is payable on them, just as you'd pay tax if you bought more than your allowance into the UK.

I think.

Thankyou.

Got you now.

Oh yes,why are SP showing so many repeats at 9pm these past 2 weeks?*

* feel free to tell me to buggar off if you can't/don't want to answer!

I promised to return to this.

The Channel now broadcasts 3 Live Shows per week (Thursday, Saturday & Sunday) which is a considerable reduction on the previous schedule.

I assume your next question will be "Why?"......

The Channel is funded out of the Marketing Budget, & that has been increased by a double digit % over last year. But they are spending the money differently, trying to get more bangs per buck.

865 exists for one reason only - to drive traffic to the Cardroom. (In the same way that, though many do not realise this, the blonde Forum exists only to drive traffic to the blonde Cardroom, in fact).

And it works extremely well - but it does much better on some nights - much better - & less so on other nights. So they now concentrate on the high value nights, when sign-ups continue at a high level, & the new advertising campaign can be targeted more tightly.

The money saved, & the additional spend, is now going towards what, for now, I can only describe as some "Projects", all of which benefit the Players in a much more direct way. And, for me, all this is very exciting, as I'm in that mix somewhere. Retirement has been Postponed again.

So for the moment, yes, less Live Shows, & more repeats. But we are bang in the middle of the Channel's realignment, & in a few weeks, all will become clear.

Thanks Tikay.

I do miss Orford and yourself though ( Morcambe and wise ).

One thing which i do find odd though is that there is alive show on a Saturday,surely this would be a night where viewing figures were at their lowest?

[tikay]

though many do not realise this, the blonde Forum exists only to drive traffic to the blonde Cardroom, in fact

'only'? Really? I know getting traffic to the cardroom is a big issue for blonde, but surprised to see you state categorically that that's the only reason this forum exists, given that it predates the existence of the cardroom by some time (or was the forum's inception all part of a longer term plan?)

The whole - original - purpose of the Forum was to drive Traffic to a yet-to-be introduced Cardroom.

The Cardroom was eventually opened, much later than planned, but only a small % of Forum users ever migrated to the Cardroom, they just frequented the Forum.

So alternative means of garnering revenue were stepped up - Board Sponsorship, Affiliate Income, da de da.

Amazingly, in the last 12 months, & particularly in the last 6 months, aided in no small part by Flushy's contacts & urgings, Cardroom Gross Revenue has been very good - very good indeed. Enough, in fact, to comfortably run the Site - were it not those frigging Fines, & Chargebacks.

I believe we have suffered over $30,000+ of chargebacks in calendar Year 2009 already - & I'm pretty sure, reading between some Aqua lines, that there remains a good few skeletons in the Chargeback cupboard.

I don't really care how we earn money tbh - but it just has to pay for itself, or it closes.

[AndrewT]

I believe we have suffered over $30,000 of chargebacks in calendar Year 2009 already - & I'm pretty sure, reading between some Aqua lines, that there remains a good few skeletons in the Chargeback cupboard.

Chargebacks can take 6 months to show up.

[tikay]

though many do not realise this, the blonde Forum exists only to drive traffic to the blonde Cardroom, in fact

'only'? Really? I know getting traffic to the cardroom is a big issue for blonde, but surprised to see you state categorically that that's the only reason this forum exists, given that it predates the existence of the cardroom by some time (or was the forum's inception all part of a longer term plan?)

If the forum only existed to drive traffic to the card room, then we wouldn't pimp any other sites on here (which we do).  So I think tikay was using some poetic license, or fibbing.

Please see my, & Rich's, subsequent Posts.

[pokefast]

Sorry if this is a personal question,and i understand if you don't want to answer.

How much per annum roughly does it take to run the forum?

[tikay]

I believe we have suffered over $30,000 of chargebacks in calendar Year 2009 already - & I'm pretty sure, reading between some Aqua lines, that there remains a good few skeletons in the Chargeback cupboard.

Chargebacks can take 6 months to show up.

Yes, so it would appear.

We closed a number of loopholes recently, so were not best pleased to find that October's Reveue was severely impacted by Chargebacks which went back to May of this year.

So fair enough, we paid the price, accepted the cost, & closed the stable door.

But now, logically, it seems we must brace ourselves for the Chargebacks for June. And July. And......

What a headache this place has been, & I am finding it all rather wearing.

[tikay]

Sorry if this is a personal question,and i understand if you don't want to answer.

How much per annum roughly does it take to run the forum?

The Forum - almost nothing.

There are Server Hosting costs of around £250 per month, which Tighty paid out of his own pocket for about 12 months or so (& has yet to be repaid for). At - I think (Tighty will confirm or correct me, I'm not sure of the date) about the beginning of this year, I assumed - personally - the cost of Server Hosting, & I pay a Direct Debit for it every month. I'll be pleasantly surprised if I ever get that money back. It's cost me about £2,500 so far this year, & Tighty paid a good deal more.

The Site Running Costs come from other areas, not the Forum.

[TightEnd]

tikay is right

So you could have a forum for about £2-3k a year..hosting fees


but its owned by a Limited company, which exists to provide returns to its shareholders....so I (for as long as I want to, or the shareholders want me to) have to ensure it runs at an acceptable level of profitability and doesn't alienate the community while doing so. Not easy.


he's also right, its a huge headache

[tikay]

I risk making an ass of myself here but hey ho.

But if i buy duty free cigarettes in Spain i can consume them here. So if they have aquired duty frees from anywhere other than here,why can they not consume them in British waters?

The cigarettes do not belong to the Crew, they are sold to them, I assume, by the quartermaster or whoever. The Tankers have, I dunno, 4,000 or 5,000 ciggies "in stock", & as they were purchased elsewhere, & that's above the duty threshold, Tax is payable on them, just as you'd pay tax if you bought more than your allowance into the UK.

I think.

Thankyou.

Got you now.

Oh yes,why are SP showing so many repeats at 9pm these past 2 weeks?*

* feel free to tell me to buggar off if you can't/don't want to answer!

I promised to return to this.

The Channel now broadcasts 3 Live Shows per week (Thursday, Saturday & Sunday) which is a considerable reduction on the previous schedule.

I assume your next question will be "Why?"......

The Channel is funded out of the Marketing Budget, & that has been increased by a double digit % over last year. But they are spending the money differently, trying to get more bangs per buck.

865 exists for one reason only - to drive traffic to the Cardroom. (In the same way that, though many do not realise this, the blonde Forum exists only to drive traffic to the blonde Cardroom, in fact).

And it works extremely well - but it does much better on some nights - much better - & less so on other nights. So they now concentrate on the high value nights, when sign-ups continue at a high level, & the new advertising campaign can be targeted more tightly.

The money saved, & the additional spend, is now going towards what, for now, I can only describe as some "Projects", all of which benefit the Players in a much more direct way. And, for me, all this is very exciting, as I'm in that mix somewhere. Retirement has been Postponed again.

So for the moment, yes, less Live Shows, & more repeats. But we are bang in the middle of the Channel's realignment, & in a few weeks, all will become clear.

Thanks Tikay.

I do miss Orford and yourself though ( Morcambe and wise ).

One thing which i do find odd though is that there is alive show on a Saturday,surely this would be a night where viewing figures were at their lowest?

Orford & I, as to the TV Shows, remain an item, & I believe - think, hope - that we will continue to do a weekly Show as a pair. I am doing the Show with DP tonight, & I did the last one with Sarah Champion (FML), but only because Rich Orford went to New York on holiday. For the same reason, I did last week's In-Poker without a Presenter.

The 865 Live Shows are staffed by (amongst others) 3 person Teams - being Producer, Presenter, Analyst. Rich Orford is my official screen Partner, & remains so, I hope - he's a total joy to work with, the ultimate Pro Presenter.

Saturday night shows, viewing figures lowest?

Well, it has nothing to do with viewing figures as such  - it's Sign-Ups that matter. And for that purpose, Saturday night is an excellent night - second only to Thursdays at Sky Poker, which is far & away - by a country mile - the best night for sign-ups.

Online poker is huigely - massively - affected by alternative entertainment. On a Champions League night, revenues plummet, so the Sky-Bet family is quite nicely hedged there, as CL nights are great for Sky Bet.

[Ironside]

thursday nights are so good as you have the 50 or 500 or 5000 or 5 million or what ever you call it on sky sports 

[tikay]

thursday nights are so good as you have the 50 or 500 or 5000 or 5 million or what ever you call it on sky sports 

We don't have the 5-00 every Thursday any more.

Thursday night is good because we Simulcast with Sky Sports for Hours 2 & 3 of the Show, & and this exposes us to much bigger viewing figures & a totally different footprint.

It's also, technically, very challenging, because 865 has a Teleshopping Licence, & Sky Sports does not, nor does it want one.

A Teleshopping licence carries with it very onerous conditions indeed, & OFCOM & ASA watch it like a hawk to ensure we comply.

It's all about "Call(s) to Action". We MUST call to action while on 865 only, it's a licence condition, but we must NOT Call to Action on Sky Sports, or Mr Murdoch would personallly come round & shoot us all, quite cheerfully. And very quickly.

So from 9pm to 10pm (on Thursdays) we operate in one way, & at 10pm on the dot, we put a different head on, & send a completely different message. One mistake here - a Casl to Action whilst on Sky Sports - would mean the end for a Presenter or Analyst on 865. No appeal, no pleading, off you go, gone, Ron Atkinson style.

[Ironside]

thursday nights are so good as you have the 50 or 500 or 5000 or 5 million or what ever you call it on sky sports 

We don't have the 5-00 every Thursday any more.

Thursday night is good because we Simulcast with Sky Sports for Hours 2 & 3 of the Show, & and this exposes us to much bigger viewing figures & a totally different footprint.

It's also, technically, very challenging, because 865 has a Teleshopping Licence, & Sky Sports does not, nor does it want one.

A Teleshopping licence carries with it very onerous conditions indeed, & OFCOM & ASA watch it like a hawk to ensure we comply.

It's all about "Call(s) to Action". We MUST call to action while on 865 only, it's a licence condition, but we must NOT Call to Action on Sky Sports, or Mr Murdoch would personallly come round & shoot us all, quite cheerfully. And very quickly.

So from 9pm to 10pm (on Thursdays) we operate in one way, & at 10pm on the dot, we put a different head on, & send a completely different message.

you saying your boss is a murderer?


now get out of that

[tikay]

thursday nights are so good as you have the 50 or 500 or 5000 or 5 million or what ever you call it on sky sports 

We don't have the 5-00 every Thursday any more.

Thursday night is good because we Simulcast with Sky Sports for Hours 2 & 3 of the Show, & and this exposes us to much bigger viewing figures & a totally different footprint.

It's also, technically, very challenging, because 865 has a Teleshopping Licence, & Sky Sports does not, nor does it want one.

A Teleshopping licence carries with it very onerous conditions indeed, & OFCOM & ASA watch it like a hawk to ensure we comply.

It's all about "Call(s) to Action". We MUST call to action while on 865 only, it's a licence condition, but we must NOT Call to Action on Sky Sports, or Mr Murdoch would personallly come round & shoot us all, quite cheerfully. And very quickly.

So from 9pm to 10pm (on Thursdays) we operate in one way, & at 10pm on the dot, we put a different head on, & send a completely different message.

you saying your boss is a murderer?


now get out of that

He has no motive, as I have not made the mistake. Yet.

[MrDickie]

TK Why is 865 a premium Channel, surely by making it free to all you will attract more customers or am I missing something here?