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Same here Nefertiti. I tend to have W Hill racing radio on and then watch the race on tv [with Mike shouting upstairs to me any good Jason Weaver tips etc], but I’ll often watch ITV Racing on catchup late at night if there’s nothing on tv to watch. I think ITV have done a good job thus far and they make racing fun, which is what it’s all about imo. Not everyone is as obsessed with the sport as we are.
It would be a disaster if racing lost its terrestrial coverage, not just for people like Nefertiti & me who don’t subscribe to racing channels but for the sport itself. With no means to attract new enthusiasts from a wider pool, it would quickly become a minority interest activity similar to the likes of polo. From some of their comments over the past few years regarding public perception & engagement, many trainers and jockeys would be quite happy with that sort of “private club” scenario, but they’ll soon change their tune once the sponsorship, on which the entire industry now depends, dries up.
But would it be THAT sad in this day and age if racing disappeared from terrestrial TV?
I am a punter, I don’t work in the industry, I am not a cheerleader for racing, I am a consumer of it as a product.
If I find the coverage so irritating it has to be on mute why can’t I say so?
I don’t care about the ratings and if ITV cease covering racing there is always Racing TV, ATR (again both muted!) or I can watch the race via any betting platform if I have had the smallest of bets on it.
This is the point Bruce Millington misses – terrestrial isn’t the Holy Grail for racing fans it once was so we won’t endure any old tripe to maintain it.Are you not missing the point though, Ian?
The issue of whether Racing needs terrestrial coverage is surely not about us existing racing enthusiasts; it’s about attracting new people to our sport.
How did you get interested in horse racing?
If there were/is no terrestrial coverage then how would anyone know they liked racing enough to get/buy/watch the dedicated channels?
Therefore, with no terrestrial coverage Racing runs the risk of an ever decreasing fan base. Most of us racing fans can switch over to our dedicated Racing Channels.
If ITV can entice new viewers by using stuff that us existing racing/betting fans traditionally don’t usually enjoy – then why not? For some racegoers (not me) things like fashion is important and part of ITV coverage should therefore be fashion etc. Whether they are doing that (or any other) segment well – is another thing. If not careful they’ll risk losing viewers.
Having betting/racing experts that aren’t really betting/racing experts is where they’re letting down – if not downright deceiving – viewers.“True Self is a mudlark”. Ye, right. Idiots!
Value Is EverythingI have friends who aren’t as interested in racing as I am but they watch it on Saturday afternoons and really enjoy it. Fashion has always been part of racing and it’s important that people regard racing as a social event as well as a sporting one. DIL had her hen do at Market Rasen and they had a great time; DD’s sister in law always chats to me about racing when I see her. When I was working the girls in the office would chat about the fashion at Ascot etc
Gingertipster,
I am not “missing the point” – I am just being honest about my selfishness regarding not caring!
Racing is indeed a minority sport – this is why so many of its fans care and worry about its future in a way, say, football fans don’t worry about the future of football which is assured.
But I am evidently the exception here – I’ve loved my racing all my life but that doesn’t mean I lose sleep worrying where it’s next generation of followers will come from.
So when Bruce Millington starts telling me what I “need” to be thinking I am like: “Really? Err…no, I would rather watch The Derby on my mobile on a betting site than endure all this tripe they put on to try to lure the wider public in on Derby and Grand National Day.”
Tbh, twas ever thus – even back in the halcyon day’s of the minimalist ITV7 on World Of Sport, they would still wheel out the celebs on Derby Day.
Ditto the BBC with Royal Ascot fashion.
But that doesn’t mean I have to like it – the mute button on a TV remote was the best invention EVER and it got plenty of use Derby Day!
Finally, you asked how I got interested in racing.
Well it wasn’t by watching celebrities and fashion experts on the telly in the 1970s!
It was by watching actual horse races.
Yes, that was on terrestrial TV, but that was all there was back then.
There are myriad channels and platforms now.
But like I said, I am selfish – and honest about it! – and the price racing is paying for selling its product (drug use and alcohol-fuelled fights at racecourses, which have become weekend raves with a bit of racing beforehand, and idiot celebs on TV) is frankly not a price I happily pay to safeguard the game’s future.
I generally avoid racecourses like the plague nowadays – I go pointing instead – and its MUTE all the way when watching on TV.
That, sir, is ALL.
Rant over!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It seems you don’t like me saying you’re missing the point, Ian – and yet you accuse Bruce Millington of doing exactly that. But I’ll persevere.
But I am evidently the exception here – I’ve loved my racing all my life but that doesn’t mean I lose sleep worrying where it’s next generation of followers will come from.
So when Bruce Millington starts telling me what I “need” to be thinking I am like: “Really? Err…no, I would rather watch The Derby on my mobile on a betting site than endure all this tripe they put on to try to lure the wider public in on Derby and Grand National Day.”
Then surely you and Bruce Millington are talking about two different things. Millington is concerned about what we (“Racing”) needs for its future. You on the other hand are NOT concerned (entirely your prerogative) which means you are NOT in the “we”… Therefore Bruce Millington is NOT making any comment about what YOU “need to be thinking”.
Value Is EverythingFair comment.
I think what I didn’t like about Millington’s comment was the assumption that literally everyone with an interest in racing is part of some niche collective which is desperate to see the sport promoted to as wide an audience as possible and his concomitant presumption that he can therefore lecture everyone about what they “need” to be thinking.
We are not all marketing executives for the BHA – we are a varied assortment of punters and general racing enthusiasts.
As such many of us care only about our personal enjoyment or otherwise of watching racing broadcasts and do not care in the slightest what ratings the broadcaster gets or what this supposedly means for the future of the sport.
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"I watched a bit of one of the Sky Racing coverage yesterday, one of the regulars on ITV was so rubbish I switched it off. In the paddock he said “we won’t look at the horses they have four legs and a tail….” and proceeded to talk to people who were busy with the owners, jockeys and stable staff. At this I was so incensed I switched it off. This presenter is the main problem with the ITV coverage for me, the others I bad but this man needs to be taken from all the racing TV programmes; the horses are the cornerstone of the sport and his attitude stinks.
You say you don’t care about racing and only subscribe to the product, yet you’re reading a Bruce Millington column about racing.
Of course i won’t say you’re lieing as that’d be blasphemy, but surely if you didn’t care surely you wouldn’t be reading such material?Racing on terrestrial TV is massive. Look at the demand that the likes of football & rugby gets when it’s on shown to the mainstreams. It’s one of the reasons millions of us only tune into rugby when the 6 nations is on.
It hit home with me the other week when i was out with a mate and he mentioned he was flicking through the channels after his work on the Friday of the Oaks, came across Racing and persisted to watch it. He had a small study and a few bets and became engaged with it. That’s how it starts for many of us that don’t have family members or friends who are big into the game.
It’s not something i ‘worry’ about either, but i can definitely see the massive advantage it has to the sport.
P.S. – I actually agreed with Millington for once in my life, fashion & food etc. has to be expected on a channel with such a varied audience.
Just as i agree that ITV is not the place for huge sectional analysis although reference to them by Weaver, Blake etc. isn’t something i’d shy away from if it’s backing up a selection etc.In all fairness, KevMc, I only read Millington’s article because I was bored and there was a link to it on the RP Facebook page.
You are, of course, correct to say terrestrial coverage is a massive boost for any sport – don’t think anyone disputes that.
But it doesn’t alter the fact I could only stomach the Derby Day coverage by deploying the mute button from start to finish!
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"Annoying today as well. Weaver who was picking losers all day said that a horse looked a picture in the paddock. Not saying he would win the race just said the horse looked well. It won and Olli Bell says about 10 times post race to Weaver what a great shout. Haha.
As such many of us care only about our personal enjoyment or otherwise of watching racing broadcasts and do not care in the slightest what ratings the broadcaster gets or what this supposedly means for the future of the sport.
Fair enough, Ian. Do think it’s worth remembering though, that if you and I had been born in to an age where there was no terrestrial tv… We may not have been lucky enough to find this sport we now love. I’d hate to think of future generations missing out.
Value Is EverythingI get what you mean, Gingertipster, but an era without terrestrial TV would be before TV covered racing at all (the era of Pathe news in cinemas) or some point in the future.
As for the past, I remember being in a newsagent during a family holiday in Alnwick in 1977 and persuading my father to buy me a copy of The Sporting Chronicle, I remember racing references in Billy Bunter books at school, being fascinated by racing results and cards in The Guardian, all non-TV related entry points to racing.
And today, in the internet era, there are websites, apps, social media and a host of ways young people can get the opportunity to be similarly intrigued.
Terrestrial TV coverage matters, but I don’t think it is the be all and end all any more many imagine it to be.
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"I have not much to do today, so I thought I would throw my hat into the ring.
IanDavies – I watch horse racing for the….err….horseracing (and nothing else) a concept broadcasters have never quite been able to grasp in recent years. I agree with this one, but I would add that talking to the people connected to the horses is good too.
Commentator Richard Hoiles – The horse should be front and centre of any race day. I agree with this one.
Andrew Cooper Clerk of the Course at Sandown, and Rupert Arnold, the chief executive of the National Trainers Federation, both outlined their belief it is necessary for the public to see the horses beforehand – “we’re in the entertainment business after all and the horses are the stars of the show”. And the public includes people watching on TV.
Tonge – From some of their comments over the past few years regarding public perception & engagement, many trainers and jockeys would be quite happy with that sort of “private club” scenario, but they’ll soon change their tune once the sponsorship, on which the entire industry now depends, dries up. All races at today’s four meetings in the UK and Ireland are sponsored. This is normal. None of them are being shown on terrestrial TV. Sponsorship is small beer compared to how much owners and punters contribute to the racing industry in the UK.
Gingertipster – If there were/is no terrestrial coverage then how would anyone know they liked racing enough to get/buy/watch the dedicated channels? …… Do think it’s worth remembering though, that if you and I had been born in to an age where there was no terrestrial tv… We may not have been lucky enough to find this sport we now love. I’d hate to think of future generations missing out. Younger (new) people use social media to obtain information, eg. there are thriving twitter and facebook accounts about Frankel, and many other racing-related items. Under forties watching day time TV are almost non-existant.
KevMc – Racing on terrestrial TV is massive. Look at the demand that the likes of football & rugby gets when it’s on shown to the mainstreams. It’s one of the reasons millions of us only tune into rugby when the 6 nations is on. Racing on terrestrial TV is relatively inconsequential, and becomes more diminished as time passes. Football and Rugby coverage does not include casual glide-bys by C-List celebrities, descriptions of what the fans are wearing and interviews with people about where they bought their clothes, tours of the catering outlets, or asking random fans for their views on who will win. Your outlook about the Six Nations suggests that terrestrial TV should show only Group One races.
I cannot imagine that current ITV coverage persuades anyone who is not already interested to take a shine to the sport.
It is one of the BHA’s roles to promote racing. Having, in recent years, allowed newspapers to reduce dramatically their coverage of racing in their sports pages, it seems they have no desire to encourage people to become fans of the sport via new media either. Their PR people have not been able to place anything on the front page (which has sixty-nine stories on it today) of the country’s biggest sports website about racing’s biggest and best festival just two days from now.
As I write this (Sunday morning) the front page of their very own BHA website contains no mention of Royal Ascot, but does have these items:
Building a brighter future for our sport, our horses and our people
Next fixtures dates – (no mention of Royal Ascot)
Find out about the high standards of equine welfare in British Racing
Class 2 Open Handicap Chase re-scheduled to Newton Abbot’s 25 June fixture
Investec Derby Festival 2019 – Handicappers Blog
Kemboy tops 2018/19 Anglo-Irish Jumps ClassificationWhy anyone might make a fuss over TV coverage when the BHA shows no aptitude or desire to promote the sport, makes me think we are talking about a very small issue while the elephant in the room goes unnoticed.
A few comments on Friday’s racing on ITV from a jumps fan who has zero interest in Royal Ascot:
– Was it just me or did AP McCoy look as embarrassed as I did during the pathetic end-of-show sing song? The BBC never did anything so downmarket.
– Were people actually applauding the people doing the fashion or were they just pissed out of their brains?
– How many (few) of the racegoers that go to Royal Ascot will attend any other race meeting during the year? Like the coachloads of men that drink themselves silly at places like York during the summer, is Ascot only interested at how many people they can get through their front door?
Was it just me or did AP McCoy look as embarrassed as I did during the pathetic end-of-show sing song?
I thought he was every bit as bad as the rest myself.
Those fashion clowns are awful. I’m not a fan of the fashion myself anyway but they seem to be utterly without any fashion expertise, interest in the racing or charisma and only seem interested in necking as much fizzy wine as they can get their hands on and giggling with “celebrities”. Encourages exactly the sort of behaviour that the sport is trying to reduce and I am sure irritate the people who DO tune into Royal Ascot for the fashion as much as those who want to watch the racing. They should get Chris Hughes to do it. I feared the worst when he was brought in (and had to Google him…) but I actually think he’s rather good. Bit of a coup to find somebody with wide popular appeal outside racing who actually has a genuine interest and is a decent presenter. He has a huge following on social media and uses it to promote the sport. Looks like a lot of his fans tune in to the racing to see him too so hopefully some will develop an interest.
MV –
All races at today’s four meetings in the UK and Ireland are sponsored. This is normal. None of them are being shown on terrestrial TV. Sponsorship is small beer compared to how much owners and punters contribute to the racing industry in the UK.
Sponsorship is critical to the survival of racing and it isn’t just race sponsorship. Have a look at your racecard next time you’re at the races and see how many runners have a sponsor listed in addition to trainer, owner etc. I doubt many of the smaller stables could continue to operate without this and many large stables would have to curtail their operations. Whether race sponsorship is attracted or not does not depend entirely on whether a race or meeting is shown on terrestrial channels as many sponsors come from within the industry (betting, breeding, products associated with the course or, of course subscription tv services) or small local businesses and are happy to target a niche audience. However, if you want to attract big sponsors from outside, you need to be on telly.
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