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I’m hoping that with the new broom will come a new approach to coverage which may have a similar impact to the way CH4’s innovative cricket coverage was received. The fact is the Highflyer coverage (partly due to outside cash contraints within CH4 itself) has become tired and stale over the last 10 years with too much focus on a "here’s another chance to lose your money" type presentation approach.
I’m hoping the new regime will strike the right balance between being accessible (and by that I don’t mean dumbing down – I mean having presenter explain the more "technical" aspects of the game, but retaining the "geek" aspect. I think sports like Football & F1 thrive on the "geek" aspect in their presentation. Good thing is that Clare Balding excels at this sort of thing.
As for the new time, I hope Nick Luck’s role is expanded into a back-up Lead Presenter (bearing in mind I expect la Balding to only cover the marquee meetings).
As mentioned on the Matt Chapman jewel thread, I would like to see Sean Boyce cover the betting markets, while Chappers could backfill for Thommo in the "All Rounder" role.
Paddock/Form coverage (can we have some paddock coverage please CH4 – the horses are the true stars) is tricky now that Francome has ruled himself out. Can’t see Jimbo (Timeform) McGrath staying on without his foil so CH4 should be sounding out some of the RUK pundits such as Neesom, Mellish and Cunningham. (I would have included Hislop but I believe there has been some bad blood previously between Hislop & Balding).
In the commentary box I would like to see Holt & Hoiles share the big days (like Raliegh Gilbert and John Penney did on ITV in the 70’s). Back-ups (if needed) to come from Fitzgerald, Johnson and Alan Howes (who deserves some bigger days).
I’ll stop wittering now…..!!!!
Not sure how warmly I welcome her appointment. A decent broadcaster but she couldn`t prevent the BBC coverage from being a really poor product. I don`t see that a good performance at the Olympic aquatics (swimming would get a meagre audience without the Olympic umbrella)is going to add one viewer to C4 racing.
I don`t see the need for a betting guru. Just someone not in view who can provide a reading of a betting show with the odds on screen and read the names of the horses properly (unlike McCririck, Stevenson, Rock, Loughran, Parrott, Lee).
As for pleas for a decent view of horses in the paddock. C4 show the bare minimum but the BBC are far worse. Balding`s big face onscreen talking to a co-presenter in the paddock while getting a fleeting view of the quarters of the third favourite.
The close up face of a presenter is one of the great bugbears of modern TV. Potentially good programmes being ruined by having to look at Andrew Marr, Nicholas Crane, Neil Oliver, Richard Hammond.Stop all that, the cutaways from the finish of a race to see an annoyingly jubilant Paul Nicholls, the washed out video film, edgy graphics and yoof soundtrack and I wouldn`t care so much about presenters. Peter Naughton anyone?
Andrew Franklin seems to me to be one of those people who is very over-rated as far as television coverage of racing is concerned.
He has presided over some serious dumbing-down of the Channel 4 racing programmes in recent years, especially the Morning Line, which has become a parody of itself and is often one big yawn, with its over-reliance on uninspiring minor guests of little interest to many people in racing, let alone a wider audience, and the execrable Guest Test.
Franklin was single-handedly responsible for over-promoting the tongue-tied Tanya Stevenson from a backroom role in, er, assisting him to reading out the emails on the Morning Line and then taking over much of the on-screen betting coverage. I hope that, with IMG now taking over next year, there will be no good reason to retain her services once the link with Franklin expires.
Certainly, there would be no logical reason for any new team moving in to think that she was an absolutely integral part of the future team because of her presenting ability. She has been very lucky, with minimal broadcasting ability, to have got as far as she has.
It is only through Franklin’s Svengali-like influence and patronage that she has flourished. She deserves to be dispensed with and someone with a bit more professionalism brought in.
Franklin seems to have been canonised, beatified and deified all in one fell swoop in some quarters, to the extent that John Francome cannot face continuing with Channel 4, such is his grief at the loss of Franklin and his no doubt admirable loyalty to him.
Clare Balding’s appointment will have a knock-on effect on the roles of the other presenters and, as has been pointed out in the Press, her towering presence will be such that she will be able to have a large say in who is around her in presenting roles.
Royal Ascot coverage on Channel 4 will greatly benefit from Clare’s presence. She has been criticised by some people elsewhere recently for a supposedly schoolmarm approach but that is better than a lightweight, grinning and giddy style.It just comes to me who Tania Stevenson is turning into as she ages … Mrs Doyle from Father Ted.
Clare Balding is in serious danger of peaking too soon and becoming over-exposed, what with her ubiquitous presence on the BBC during the Olympics and on Channel 4 for the Paralympics.
Luckily, we have been mercifully saved from seeing even more of her than we bargained for.
She has tweeted: "I have just opened an email with a very kind offer of a major cover shoot. A naked cover shoot. Apparently it would be tasteful. Of course, I said NO."
We can only be grateful for that.
Not content with narrowly escaping an eyeful of her on the cover of a glossy magazine, we can now look forward to her embarking on 31 book signing sessions for her less-than-thrilling book, My Animals and Other Family, in which despite her privileged upbringing, she seems to regard herself as being somewhat hard done-by.
The picture of her larking about with Anneka Rice, Jennifer Saunders and Penny Smith appeared to have been commissioned by the head of waxworks at Madame Tussauds with a view to creating a few new exhibits.
It could easily have doubled as a publicity shot for the latest relaunch of Hammer Films.
She has tweeted: "I have just opened an email with a very kind offer of a major cover shoot. A naked cover shoot. Apparently it would be tasteful. Of course, I said NO."
Horse and Hound magazine?
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
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Luckily, we have been mercifully saved from seeing even more of her than we bargained for.
She has tweeted: "I have just opened an email with a very kind offer of a major cover shoot. A naked cover shoot. Apparently it would be tasteful. Of course, I said NO."
We can only be grateful for that. ….
The picture of her larking about with Anneka Rice, Jennifer Saunders and Penny Smith appeared to have been commissioned by the head of waxworks at Madame Tussauds with a view to creating a few new exhibits.
It could easily have doubled as a publicity shot for the latest relaunch of Hammer Films.…the usual cheap jokes at the expense of a most admirable lady…
..I find her to be a marvellous woman who has dealt with some heavy blows from many directions, as we are all aware of, yet she still maintains a sense of humour, of balance and poise that you don’t see in many people today, whilst working in an environment that is hardly the most forgiving…
..and what makes you think she had a privileged upbringing? she was fortunate to receive an education thanks to a benevolent owner, but considering her personal issues and having to deal with such a conservative father, I would say great credit is due to her, as what may seem to some people a cushy early life, must have been nothing short of a living hell, continually having to cover up and hide her true self, all the while knowing that at some point she would have to deal with it.
Imagine that for a minute – I take it you are capable of doing so…
Personally I think she is very good, she appeals to the public, and to most punters. Assertive, formed up, a racing family back ground, and no OTT business.Shame she isn’t full time on RUK, Clare Balding is excellent for racing.
…the usual cheap jokes at the expense of a most admirable lady…
..I find her to be a marvellous woman who has dealt with some heavy blows from many directions, as we are all aware of, yet she still maintains a sense of humour, of balance and poise that you don’t see in many people today, whilst working in an environment that is hardly the most forgiving…
..and what makes you think she had a privileged upbringing? she was fortunate to receive an education thanks to a benevolent owner, but considering her personal issues and having to deal with such a conservative father, I would say great credit is due to her, as what may seem to some people a cushy early life, must have been nothing short of a living hell, continually having to cover up and hide her true self, all the while knowing that at some point she would have to deal with it.
Imagine that for a minute – I take it you are capable of doing so…
Cue the music from the Hovis advert.
Loads of people every day have to deal with being gay, ill and poor. In some countries of our wonderful world you will be murdered for being gay. A sense of perspective please. "Living Hell"? Laying the schmaltz on with a trowel more like.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
What a bummer being head girl at Roedean?
As my mother remarked when someone said how good the Queen Mother looked on her 90th birthday, "She’s never had to wash shitty nappies or scrub bloody floors, has she?"I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways…the usual cheap jokes at the expense of a most admirable lady…
..I find her to be a marvellous woman who has dealt with some heavy blows from many directions, as we are all aware of, yet she still maintains a sense of humour, of balance and poise that you don’t see in many people today, whilst working in an environment that is hardly the most forgiving…
..and what makes you think she had a privileged upbringing? she was fortunate to receive an education thanks to a benevolent owner, but considering her personal issues and having to deal with such a conservative father, I would say great credit is due to her, as what may seem to some people a cushy early life, must have been nothing short of a living hell, continually having to cover up and hide her true self, all the while knowing that at some point she would have to deal with it.
Imagine that for a minute – I take it you are capable of doing so…Nobody has been more lavish in their praise of Clare Balding on this forum than I have. I have repeatedly said how head and shoulders she is above the rest of any other racing broadcaster and how she will bring a much-needed injection of gravitas and professionalism to Channel 4’s often lightweight and self-indulgent coverage.
She is an admirable woman and she has been rightly praised by a wider public over her excellent presentation of the Olympics and Paralympics. I originally thought she would be making a great mistake to lower herself to join the laugh-a-minute shower at Channel 4 but now I believe she can transform it and, as a by-product, see some of the present smug and shallow lightweights given the heave-ho.
But admirable as she is, Clare has chosen to reveal needlessly on Twitter that she was offered the chance of becoming a front-cover star. With that choice to reveal something that would inevitably bring sniggers should come the self-knowledge and knowledge of the world that it carries a risk that her ego will be popped. That is the danger with Twitter. It encourages people to become self-absorbed and to assume that people are interested in such details about themselves unquestioningly.
She had a very privileged upbringing. How many ordinary people had a subsidised education at a very prestigious school, paid for by the immensely rich Paul Mellon? If that isn’t exceptional good fortune and privilege, I don’t know what is. Then she had the benefit of a privileged university place at Cambridge, where she became president of the Students’ Union. This is a very considerable feat in its own right as it would have taken considerable strength of character, tenacity and sheer determination to achieve. Again, hardly a great pointer to the claim that she has not had a privileged upbringing. Top private school and president of the Students’ Union at Cambridge (one of the top universities in the country) is hardly great supporting evidence for a claim that she has NOT had a privileged upbringing. Add to that getting in on an elite and much-sought-after BBC training scheme (on her back of her glittering education and background) and it is difficult to shed too many tears for her on the grounds that she has had to struggle.
She had a father who did not praise, nurture and help her by showing empathy but, when she showed Ian Balding a draft of her book, she expected him to give her a hard time by being less than complimentary to her but he sent it back with the simple note "Brilliant".
Lots of people have had cold and unfeeling fathers, including myself, and it does damage you as a young person and in later life, as I know to my cost. I do not begrudge Clare Balding any of her good fortune. She is a thoroughly admirable person but, when you choose to make parts of your private life public, you have to expect that people may comment on your motives, your wisdom in doing so and the general advisability of being self-absorbed enough to keep revealing nuggets about your private life, your views and trivial, banal other matters best kept to yourself, on a public feed seen by others who have not always had the same silver-spoon progression through life.
Lots of people have the struggle or "living hell" of having to come to terms with their sexuality.Good post, well said. I am an admirer of Clare and think she is an excellent presenter, but don’t expect me to feel sorry for her, not that she would want it!
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysCue the music from the Hovis advert.
Loads of people every day have to deal with being gay, ill and poor. In some countries of our wonderful world you will be murdered for being gay. A sense of perspective please. "Living Hell"? Laying the schmaltz on with a trowel more like.
…how sweet coming from a modern perspective and obviously from someone who hasn’t experienced anything like it..
…she would have known she was different early on, from mid to late 1970’s early 80’s, and living with apparently an ultra conservative family, I would suggest the inner turmoil would have been something akin to a living hell.
Crusty Patch – I’m sorry I don’t have the time or cannot be assed to read all that. Try picking on Gary Lineker or John Inverdale for cheap jibes… if you must…
…how sweet coming from a modern perspective and obviously from someone who hasn’t experienced anything like it..
…she would have known she was different early on, from mid to late 1970’s early 80’s, and living with apparently an ultra conservative family, I would suggest the inner turmoil would have been something akin to a living hell.
You know nothing about me. Your statement carries no weight whatsoever and serves nothing but to prove your limitations as a debater on this subject.
I would suggest a living hell would be more akin to an African child who has little or no food and is being repeatedly raped by their own Father and his friends. Children as young as two being raped because of a nonsense story that having sex with a virgin can cure AIDS, would also be in that category for me.
However, if you try to put "Oh, I think I actually prefer women to men but my Dad doesn’t like it as he’s a kind of stuffy, stiff upper lip Tory, better go up to bed and cry for a bit" isn’t going to qualify I’m afraid.
Plenty of bullying goes on in life and it is not exclusive to Gay people. I was a victim myself for about two years continually in the early 70’s, being systematically robbed of my lunch money five days a week and had to go hungry before finally being unable to continue and I broke my silence. It wasn’t the money, it wasn’t the hunger, it was the sheer humiliation and the fact that I went from trying to fight it off at first to gradually sliding into total submission and meekly handing over the cash rather than end up with my head down the toilet again. The guy doing the robbing was the same age as me, 8 years old.
It was a bad time in my life but it is nothing in the scheme of things. My childhood wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either, there were happy days as well and I am sure Claire Balding had them as well.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
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