Site Count - The Good and the Bad

lewser · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:25 pm **Posts:** 1028

Tony wrote:

The reason being was that Buzztime hit them with a hefty cost increase.

Anytime a Bar Manager, employee, or Owner says this the simple reply should be; "You, sir are straight full of shit!"

FrankC · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:40 am

lewser wrote:

Tony wrote:

The reason being was that Buzztime hit them with a hefty cost increase.

Anytime a Bar Manager, employee, or Owner says this the simple reply should be; "You, sir are straight full of shit!"

I could be wrong but I thought BT cut costs to the Bars.

Stejjie · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:13 pm **Posts:** 37

FrankC wrote:

lewser wrote:

Tony wrote:

The reason being was that Buzztime hit them with a hefty cost increase.

Anytime a Bar Manager, employee, or Owner says this the simple reply should be; "You, sir are straight full of shit!"

I could be wrong but I thought BT cut costs to the Bars.

They did, Or at least I think they did. Why? I have a friend/client who owns a franchise of a regional chain with national aspirations, one you will have seen from time to time on the boards. They were offered a 10 box deal at a rate of about 45% of what I understood was the old monthly fee, pursuant to one of those negotiated deals for national chains that NTN has talking about for a while. (So kudos to the company for negotiating at least one chain deal.)

Since it is not required under the franchise agreement they are mulling the offer over. And while I would love to tell them to do it or, hell, even pay for it for six months to see if it improves their sales, I just can't. I gave them the pros and cons of BT and particularly THE; and I told them what I think they'd have to do to make it work and that I would (a) help, including meeting with their salespeople and (b) visit enough to mitigate the cost and bring friends. But I just couldn't give the unequivocal recommendation I once could have. It sucked to have to say that, but I had to be honest.

zzuupp · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:56 pm **Posts:** 225

Tony wrote:

We went to play showdown last night. Our bar The Green Oak system was down or so they said. We went around the corner to A.J. Gators to play and we were told that they had dropped the game. The reason being was that Buzztime hit them with a hefty cost increase. I looked at the site finder this morning and saw that seven sites in Tidewater area are dropping the game. I have also noticed that showdown their premium game is only drawing between 6 and 7 thousand people where it once drew 10 to 11 thousand.

The Green Oak's problems stem from management, nothing buzztime had done. This was a place that regularly had ten or more people playing during the afternoon and just abut that many playing at night.

So any guesses if buzztime makes it to the end of the year??

Sorry to hear that about the Green Oak. Hopefully, it will be fixed shortly.

Just as a point of reference, something broke in the Manhattan's 'puter in November. It might've been the hard drive. Thankfully, they were on the ball that day. BT central was called that day. BT central sent the correct replacement part(s) and the parts arrived the next day.

pengwn · **Posted:** Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:37 pm

pengwn wrote:

287 sites in Canada to begin 2011

35 BC (9 interior), 63 AB (23 Cgy. 14 Edm.), 6 SK, 4 MB, 170 ON (100 Tor. area, 9 North), 1 QC, 1 PEI, 4 NS, 2 Nfld. and 1 in Norman Wells, NWT. Nothing for the Yukon, Nunavut, Labrador or New Brunswick

One quarter later, Canada is down to 266 sites, a decrease of ~7½%

31 BC (10 interior), 53 AB (22 Cgy. 12 Edm.), 8 SK, 4 MB, 157 ON (95 Tor. area, 6 North), 0 QC, 9 NB (!), 1 PEI, 2 NS, 0 Nfld. and 1 in Norman Wells, NWT.

Quebec and Newfoundland rejoin the site-less ranks. One positive sign is the addition of the nine Coasters locations in New Brunswick. Judging by the numbering in each site name, this is a small chain. One of these sites has 38 P+ signups, and the whole chain has 20 P+ players who have played at least 10 games. The BC interior and Saskabush also saw regional upticks

I think that NWT site has had the game for a few years now. What else would there be to do in Norman Wells, besides watch the freeze-thaw cycle on the Mackenzie?

Gogetem · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:31 am **Posts:** 791

pengwn wrote:

287 sites in Canada to begin 2011

35 BC (9 interior), 63 AB (23 Cgy. 14 Edm.), 6 SK, 4 MB, 170 ON (100 Tor. area, 9 North), 1 QC, 1 PEI, 4 NS, 2 Nfld. and 1 in Norman Wells, NWT. Nothing for the Yukon, Nunavut, Labrador or New Brunswick

One quarter later, Canada is down to 266 sites, a decrease of ~7½%

31 BC (10 interior), 53 AB (22 Cgy. 12 Edm.), 8 SK, 4 MB, 157 ON (95 Tor. area, 6 North), 0 QC, 9 NB (!), 1 PEI, 2 NS, 0 Nfld. and 1 in Norman Wells, NWT.

Quebec and Newfoundland rejoin the site-less ranks. One positive sign is the addition of the nine Coasters locations in New Brunswick. Judging by the numbering in each site name, this is a small chain. One of these sites has 38 P+ signups, and the whole chain has 20 P+ players who have played at least 10 games. The BC interior and Saskabush also saw regional upticks

I think that NWT site has had the game for a few years now. What else would there be to do in Norman Wells, besides watch the freeze-thaw cycle on the Mackenzie?

They have oil wells and lots of them. I have a friend that used to work there.

tiefly · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:54 am **Posts:** 1665

Rip Rocks in Morgantown is pulling the plug on BT. Bartender was surprised that I was able to play on Saturday, stating that the owner cancelled in March.

Bigsky · **Joined:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:28 pm **Posts:** 120

The over-all site count continues to drop. Down 42 sites so far this year, from 4076 December 31 to 4034 the end of March.

Akbar71 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 04, 2011 4:11 pm

Bigsky wrote:

The over-all site count continues to drop. Down 42 sites so far this year, from 4076 December 31 to 4034 the end of March.

This is unpossible! What about all the twenty-somethings flocking to Buzztime for Trendalicious Trivia and the great new pop culture content?

pengwn · **Posted:** Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:16 pm

Gogetem wrote:

They have oil wells and lots of them. I have a friend that used to work there.

Oh, I know about the oil wells. What to do when you're not working on them is what I wonder about

Bigsky · **Joined:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:28 pm **Posts:** 120

Akbar71 wrote:

Bigsky wrote:

The over-all site count continues to drop. Down 42 sites so far this year, from 4076 December 31 to 4034 the end of March.

This is unpossible! What about all the twenty-somethings flocking to Buzztime for Trendalicious Trivia and the great new pop culture content?

They may be flocking, but they ain't picking up Playmakers!

Dante · **Posted:** Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:23 pm

Bigsky wrote:

Akbar71 wrote:

Bigsky wrote:

The over-all site count continues to drop. Down 42 sites so far this year, from 4076 December 31 to 4034 the end of March.

This is unpossible! What about all the twenty-somethings flocking to Buzztime for Trendalicious Trivia and the great new pop culture content?

They may be flocking, but they ain't picking up Playmakers!

Some other twenty-somethings and I just flocked in to play, and boy are our arms tired!

Gogetem · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:31 am **Posts:** 791

pengwn wrote:

Gogetem wrote:

They have oil wells and lots of them. I have a friend that used to work there.

Oh, I know about the oil wells. What to do when you're not working on them is what I wonder about

One is drinking. Are there any children visiting this site? :twisted:

cards · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 8:48 am **Posts:** 553

Dante wrote:

Some other twenty-somethings and I just flocked in to play, and boy are our arms tired!

Taking the good drugs again I see.

FrankC · **Posted:** Tue Apr 05, 2011 1:36 pm

Akbar71 wrote:

Bigsky wrote:

The over-all site count continues to drop. Down 42 sites so far this year, from 4076 December 31 to 4034 the end of March.

This is unpossible! What about all the twenty-somethings flocking to Buzztime for Trendalicious Trivia and the great new pop culture content?

I play Trendalicious, but I am a 64 year old male. The twenty somethings I run into in the bar went to grade school or high school with my kids and like my kids do not give a damn about trivia.

BGTUNA · **Posted:** Wed Apr 06, 2011 12:47 pm

lewser wrote:

Tony wrote:

The reason being was that Buzztime hit them with a hefty cost increase.

Anytime a Bar Manager, employee, or Owner says this the simple reply should be; "You, sir are straight full of shit!"

This was the reason given to us just after Harry's in Countryside, Illinois dropped Buzztime. We were told that they "tripled" the cost!

To me, the real reason no one played there is that you always had to ask to have the game put on some television, and they never even allowed Buzztime to be played on Sundays in football season because "we are paying for the NFL package." Well, aren't you paying for Buzztime too, Einstein?

S O B · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:16 pm

S O B wrote:

I've been following the site count within 25 miles of my zipcode and 2010 was not a good year. Seven additions were offset by thirteen losses, as we dropped from 61 down to 55. Still, that beats a lot of areas and some of the places we have are very good options for trivia players.

That was my post to this thread a year ago. Update: during 2011, we got them all back. During the year, 16 new NTN sites opened while only 10 went away. We're back up to 61 in my area bringing us up to the lever we were at ending 2009.

I'm sure this gives lil comfort to Joel in his S.P.B.Y.

tiefly · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:54 am **Posts:** 1665

Hillbillyville is up to 25 sites, although some are so far in the boonies that I doubt if I ever play there.

FrankC · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:39 pm

When we started visiting our daughter down in Gainesville, Fl twelve years ago there were at least five or more bars that had NTN Trivia. I played at 3 or 4 of them. Now there is just one "Gator City" and no one really plays trivia there. It is a college bar across the street from the U of F. Interesting, is that Gainesville is a college town full of thousands of the young demographic that BT is searching for, but few are interested in trivia. When I did play there we had a couple of twenty somethings playing, but as usual most of the players were in the 35 to 60 bracket. I especialy enjoyed playing at Kazbors, very friendly people and staff. They use to get up on the boards often when Njung played. Kazbors is still in business they just droped Trivia.

On the brighter side for BT, The Ocalla area south of Gainesville has picked up several BT sites which were not there a few years ago. It is just too long a drive at night for me from Gainesville.

liljol · **Joined:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:41 pm **Posts:** 2497

S O B wrote:

I've been following the site count within 25 miles of my zipcode and 2010 was not a good year. Seven additions were offset by thirteen losses, as we dropped from 61 down to 55. Still, that beats a lot of areas and some of the places we have are very good options for trivia players.

That was my post to this thread a year ago. Update: during 2011, we got them all back. During the year, 16 new NTN sites opened while only 10 went away. We're back up to 61 in my area bringing us up to the lever we were at ending 2009.

I'm sure this gives lil comfort to Joel in his S.P.B.Y.

Yep, thanks a whole bunch, Sweet Bob.

With respect to The (Still Just Plain Old) Site-Poor Backyard, it is of huge discomfort that the four sites here I bothered to drag my poor tired lil old grumpy cheap ass to in 2010 have all discontinued.

To add injury to injury, San Diego County is still awaiting its first Buffalo Wild Wings, for what lil that may be worth anyway.

Jethro · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 5:53 pm

FrankC wrote:

Interesting, is that Gainesville is a college town full of thousands of the young demographic that BT is searching for, but few are interested in trivia.

Boulder, a college town roughly the same size as Gainesville, has gone from 3 sites down to 0 over the last couple years. Please, Buzztime, keep changing things to appeal to people who just plain do not care.

FrankC · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 6:03 pm

Jethro wrote:

FrankC wrote:

Interesting, is that Gainesville is a college town full of thousands of the young demographic that BT is searching for, but few are interested in trivia.

Boulder, a college town roughly the same size as Gainesville, has gone from 3 sites down to 0 over the last couple years. Please, Buzztime, keep changing things to appeal to people who just plain do not care.

Jethro, I played a couple of times at the bar in Boulder where you played, when my youngest son was going to the U of C. I do not remember the name of the bar, but it was a fun place.

S O B · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:17 pm

Jethro wrote:

FrankC wrote:

Interesting, is that Gainesville is a college town full of thousands of the young demographic that BT is searching for, but few are interested in trivia.

Boulder, a college town roughly the same size as Gainesville, has gone from 3 sites down to 0 over the last couple years. Please, Buzztime, keep changing things to appeal to people who just plain do not care.

There was a time when the best and brightest in Gainesville played at Joe's 34th Street. Which I think was a deli. They were among the best on the network at the movie and music games. DUBLIN was a star player and later was a big winner on Jeopardy. I think he was a three-peat champ but it could have been more. SHPIP was also part of that group and he still plays in Gainsville at Gator City. If you get a chance to play alongside him, take advantage. He's smart and a good guy to boot. He still visits Tampa sometimes and we get together.

My only experience playing in Boulder was at one of the Black Angus restaurants back in 1997. The chain had NTN sites all over the west but I believe they're all disconnected by now. LILJOL would know better. Shame, too, because there's rather few places you can play trivia whilst enjoying a really good steak anymore.

liljol · **Joined:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:41 pm **Posts:** 2497

S O B wrote:

There was a time when the best and brightest in Gainesville played at Joe's 34th Street. Which I think was a deli. They were among the best on the network at the movie and music games. DUBLIN was a star player and later was a big winner on Jeopardy. I think he was a three-peat champ but it could have been more. SHPIP was also part of that group and he still plays in Gainsville at Gator City. If you get a chance to play alongside him, take advantage. He's smart and a good guy to boot. He still visits Tampa sometimes and we get together.

IIRC, Jamey/DUBLIN was also part of the first three way tie in Jeopardy history. He won the next day and then a couple more, which were great to see.

S O B wrote:

My only experience playing in Boulder was at one of the Black Angus restaurants back in 1997. The chain had NTN sites all over the west but I believe they're all disconnected by now. LILJOL would know better. Shame, too, because there's rather few places you can play trivia whilst enjoying a really good steak anymore.

Well, Sweet Bob, the Stuart Anderson's Black Angus chain has significantly downsized these past few years (believe most of what's left are in AZ, CA & WA), but a few of them have reinstalled, including the one in San Lorenzo that was my first NTN Buzztime home. Of the four out of seven remaining in The (Just Plain Old) Site-Poor Backyard, three of them reinstalled, of which I've visited one.

Jim · **Joined:** Sun May 08, 2011 9:39 am **Posts:** 294

I am pleased and at the same time surprised there are as many sites as there are. I am the only player at half the sites I walk into.

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Site Count - The Good and the Bad

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