The home of intelligent horse racing discussion
The home of intelligent horse racing discussion

Jumps on Channel 4

Home Forums Horse Racing Jumps on Channel 4

Viewing 3 posts - 35 through 37 (of 37 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #318329
    Avatar photoAndyRAC
    Participant
    • Total Posts 701

    But how are people going to find that they are interested in a different sport if they have to be interested enough to pay for it in the first place?

    Many people who pay to watch are already committed, or practitioners themselves – certainly when it comes to cricket.

    On another sport, I won’t forget the twist to my mindset at least when the

    Tour de France

    came through the South East London suburb where one of my households is based. Out of curiosity I turned out to see the thing, expecting there’d be a handful of odds and sods sprinkled along the route.

    Not a bit of it. The crowd was five deep through Greenwich and all the way down towards Charlton’s Valley Stadium. There’d not been much publicity, and no media coverage worth speaking of. But talking to the onlookers, I discovered that many of them were enthusiastic, committed and knowledgeable: huge cycling aficionados, who claimed that cycling was the second most popular participation sport in the country.

    I wasn’t surprised by this, or by the total lack of interest shown therein by our biased and football-crazed press and broadcasters.

    Moral:

    there are many more people out there who are actively interested in the plethora of other, more engaging sports than are obsessed by the sorry few our media masters continually foist upon us.

    [After his exploits in this year’s

    Tour de France

    , and his Green Jersey today in Spain, Mark Cavendish should be a big front runner for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. In Europe he’s one of the most famous British sporting heroes. Yet is he even quoted in the betting?]

    Excellent point!! Cycling is one of my sports – and Cavendish is one of our best sportsmen – he’s the best road sprinter in the World!! But he never won an Olmympic medal, so Joe Public doesn’t rate him. But I get the point about the media setting the agenda in what sports are covered. TV/Radio/Papers are full of football even in the summer with non-stories!! It hasn’t always been like that.
    Isn’t the Badminton Horse Trials the biggest event in terms of spectator numbers? If a sport doesn’t suit the media’s agenda, they won’t cover it.
    All I’ll say is that I’m glad I grew up when I did – there was a lot of different sports on TV to take my interest. Now there isn’t. Being stuck on satellite doesn’t count.

    #318332
    Avatar photoMaxilon 5
    Member
    • Total Posts 2432

    TV/Radio/Papers are full of football even in the summer with non-stories!! It hasn’t always been like that.

    Indeed not. By 1988, football in this country was an endangered sport. Attendances had dropped through the floor, clubs were going to the wall and viewing figures for staples like Match of the Day and Star Soccer were dropping fast.

    Admitting in public that you avidly followed a football team was like admitting you had married your sister.

    If you get the chance, have a look at some of those attendances in 1988. You’ll find some of them hard to believe.

    Satellite changed all that, creating one of the most incredible image turnarounds of all time.

    The BBC have been a second class player in sports delivery ever since. They cannot handle that – hence the laughably overpriced Formula One contract, a dead donkey deal no other significant broadcaster wanted. They could have saved forty massive by beaming coverage of a spin dryer live from a launderette.

    All I’ll say is that I’m glad I grew up when I did – there was a lot of different sports on TV to take my interest.

    Ditto. Speedway? Ice Hockey – I remember seeing that USA-USSR game. Ice Skating. Show Jumping. Chess (Kasparov-Short). Test matches (*sigh*). Rally. Motocross. Superbikes. I’m almost certain these (chess excepted), were all on the BBC in the seventies in significant portions.

    #318524
    Avatar photothisthatandtother
    Member
    • Total Posts 149

    the bbc They could have saved forty massive by beaming coverage of a spin dryer live from a launderette.

    Too, too true. FOL

Viewing 3 posts - 35 through 37 (of 37 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.