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Worrying viewing figures for racing’s industry figures emerged today as yesterday’s Derby coverage pulled in only 1.5m at peak, the lowest this century and a big drop on last year. With similar trends for other big flat days you have to wonder about the strategy that has seen our prime events covered on a minority channel, which, relative to BBC 1, Channel 4 is.
The Channel 4 commissioning editor was unresponsive when quoted in the RP stating “…Australia’s win in the Derby was watched by a bigger peak audience than the French Open Ladies’ final, the Challenge Cup rugby and the Formula 1 practice session.”
THE FORMULA ONE PRACTICE SESSION !ӣ$%^
Most of us, I think, had our interest in racing kindled by watching it on telly in our formative years. If no one is watching, it surely sounds clear alarm bells regarding the future prosperity of the sport.
Maybe the BBC were not interested at any price, or perhaps people would have stopped watching it on that channel also.
One thing is sure, action needs to be taken, they can’t just stand back and watch the decline.
I think the decline was on the cards as soon as the BBC lost the rights. Whatever anyone thinks of BBC they are always going to pull in more viewers than C4.
More need to be done to promote the Derby to the general public. I went to see my dad on Friday and I asked him if he was going to watch the Derby (he’s not a racing man but will generally take an interest in big sporting events), he said to me "I didn’t even know it was on till I just saw the (news)paper".
That isn’t good enough. Racing needs to do far, far more to reach the general public.
If I wasn’t a racing fan I wouldn’t have known yesterday was Derby Day, I saw zero advertising of the race, nor heard anyone talking about it and frankly had no idea who was even running. Compare to that to Royal Ascot which I have seen adverts for on the London Underground for many weeks now. If we were in the middle of the World Cup then that might explain 1.5M viewers for C4 but as that tournament doesn’t start until next week this dismal figure must sound an alarm call to racing ‘s rulers.
We didn’t see enough of the horses and too many adverts, very annoying just before the Off. Lots of items shown on The Morning Line repeated during the coverage and to much emphasis on the fashion (this is NOT Royal Ascot). Why all the interviews with Cricketers and talking cricket, not interested just wanted to see the horses in the paddock and going to post.
JacThings turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...We’ll,if this doesn’t make them change the flawed format then nothing will and they will have to do something or ch4 racing will be gone at the end of the contract.
It is all about the HORSES not the people and they need to understand that because they haven’t attracted new viewers and at the same time driven away the existing ones!
As for derby day itself you can’t blame the papers for the given it top billing when the wooden tops at the bha insist on drowning the race with so many away meetings.Not surprised.
I never watch C4 anymore. The coverage is dire.
Mick Fitzgerald voice is more irritating than thrush
Jim McGrath seems to have a problem with his eyes and keeping them open whilst speaking.
I just keep hoping beyond hope that one day when Alice Plunkett or Emma Spencer stick the microphone in a jockeys face after just winning that the jockey tells them to go and **** off. Now that would bring viewers back.
It would be pricelessWe didn’t see enough of the horses and too many adverts, very annoying just before the Off.
At 3.58, two minutes before off time of what’s supposed to be the biggest race of the year, they were showing an advert for Rathbarry Stud.
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ne thing is sure, action needs to be taken, they can’t just stand back and watch the decline.
Corm , this is a bit naieve on your part , the numbers watching major terrestial events died the day the BBC pulled the plug
I am sure racing for change or whatever they are called now, will be acutely aware that Racing as a minority sport is declining rapidly as regards tv coverage, it seems the new Ch 4 format has bombed , viewers have voted with their remote controls
so its clear , dump Ch 4 and find a new tv partner , who will do things properly and present TV racing in a magazine format , or watch it suffocate itself to a point where its no longer meaningful
I thought yesterday for the first time Nick Luck was boring to the extreme, I am a racing supporter , goodness knows what a casual viewer would have thought
Its sad , Racing is less popular that Darts nowadays …..as far as mainstream tv viewing is concerned
That’s the choice , because it seems the BBC is no longer interested full stop
Imo
Reading today’s Sun newspaper Big Brother is getting more viewers than racing, now that is scary.
Those older than me might recall when the Derby first left the BBC for a ‘minority’ channel but I remember it being on ITV throughout the ’70s before moving to C4 when that channel was launched in the early 80s; where it continued being broadcast without, as far as I can recall, much criticism or concern about viewing figures until the BBC made a slight return for a ten-or-so year stint in 2001
So, laying the blame for the low turnout yesterday on it being on C4 is very easy but implausible. And given that coverage of the Derby is supposed to attract a healthy number of non-racing fans I don’t think the ‘problems’ with the presentation many racing fans find with C4s new format, developed by viewing it every week, would have been of any concern at all
Ladbrokes was doing its very best to support racing and the Derby this Saturday. Every shop front was filled with adverts for the new widescreen FOBTs. Racing not mentioned – not that they will take any proper bets on racing, even from mugs.
Bizarre that BHA under Paul Bittar go hand in hand with bookmakers to promote meaningless wall to wall racing and FOBTs.
Only taking bets on the latter which is levy free.Racing interest was generated from a mixture of BBC and ITV racing on the main channels with shops packed with people having a bet and a bit of banter on racing. Shops largely empty hour after hour with only the desperate few transfixed to the zero skill FOBTs.
Ladbrokes was doing its very best to support racing and the Derby this Saturday. Every shop front was filled with adverts for the new widescreen FOBTs. Racing not mentioned – not that they will take any proper bets on racing, even from mugs.
Bizarre that BHA under Paul Bittar go hand in hand with bookmakers to promote meaningless wall to wall racing and FOBTs.
Only taking bets on the latter which is levy free.Racing interest was generated from a mixture of BBC and ITV racing on the main channels with shops packed with people having a bet and a bit of banter on racing. Shops largely empty hour after hour with only the desperate few transfixed to the zero skill FOBTs.
My local Hills was no better – promotional posters for Football & FOBT’s.
Whatever Ch4 do, they can’t overcome the fact that the majority of the Derby runners are owned by Arab royalty or the faceless millionaires of Coolmore. Neither exactly provide great stories, nor do they manage to transmit any sense of being excited by the occasion.
It is a fact that despite their involvement with the Derby favourite, I read more about the owners of California Chrome in the British media this week than I did about the owners of Australia.
Compare and contrast with the highly enjoyable and lively coverage of the Greyhound Derby the previous Saturday, when every owner and every trainer of the six runners provided enthusiastic interviews to be shown in the build up. By the time the race started, I knew something about the people behind every dog and thus was able to appreciate the amazing rags to riches story of a winner trained part time by a bricklayer who has just four dogs and bought the winner for two grand when it was contesting the canine equivalent of 0-70 handicaps at Romford.
The reality is that most of the people involved at the top levels of flat racing in this country actively dislike TV and do their best to avoid getting involved. I suspect if we all put forward the name of one exception to that, we’d still end up with a very short list. And maybe, just maybe, that contempt for anyone outside their charmed circle comes through the screen and the public are responding.
Drone – I take the point re-ITV, but you could hardly describe ITV in those days as a majority channel, given that there were only three channels and it was one of the two who shared the majority of the audience.
AP – I’m not sure many of the Derby winning owners in the 70s and 80s, Sangster perhaps the exception, were very telly friendly or caught the imagination either.
But one of the things that makes a lot of sports compelling is a focus on personalities, I’d agree with that. And we are short of them, I’d agree with that too.
I also agree that staging multiple away meetings on your blue riband showcase day is a bit of an own goal. Imagine having Premier league fixtures on the same day as the Cup Final?
I have a news feed on my mobile phone that includes a sport section, in the days before the Derby there was nothing about racing at all, then only right at the bottom hours after the race had been run was it mentioned. At one time it would have been right at the top. Worrying.
Anyone on here old enough to remember how popular showjumping used to be in the 1970s? Then all the horses began to be called after the sponsoring companies with horses called Sanyo Music Centre. The public stopped watching because there was no longer the same point of contact and the personalities dwindled, the terrestrial coverage went.. I fear the same is happening with flat racing. The big players are a turn off for the occasional viewer, lots of horses with similar names from the same stables, all by the same stallions. Think the coverage will go in the next two years.Moving it back to Wednesday might help when it has nothing else to compete with and no other events to get lost in the middle of.
While they are at it, change Cheltenham festival back to three days as well. (Cue insults
)If I had to rely on C4 for my racing fix I would be terribly frustrated, who knows, it could even take me over the edge and switch off.
As one or two have already pointed out they don’t show the horses and concentrate on people talking whether it’s Balding flitting about the paddock like a blue arsed fly or Fitzgerald shuffling from one jockey to the next in the weighing room.
As the programme started at 1.00pm I thought I would note when the first horse for the first race at 1.35pm was sighted, it was little over 60 seconds before the scheduled off time. That is absolutely scandalous in my view, every horse in that race should have been shown in the paddock and going to post. Unfortunately that is the norm, it’s as if the horses are a distraction from the real action.
I would expect there to be little change and those in charge to just bury their heads in the sand but wouldn’t be surprised at all if C4 pull out when the contract runs out. I would imagine most of the big races will be safe for terrestrial, possibly on the BBC but on a drastically reduced schedule.
As some also point out racing is a minority sport which makes the fact that there are 2 specialist channels for the sport all the more ridiculous.
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