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This is very bad news.
I apportion blame mainly to the football-obsessed BBC itself, but also to racing, which has been flabbily complacent in this matter for so many years.
There will be no racing on BBC television between the Arc and Grand National meetings, a period of 6 months.
There is an excellent article in the RP today by Brough Scott highlighting the dangers of the sport being restricted, or restricting itself, to narrowcasting, ie, preaching to the converted.
How does BBC and C4 combined compare in terms of numbers of days racing covered with terrestrial coverage say 10 years, 20 years and 30 years ago, please?
I don’t know about C4’s coverage, but, according to the RP, the BBC broadcast 79 days racing 10 years ago. That will mean a reduction of around 83%.
That’s a shame, Venusian. I think remarks about "narrowcasting" need to be put in the context of racing’s overall terrestrial coverage, not just what is shown on the BBC.
what is going to happen to the welsh national after the last bbc one next year? will have to go back to an old saturday slot on ch4? also can the becher chase sunday at aintree survive with no tv at all?
Cannot believe that Chepstow is being given the heave ho after all they have done nothing wrong.
I do hope C4 show the Welsh National as it is part of the Christmas Sporting Season and one of the best races in the calendar.
Haydock will now probably have the Betfair Chase on C4 which is a good thing but the October and November Aintree meetings will not be on TV which is a pity as they are high quality.
The BBC are far to driven by ratings which is sad, i mean i dont watch City Hospital or the Andrew Marr show but it does not mean i want them to be axed.
And after all the years of the BBC putting together a good team they decide to slowly dumb down and get rid of meetings so they can show the Circus that is F1.
C4, please show the Becher,Betfair,Welsh National and all the jumping from Ascot and Haydock
Yes, i agree that C4 hopefully cover the Welsh National meeting.
I do prefer watching any meetings that are on BBC as i think the way in which it is shown is more race-like. It is the first time i have seen this about the BBC and i am very shocked
This is very bad news.
I apportion blame mainly to the football-obsessed BBC itself, but also to racing, which has been flabbily complacent in this matter for so many years.
There will be no racing on BBC television between the Arc and Grand National meetings, a period of 6 months.
There is an excellent article in the RP today by Brough Scott highlighting the dangers of the sport being restricted, or restricting itself, to narrowcasting, ie, preaching to the converted.
That means only one National Hunt meeting on the BBC all year. They are not fans of jumping and given the way they dictated to Crufts about who could or could not compete this year it would come as no surprise if they wanted the Foxhunters changed or dropped altogther.
It frankly comes as no surprise, they have got to dave money somewhere in their sports budget given the amount of money Formula 1 will have cost them.
Yes, the vast sums the BBC have pledged to football and F1 have tied their hands to a great extent regarding the broadcasting of other sports as well as racing.
It’s getting difficult for other sports to get a look in. Golf and rugby union get a good amount of exposure, but that may say more about the social and educational background of BBC decisionmakers than anything else.
The absurd amount of money wasted on F1, which was already on terrestrial anyway, is a dreadful waste of licencepayers’ money.
What racing must not let happen is for the sport to be marginalised by restricting it to the twilight world narrowcasting.
Excellent point about the social and educational background of BBC staff, Venusian.
There’s an element of Roger Mosey’s personal preferences here too.
He became Director of Sport in 2005 and you can argue a case that the decline of horse racing coverage at the BBC began at that point (or at least put forward an acceleration). It’s football, football football at Mosey’s West Yorkshire breakfast table, I understand.
You say racing can’t let this happen and I agree but how can WE, as supporters and enthusiasts, challenge this bizarre decision? What can we do? Anything?
As to why the BBC want to cut back on coverage, I’m in no doubt that cost is a major factor, especially for a one day meeting like Chepstow.
If you’ve ever been there and looked around, you’ll see two large outside broadcast vans with cables running in all directions and large numbers of people sitting around drinking tea. I’m told it takes two days to set up for a broadcast, although they seem to be able to pack everything away remarkably quickly, as the vans are usually locked up before the last race!
Ch4 now regularly use pictures from the same source as the satellite channels to cover multiple meetings, but the BBC seem unwilling to consider the same option – is this because the OB staff would object? If so it’s an interesting double standard, as Formula 1 provides the pictures for their coverage, not the broadcaster.
Simply unforgivable!!!
The excuse about F1 doesn’t wash – it never stopped them the last time they covered F1 – up until 1996. Just look at Saturday afternoons nowadays???
B.B.C. bosses have in the past shown they scant regard to how they spend our money.
No doubt all the ‘lovvies’ would have had to go away on a team building bonding exercise in a hotel then a few more expense laden weekends away watching boxing videos and after a ‘Thinking Outside the Box’ session or two they came up with the master plan when they decided to award British Heavyweight boxer Audley Harrison a million pound advance for 8 fights and also to allow him to pick up extra fees decided on the ammount of viewers he gained.
After he refused to do an interview on the BBC after a poor show against part timer Derek Mc Caffety he should have been told he was not to be given a single penny more.
Quite right, Seagull.
One of the more bizarre efforts (and that’s saying something) that the BBC has come up with.
Colin
Ch4 now regularly use pictures from the same source as the satellite channels to cover multiple meetings, but the BBC seem unwilling to consider the same option – is this because the OB staff would object? If so it’s an interesting double standard, as Formula 1 provides the pictures for their coverage, not the broadcaster
Excellent stuff AP. The solution to the entire issue imo. Pity Brough Scott couldnt save us the fawning over heavy handed Balding and the error strewn McGrath and mention that as the way forward for terrestrial racing coverage in his article yesterday.
With the woolly liberals who dominate the higher echelons of the BBC it should be no surprise that racing is seen as an “easy target”. After all they would perceive it as generally elitist sport.
The National and Derby meetings will get through as they are considered “popular with the masses”.
As for Royal Ascot that would, initially, be the prime one to consider dropping. However look at the way it is presented and it gives the woolly liberal BBC a chance to caricature racing as a sport for elitist toffs and hooray Henry and Henrietta’s, thus confirming their stereotype.
Regarding AP’s comments comparing racing with F1 – I don’t think we are comparing like with like. F1 is bought as a package and that includes provision of the TV pictures, also with only one GP being on the BBC’s patch, they probably would not be involved in the rigging at most races.
However the BBC’s OB rigging crews are the most unionised area (as well as being the most inefficient – for example there was an ageement, and I believe it is still in place, that is an OB is more than a three hour drive from base then they must have an overnight stay, with full overtime payments) in the corporation and any attempt by management to introduce efficiencies is met by a refusal to negotiate and threats of immediate walk-outs.
When fourteen years of the BHB created a blueprint for racing of fourteen weekly sessions (every day & evening) of fourteen races across pairs of cards with fourteen grand of win prize money each, composed of fourteen runner handicaps with 14lb weight bands run in front of stands comprising fourteen men and a dog, for the sole benefit of the fourteen bookmakers listed on oddschecker you get the inevitable……..
Fresh interest in your sport falls off a cliff and you’re left with just fourteen days left on one channel, while the other has fourteen presenters centred around a bet rendered so impossible by competitive racing initiatives it hasn’t been won for fourteen weeks in a row.
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