Film coverage of the WSOP

The earliest filming of the World Series was a special produced by Binions Horshoe in 1973 and narrated by Jimmy The Greek Snyder. CBS began covering the World Series in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, the event was again filmed as specials. In the late 1980s, the World Series returned to television as ESPN took over broadcasting. Initially, coverage consisted of just a single one hour taped delay broadcast of the main event. ESPN Classic currently airs many of the old broadcasts, especially from the mid 1990s and beyond. The most striking thing about the early coverage is how little was actually shown, since no pocket cam existed. Generally, ESPN used poker playing actors such as Dick Van Patten, Vince Van Patten and Gabe Kaplan with either the tournament director (usually Jim Albrecht) or a poker pro like Phil Hellmuth joining the team. Early coverage was relatively primitive compared to what ESPN does now, with no pre-taped interviews or profiles on the players. The commentators were actually on the casino floor itself. The 2002 WSOP was the first with the sneak peak (later called the pocket cam). 2003 was the first year that the broadcast covered action preceeding the final table.

Since then, ESPN has greatly expanded its coverage to include many of the preliminary events of the WSOP, especially Texas Hold Em. Also, their coverage of the main event now typically includes at least one hour program on each day. Since 2005, ESPN has been broadcasting one hour programs of the circuit events that the WSOP has at various Harrahs-owned casinos. Additionally, ESPNs coverage now includes many of the trappings of sports coverage, such as lighter segments (called The Nuts) and interviews.

In 2000 and 2001, the World Series of Poker was broadcast by The Discovery Channel. These hour long programs presented more of an overview or recap of the WSOP as opposed to broadcasting an actual live event with play-by-play analysis and color commentary. The Discovery Channels broadcast also featured final table players interviews interlaced throughout the show. ESPN would resume coverage the following year.

ESPNs coverage in 2002 would be typical of their coverage in the 1990s (recorded in video, little or no post-production commentary or player profiles, no card cams). However, the final table broadcast was expanded over two one-hour episodes.