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From Racing post site :
THE BBC will broadcast racing from British racecourses on at least 14 days next year after months of intense negotiations came to an end with the signing of a new three-year deal that unexpectedly guarantees coverage of the Coral Welsh National until 2012.Racing UK, which has been talking with the BBC on behalf of most tracks, does not want to formally announce that the BBC contract has been sealed until ongoing discussions with Channel 4 are concluded, but the Racing Post can reveal details of an agreement that assures the national broadcaster continued access to the Grand National, Derby and Royal Ascot.
In future, the BBC’s racing year will begin in April with the three days of the Grand National meeting. Its next action is booked for June, when Epsom’s Derby and Oaks cards will be televised prior to the five days of Royal Ascot.
One day of racing will be shown in each of the following three months, with Ascot’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Shergar Cup and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Saturdays all part of the new contract. Ascot is also hoping the BBC will show the Sundays after the King George and Queen Elizabeth II meetings on its BBC Interactive ‘red button’ channel.
Better than nothing I suppose but 14 days is pretty pittiful to be honest.
Does anyone know what the total was for last year/this year?
14 does sound pitiful. Theres some good flat Sundays at Ascot that it sounds like theyre missing off.
Think it was 29 this year. Unless they were prepared to make a commitment to a lot more days than 14 I would have liked to see the Crown Jewels taken off them. They would be gutted at losing the National and there would be no shortage of takers for it.
Think we should all pay our licence fees a month late as a protest.From Racing post site :
THE BBC will broadcast racing from British racecourses on at least 14 days next year after months of intense negotiations came to an end with the signing of a new three-year deal that unexpectedly guarantees coverage of the Coral Welsh National until 2012.
Racing UK, which has been talking with the BBC on behalf of most tracks, does not want to formally announce that the BBC contract has been sealed until ongoing discussions with Channel 4 are concluded, but the Racing Post can reveal details of an agreement that assures the national broadcaster continued access to the Grand National, Derby and Royal Ascot.
In future, the BBC’s racing year will begin in April with the three days of the Grand National meeting. Its next action is booked for June, when Epsom’s Derby and Oaks cards will be televised prior to the five days of Royal Ascot.
One day of racing will be shown in each of the following three months, with Ascot’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Shergar Cup and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Saturdays all part of the new contract. Ascot is also hoping the BBC will show the Sundays after the King George and Queen Elizabeth II meetings on its BBC Interactive ‘red button’ channel.
Better than nothing I suppose but 14 days is pretty pittiful to be honest.
Dreadful way of treating National Hunt Racing. They obviously do not like the sport, same way as they are not exactly fans of hunting either, or sheepdog trials come to think of it.
How exactly do they expect to build up properly for the National Hunt showpiece if all we get is four races between one Grand National meeting and the next and I will be especially annoyed if one of the races at Chepstow is a bumper.
We are certainly being Royally treated – NOT!!
I wonder what Sir Peter and Julian Wilson think – as a youngster there was always Racing on a weekend, and countless weekday meetings. An absolute disgrace.
On a positive note, I’m pleased they have retained Welsh National day.
Didn’t expect that.
We are certainly being Royally treated – NOT!!
I wonder what Sir Peter and Julian Wilson think – as a youngster there was always Racing on a weekend, and countless weekday meetings. An absolute disgrace.
The planned level of BBC coverage is disappointing, and "ought" to be at least 10 days more in my opinion, but you can’t really expect them to broadcast the vast number of meetings (many of which were not of the highest class, if we’re honest and objective about it) that they used to do decades ago.
I too can remember when the autumn and winter Grandstand schedules were almost always racing interspersed with motocross, followed by rugby (either league or union). Well, those days are gone and they’re not going to come back. It’s "big events" that are sought after by the television companies, like the Six Nations and, yes, like the Cheltenham NH Festival, not providing a weekly "service" to racing fans like ourselves, much as we would all like it to be otherwise.
Racing needs to sell itself better (all that "narrative thing"), not only to the general public, but also to all the various media organisations. Arranging sporting broadcast schedules around a few winks and nods from old ex-public school chums is disappearing fast, and racing had better get used to it.
So we are losing the Blue Square Gold Cup, Ascot Chase, Swinton Hurdle, Becher Chase, Betfair Chase and other top races but we still have the Shergar Cup. Brilliant!
I’m surprised the Boob culled coverage of twighopping to this extent, particularly on Saturdays.
Just been down Southwell. Rammed to the gills, as it is every time they jump. Cars spilling onto the verges and queues to get off and on racecourse road. You never get that for the flat. You’re more likely to become ill through loneliness in the week.
Okay, it is urban grouse shooting country round here and one or two people have eyes suspiciously close together, but it doesn’t fully explain the disparity.
The Boob don’t know what they’re doing is the considered verdict. That F1 deal will eventually do for Mosey anyway.
I’m surprised the Boob culled coverage of twighopping to this extent, particularly on Saturdays.
Just been down Southwell. Rammed to the gills, as it is every time they jump. Cars spilling onto the verges and queues to get off and on racecourse road. You never get that for the flat. You’re more likely to become ill through loneliness in the week.
Okay, it is urban grouse shooting country round here and one or two people have eyes suspiciously close together, but it doesn’t fully explain the disparity.
The Boob don’t know what they’re doing is the considered verdict. That F1 deal will eventually do for Mosey anyway.
I hope so, the bloke has been a disasterous Director of Sport – in fact clueless.
During last week on the 5Live coverage of the Festival – there was something about attracting new Racegoers/watchers – what seemed to come through was that there are 2 distinct groups of racegoers; the tweedy set, and the drinkers – but not a lot in between.Even this years Grand National Meeting is being shown only on BBC2 as on the Saturday BBC1 are showing Qualifying for the F1 meeting live at 9am but then again at about 1.30.
BBC do not care about the second most attended sport in the country and its a shame to see what was once a brilliant service being whittled down ever so slowly.
"months of intense negotiation"
Surely it cant have taken long to wrap up this deal?
Q: "We only want the National, the Derby and Royal Ascot"
A: "Could you see you way clear of taking the Welsh National as well?"
A: "Go on then".
There has to be a market for decent weekend racing on the box, two or three times a month, even if they switch it to BBC 2.
A decent three or four race coverage only takes up a couple of hours. Still plenty of time for crappy repeats and sodding F1.
As someone pointed out earlier, this is (still) a massive spectator sport and has supplied some of the biggest stars of the modern era (equine and human)
Surely the BBC could get more mileage out of some decent Saturday racing as oppose to the crap they currently subject us to.
I assume C4 will pick up the good Saturday meetings that the BBC don’t want?
In years to come, if the BBC and C4 pull out, I would have thought someone like Channel Five might pick up racing.
If no-one else wanted it, they could offer real peanuts for the rights, do it without any outside broadcast etc and it would be just as cheap as the American B movies they show now and surely bring in more viewers.
Get the bookies to take a few ads and bob’s your uncle.Whatever it was, something would have to be done to get racing shown on one of the terrestrial freeview TV channels.
We know bookies’ turnover rockets when the racing is on terrestrial TV so, without that, the bookies will become even less interested in racing and, without the bookies, there will be no sport as we know it now.
Nothing that hasn’t been said before I know – but every year the sport seems to be pushed further to the margins. It’s only after the Gold Cup/National/Derby when you see all the national papers featuring Kauto Star etc on the cover that you remember racing isn’t a minority sport at all – but it’s run like a minority sport by people who largely haven’t a clue what they’re doing.
To be honest the BBC coverage is no great loss IMO, as long as channel 4 take it on board.
The BBC team are completely clueless and useless IMO, they only ever focus on the first 3 in the betting in a big race (plus anything that may have won on a bbc covered day in the past will get more of a mention than it deserves) and everything else will be left until after the race.
Not only that but if it is a big field handicap then they will just fill the coverage time from the preceding race with garbage until about 5 mins before the off of the handicap because they havent got a clue about any of the horses running, then it’ll be a quick overview of the runners in the paddock, a quick show of the betting and off they go.
Plus racing takes no priority in their programming whatsoever, which is why they have it on grandstand to fill time between rugby matches and then as soon as a rugby match is due to start in an hours time, they will flick the racing to bbc two, instead of just showing rugby on bbc two.
During Cheletnham Ch4 managed to show 5 races a day from the festival (nearly 4 hours coverage a day plus an hour a day for the morning line and a 20 minute highlight show, which also featured the races they didnt get to cover), you dont get that from the beeb at ascot.
Most of all though, I think John Francome + Thommo + McCrirrick would just completely lower the tone if they ended up providing coverage at ascot. Francome has the look of a bloke on the edge, turning up in his court suit to get custody of his kids, imagine him walkin round the paddock at ascot.
But best of all James Sherwood would be out of a job. The sooner the BBC take no part in racing the better I say, because they are taking some of the best days racing off channel four and making a complete mockery of the coverage of each of the days they take.
Bulwark, the reason why the BBC shows rugby on BBC1 and "relegates" racing to BBC2 is that rugby, at least the union variety, gets vastly bigger TV audiences than racing.
Inidentally, C4 would do the same, look what they did when they had test cricket.
I wish contributors on this topic would put in an occasional visit ro the real world.
Even this years Grand National Meeting is being shown only on BBC2 as on the Saturday BBC1 are showing Qualifying for the F1 meeting live at 9am but then again at about 1.30.
This is normal. For the last few years the "shoulder" races have often been shunted to BBC2 – especially when BBC had the FA Cup – then switching back to Beeb1 for the last half hour prior to the National
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