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According to today’s Daily Mail Clare Balding will be the host of Channel 4 Racing from next year. Can’t see it myself though if true might lead to a big reshuffle and signal the end of Thommo, Lesley and Big Mac.
if true might lead to a big reshuffle and signal the end of Thommo, Lesley and Big Mac.
Let joy be unconfined
I think the BBC is very uncomfortable with the National, they were slated regarding the fatalities last year (though of course this being mainly from the Daily Mail – they would have been slated whatever they did). However, they give it the big build up, following a horse in The One Show, only for it to be put down does nothing to help the sport in the minds of the casual viewer. Everything these days is aimed at family viewing, in the 70’s and 80’s Men went to sport (or watched it on TV) and the Women went shopping. These days the Men go shopping too so the whole Saturday afternoon thing has waned, hence you now get Rugby internationals, FA Cup Semis (and soon to be the Final) kicking off at 5.30 etc. Once racing was a regular part of Grandstand, losing the racing essentially made that programme defunct. Nothing to sit between Football Focus and the main live event.
It will be a shame from the heritage point of view, but I’m not too bothered. I’d rather less viewers who were fans of the sport and knowledgeable about it watch it on C4 than the once a year wonders who place their annual 10p on some hapless mule only to get their knickers in a twist and demand the sport be banned when they see something they don’t likeIt’s buried away towards the back of the Racing Post today but it seems as though it really is curtains for BBC racing.
Various insiders to the negotiations seem to be adamant that it really is the end for the BBC’s coverage.
It seems to be the belief that selling Channel 4 exclusive rights "would deliver more extensive and enthusiastic promotion of the sport".
BBC chiefs have apparently accepted that "the nation’s premier broadcaster" will no longer feature in racing after the Welsh National at Chepstow in December.
An "all-encompassing deal with the commercial network is the favoured option".
Channel 4 seems to have offered a £15 million deal over four years to include the Grand National, the Derby and Royal Ascot.
It will be very sad if the BBC lose the rights. They are far more professional, although they certainly have plenty of critics on this forum.
They may have cut back on racing drastically but what they do cover, they do very well. It will be a great shame to see the BBC go. Judging by the criticism of Channel 4 on various threads during Cheltenham this week, the loss of BBC racing, with its professionalism, will be greatly missed.
If Channel 4 really are lining up Clare Balding, it will cause a bloodbath among the existing presenters. The cosy double acts currently in place could get a nasty shock.
Surely Clare won’t lower herself to having to appear with Tanya Stevenson, Tom Lee and Tommo, not to mention the others. I sincerely hope not.Thank goodness our dear Monarch will not have to watch Channel 4’s coverage of the Royal Meeting. I fear such cruelty would be too much for her and she would expire from despair.
Do we know if there’s any substance behind all this, other that Charles Sale’s reporting in the Daily Mail? I understand he has previous form for blowing off about major coups that don’t actually happen.
Do we know if there’s any substance behind all this, other that Charles Sale’s reporting in the Daily Mail? I understand he has previous form for blowing off about major coups that don’t actually happen.
Are you implying that a Daily Mail journalist would make a story up about the BBC?
Charles Sale has sometimes proved to be well wide of the mark with his so-called "revelations" about racing matters.
Just because Clare Balding might be "first choice" and top of the wish list for Channel 4 (which is probably open to scepticism) doesn’t mean it will actually happen. There’s many a slip possible before that could even be anywhere near actually happening.
He does write some interesting things in his columns, though.These are his two recent missives:
———————————————–
Sir Peter O’Sullevan, the iconic voice of BBC racing for most of his 94 years, is highly critical of the Corporation for being on the brink of ditching their TV coverage of the sport.
O’Sullevan, whose calling of the Grand National is part of sporting history, claims the Beeb’s out-of-touch top brass have made a big mistake turning their backs on racing, with Channel 4 set to have a terrestrial monopoly.
He said: ‘I have spent my lifetime lamenting the BBC’s lack of interest in a sport that is woven into the fabric of the nation.
‘There are people in their ivory towers at the BBC who have made a serious miscalculation over this decision.’
Meanwhile Willie Carson, BBC Flat racing pundit and a popular contestant on I’m A Celebrity, was singled out for criticism by the racing industry executive about to axe BBC racing.
The Corporation’s representatives who met Richard FitzGerald, chief executive of the Racecourse Media Group, for a review of their broadcasts were allegedly shocked to hear Carson receiving such a low approval rating.
And FitzGerald, whose RMG are negotiating the next terrestrial TV deal for the racecourses, gave the impression joker Carson’s knockabout routine was not what they were looking for.
Yet Carson, an integral part of the Beeb racing output from the Derby and Royal Ascot that is heading for Channel 4 along with Aintree, is currently being used in BBC promotions for the Sport Relief celebrity mile.
Clare Balding’s expected role as the new lead presenter of Channel 4 racing next year will come with the support of Epsom Derby sponsors Investec, for whom she already does corporate work.
But less impressed will be those inside the Beeb who blame Balding, the most powerful voice on racing matters, for the doomed strategy of concentrating on just a few showcase dates.———————————————————
The BBC are now resigned to losing all their TV racing, including the Grand National, to Channel 4 in a deal that could be announced during the Cheltenham Festival.
The cost-cutting, added to a lack of enthusiasm for racing at the Beeb – down to 13 days racing a year – meant they were never prepared to challenge C4’s double-the-money offer of around £15million over three years for their showcase Derby, Royal Ascot and Aintree events.
The loss of the Grand National after the 2012 race on April 14 is sure to go down particularly badly with racing fans who will argue BBC should have prioritised the world famous steeplechase rather than spending far more cash staying in F1 as Sky’s marginalised junior partner.
And the Beeb are facing another blow with their all-rounder broadcaster Clare Balding expected to be C4’s first choice to host their terrestrial racing monopoly output.OH VERY VERY DEAR. SAY IT AIN’T SO.
Another wheel off the wagon for racing. In ten years it’ll be on Channel 5. . . you have been warned.
Clare Balding is the best presenter, it won’t be TOO unbearable if she goes to 4. But the bloody adverts…
I think our sport is going down the same path as show jumping, once shown quite regularly by the BBC, but now only on Sky for the Horse of the Year Show and the Hickstead Derby. I wonder how soon Channel 4 will get fed up of it.
I think our sport is going down the same path as show jumping, once shown quite regularly by the BBC, but now only on Sky for the Horse of the Year Show and the Hickstead Derby. I wonder how soon Channel 4 will get fed up of it.
That’s a very good point, Phil.
I think the many critics of the BBC will live to regret the day they welcomed the demise of the corporation in racing and its apparent imminent loss of its crown jewels.
For racing to be dependent on the vagaries of a commercial broadcaster which, only a couple of years ago, was threatening to pull out of racing altogether for financial reasons doesn’t fill me with confidence.
The BBC, for all its faults, is a public service broadcaster which wouldn’t in a million years have pulled out of the biggest races just for reasons of money. In this case, they have improved their offer but are having the rug pulled from under their feet. It’s all pretty shameless.
No doubt Channel 4 would be able to use its monopoly position to make increased demands and to make cuts of the lesser meetings after a while. I suspect it will all go sour if Channel 4 is the sole terrestrial broadcaster.
The fact that those involved in the negotiations are ruthless enough to strip the BBC of its racing also speaks volumes.
I used to like the BBC’s coverage of showjumping all those years ago, hosted by David Vine, with commentary by Raymond Brooks-Ward and Dorian Williams.
Don’t think racing will go that way but it certainly won’t be the utopia some people think it will if Channel 4 rule the roost without any competition.Clare Balding, Nick Luck, Willie Carson, John Francome, Mike Cattermole, Emma Spencer, Jim McGrath, Alastair Down, Alice Plunkett, Tom Lee for the betting.
That would be my combined team.
Emma Spencer, Mike Cattermole and Willie Carson should be nowhere near the camera, they are woeful.
It’s nothing less than the BBC deserve for the way they have treated horse racing these last few years and frankly most of their personnel presenting it are appalling (McGrath, Hanmer (McGrath’s spotter) Persad, Parrott, Carson.
It matters little to me personally as the channel 4 pictures are now miles behind even ATR so rely on the racing channels for my pictures.
With RUK now on the digital freeview platform there’s no good reason why one racing channel couldn’t cover all British racing on a FTA basis as RUK originally wanted to do when it started up but were stopped from doing so by the BHA.
Every viewer in Britain has to have to access to digital by the end of this year, some of us have had no analogue for 3 years.
The prevailng British zeitgeist – which to be clear from the outset, I largely abhor – and horse racing, particularly National Hunt, particularly the Grand National make for uneasy bedfellows and in my opinion no amount of ‘marketing’ will prevent its decline from "a sport that is woven into the fabric of the nation" into a marginalised rather strange atavistic pursuit of interest to only an unpleasant minority who enjoy watching animals being beaten and killed.
Baloney of course, but can we disciples not – with hand-on-heart – agree that if the only race we watched was the Grand National then we too may jump to a similar conclusion.
Is this race really the ‘shop window’ we want for racing?
It should be behind frosted glass viz taken off the BBC and shown on C4 Racing where with any luck it would become just another big race on a Saturday and likely to be watched largely by we disciples who ‘understand’ racing
Therefore I welcome the loss of racing on the BBC; they don’t want us and we’re better off without them
And if Clare Balding’s postulated appointment does result in a spate of redundancies of the has-beens or never-weres at C4 Racing, I may even start watching it again
Judging by the Racing Post today, the BBC have definitely given up the ghost.
Jim McGrath says: "It’s a devastating blow to a lot of hard-working and talented people who have never failed to deliver an excellent show and have always delivered a big audience, particularly for the Grand National and Royal Ascot."
Clare Balding says: "I think the BBC’s coverage of racing has managed to deliver a magic quality with that combination of the big event feel" and an "underlying credibility to people who understand the sport".
She adds: "The way the BBC has covered racing over 60 years has been immense and I feel incredibly lucky to have been part of that and as lead presenter since 1998."
It’s certainly looking like the end of an era.Judging by the Racing Post today, the BBC have definitely given up the ghost.
Jim McGrath says: "It’s a devastating blow to a lot of hard-working and talented people who have never failed to deliver an excellent show and have always delivered a big audience, particularly for the Grand National and Royal Ascot."
Clare Balding says: "I think the BBC’s coverage of racing has managed to deliver a magic quality with that combination of the big event feel" and an "underlying credibility to people who understand the sport".
She adds: "The way the BBC has covered racing over 60 years has been immense and I feel incredibly lucky to have been part of that and as lead presenter since 1998."
It’s certainly looking like the end of an era.It certainly is the end of an era and cant come quick enough. BBC Racing has ever been the same since the end of the 90s.
Ch4, albeit adverts, have continued to give us 80 days terrestrial coverage. The BBC have continually cherrypicked the majors. Im all in favour of the move. Least we will be watching a channel that actually wants to do the job.
It certainly is the end of an era and cant come quick enough. BBC Racing has ever been the same since the end of the 90s.
Ch4, albeit adverts, have continued to give us 80 days terrestrial coverage. The BBC have continually cherrypicked the majors. Im all in favour of the move. Least we will be watching a channel that actually wants to do the job.According to Charles Sale in the Daily Mail, the announcement is set to be made on Monday.
Ironic that Jim McGrath looks likely to hear that he is being given the boot as a BBC race commentator even sooner than his expected axe from the racecourse rota in a few months.
He must have thought his BBC role was at least secure. It never rains but it pours. He will definitely get the axe as a racecourse commentator now, no two ways about it, because he will be seen as yesterday’s man (and also for upsetting them at the commentators’ user group by going public).
The same happened to Graham Goode, left sitting at home this week with no Channel 4 or racecourse work. Once his Channel 4 role reduced, the writing was soon on the wall for his racecourse work.
He was 63 in the week and no more "whoops a daisy", "another victory for Uhu" and "the jolly old favourite".
It will be just At the Races and the Daily Telegraph etc left for Jim McGrath.
Not to mention Darren Owen, who is facing a similar double whammy (mind you, he was reporting from Cheltenham for William Hill, so all is not lost).
Still can’t quite believe what looks a long odds-on shot for the demise of BBC racing. Couldn’t have predicted this a few months, or even weeks, ago.
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