For a ludicrous bump...
It peaked at around the early 00s when you had Williams, Hendry, O'Sullivan, Doherty, Higgins and Stevens all playing exceptionally well. Interest and prize money peaked then too.
The game is in decline now, the 'rising stars' haven't delivered and the same cloggers are present. Look at top 32, many of these guys aren't any better than the men who have been mocked earlier in the thread (Meo, Johnson, etc) Few are capable of winning the Worlds now.
A good workmanlike player can hang in there for a good while now - not the sign of a flourishing game.