Bravo ITV Racing! Grazie!

[zilzal]

As someone who dipped through most of Royal Ascot last week without dipping into my pocket I may be better placed than most in acknowledging a very fine effort by the ITV team in capturing the action and the atmosphere of the Royal festival. I would go so far as to suggest that the overall performance was arguably on a par with the best of BBC Racing and Channel 4 Racing in their heyday. All the main players performed with aplomb. Conductor Chamberlin is a class act and ITV and Terrestrial TV racing are lucky to have a individual of no little sharpness and suavity who can command a team over five hours of live television in not exactly the most predictable of settings.It took him to Friday 5.15 pm to slip up and Ed can be forgiven for sounding like an arch Royalist given the year in question and the Royal win. Weaver is never short of something to say and brings his wealth of racing experience to the show. Ms Cumani was more than in her element at the high point in the flat season and captures the upper class feel. Downstairs in the parade ring Ms Mulrennan educated us on the anatomy of the equine athletes and their necessary racing accoutrements. Persad may attract tone deaf criticism but has improved greatly of late and comes across as a much more confident, sincere and personable interviewer. Chapman and Gleeson in different ways pay homage to Big Mac’s burlesque betting ring legacy. Hoiles and Johnson offered us a very interesting perspective from the commentary eyrie. Guest Murtagh was his usual jolly self and is never afraid to speak his mind. A longer stay by him would have been nice. Walsh’s analysis box was a master class but it seems cruel to have him siloed there and some anchoring duties are deserved. It would be churlish in the circumstances to make criticisms of any the second string. Poor acoustic quality of some of the post race jockey interviews in the first couple of days was the only real bugbear. Well done all

[IanDavies]

Arguably the ongoing ITV Racing thread would have been a better location for this opinion.

I didn’t watch a single second of the ITV coverage – as stated ad nauseaum I only watch the races themselves, and even then muted, via Betfair Exchange on my iphone.

I thought it was a brilliant Royal Ascot, and the glorious silence, leaving me independently free to take it all in and form my own views was, always is and always will be, a big part of that.

However, while that makes me unable to offer a personal view, I’ve read some independent comment – including from some who think it’s a myth there was ever a “Golden Age” of racing broadcasting and that the BBC and C4 weren’t ever all that great either – suggesting this was the WORST TV Royal Ascot coverage EVER, sickeningly deferential and completely tone deaf about the national cost of living crisis.

It seems we often all see not only a different race, but a different TV programme too.

I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"

[Mike007]

I mainly watched it on Sky which isn’t perfect by any means, but switched over when horses were parading. The ITV ladies talking about how the horses looked were ok compared to Mick Fitzgerald and Hayley Moore on Sky who i found monotonous. So, for me, there was a whiff of okayism amongst the badism on ITV.

[IanDavies]

I did read that Adele Mulrennan (often criticised in social media) had clearly done her homework and made a spirited attempt to make insightful paddock comments.

A marked contrast to good old, play it safe, Ken whose perennial paddock analysis, I’m told, is: “the favourite looks well!”

I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"

[Author]

Posts