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Talking of TV coverage a massive well done to Racing UK.
What was refreshing was Lydia Hislop, Lee Mottershead and (the other guy who’s name I’ve forgotten for the minute) who pulled no punches and named names when criticing trainers and jockeys for not being bothered to come and talk to the viewers through the media. Absolutely bang on and well done for them for having the balls to come out and speak it as it is.
I was not convinced by the argument, personally I don’t feel I’m missing out too much on trainer/jockey interviews, they can often be tedious and very repetitive. Maybe trainers such as Stoute could do a bit more but jockeys are very busy and I can understand them opting out of the same boring questions being put to them.
If sponsors aren’t happy with the situation though that could be a concern.
If RUK presenters are concerned about their viewers why don’t they ensure that they get to see the horses in the paddock and going to post for all their meetings, something which is far more use than a jockey being interviewed.Talking of TV coverage a massive well done to Racing UK.
What was refreshing was Lydia Hislop, Lee Mottershead and (the other guy who’s name I’ve forgotten for the minute) who pulled no punches and named names when criticing trainers and jockeys for not being bothered to come and talk to the viewers through the media. Absolutely bang on and well done for them for having the balls to come out and speak it as it is.
I was not convinced by the argument, personally I don’t feel I’m missing out too much on trainer/jockey interviews, they can often be tedious and very repetitive. Maybe trainers such as Stoute could do a bit more but jockeys are very busy and I can understand them opting out of the same boring questions being put to them.
If sponsors aren’t happy with the situation though that could be a concern.
If RUK presenters are concerned about their viewers why don’t they ensure that they get to see the horses in the paddock and going to post for all their meetings, something which is far more use than a jockey being interviewed.Hayley Turner was supposed to be "the face of Epsom" where was she? RUK asked her to spare 10 minutes she declined (for whatever reason). That isn’t good enough. Neither is it good enough when Ryan Moore declines to speak to the media and personally I think its downright rude when Sir Michael Stoute starts to walk off in the middle of an interview (which he usually does) enough to say "thats enough I’ve better things to do".
If it wasn’t for the public and the punters that plough money into the sport via betting racing wouldn’t exist at least not as we know it. Some of these tariners and jockeys with attitude need a boot up the proverbial. As I understand it shortly it is to be made a condition of a trainers licence that they must speak to and respect the media who are working on behalf of the public. Not before time.
They aren’t all bad by any means. Frankie love him or loathe him always makes time and the likes of John Gosden exactly the same. Its time some of the others got into line.
Some things the BBC did well yesterday. Watching a long build-up to a classic without interruptions was refreshing.
Willie Carson….
Oh, Willie Carson!
I think he’s got a lot of interesting things to say, especially about breeding – but Willie is not an articulate man in any way. Now, that’s no big deal sometimes… but it is if you’re being paid to communicate on the BBC.
This is Willie’s attempt to describe the rivalry between Sheikh Mo and Coolmore:
"now … errr.. the industry… errr… being by Cape Cross… errrr. it’s a big thing for Sheikh Mohammed, as an owner, as an industry horse, as the bri- .. you know, the outstanding stallion – errr, it’s to go against Coomore – you know – errrr, against the .. against the two industry……camps."
There are times when he makes John Francome sound like Stephen Fry.
To be honest the sooner the BBC just get out of racing the better. Then Channel 4 can cover all the big race days.
Every Croc McGrath racecall I have heard for the past 2 years has been utter garbage and there motley tv crew baffles me. Watching the derby yesterday and my gf says "Hey, why’s that snooker bloke doing the racing"? And then there is W Carson?
The bottom line is this…if you cant do a job properly then dont bother doing it at all.
Even my dad thought the BBC coverage was boring and dull and the race didnt even have the same public feel to it as Grand National day does.
The BBC way is to show the racing and pretend that the audience does not know anything about the sport so they can explain it to them in a simpletons kind of way.
Why they have John Parrott as betting expert i have no idea, This is the man who thought 7-1 Cloudy Lane in last years Grand National was excellent value.
They should have hired Big Mac as he had a free day spare and was already at Epsom.
Commentaty wise they should dump Croc and put Ian Bartlett in as he is wasted being in the weighing room with a big telly.
All in all OK coverage but it does not have the feel as a National does.
I can’t get Channel 4 or other channels here in the Netherlands, only BBC 1 and 2. So I have not much choise. I did watch the Morning Line once, because Nathaniel Parker was in it and a friend was so nice to record it for me. But I doubt if I miss anything, not watching the programme. The only thing I don’t like about the BBC hosts is Claire Balding, if I have her name correct. I remember her reaction after the win of Mon Mome on the Grand National when she made a remark on the jockey’s teeeth. They were not good, but I don’t care about that. And in yesterdays broadcast I felt that she made some strange comments about the people in the paddock. I could be me, but I am not a fan of hers. I think the BBC can get better hosts, but then, what does the BBC cares. They go downhill fast in my opinion.
The BBC have absolutely no interest in racing and as a result every aspect of their coverage is shambolic. Their presenters are terrible, the commentary is poor and don’t get me started on the camera-work and the crazy sound effects.
Channel 4 for all their faults are miles ahead.
Well it shows that the BBC doesn’t care about racing. As I mentioned earlier, I am new to racing, but I am very happy to see that there are some good channels on the internet where I can see the races from a different point of view. I didn’t like the way Claire Balding treated the people in the paddock. She made some movements towards them that showed (for me) that she wasn’t interested in these people at all and her comments stated that. A shame that the BBC hires people like her for jobs like this. I am sure there are better people out there.
He sprays it like some runaway muck spreader loose in a Somerset spud field.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
Again, the BBC treats the actual racing as a sideshow to lots of people dressed up drinking champagne who wouldn’t know a horse if it kicked them right up the @R$E!
As I think previously mentioned on this thread, you would not get the large proportion of inane conkers for any other sport such as the beloved Football, Tennis or Formula 1 (BBC Sports Department wets their pants again),
Essentially, races are every 30-35 minutes. Therefore it should go something like this
Race
Post Race Analysis
Maybe time for a quick feature if schedule permits
Pre Race Analysis with Betting news
Race (and so on etc…)What we get is…
Race
Quick Post Race Analysis
A Hen do on a bus
The Jon & Gary show
Meaningless feature
A Stag do on a bus
Runners & Riders
Quick summary as they enter the stalls/line up (if jumping)
RaceIndirectly, Channel 4 are to blame as they were the ones that started Race Coverage down the populist route. BBC – like in many other forms of their TV output, copies like sheep.
Even my wife (who only really watches the National and a few big meetings if I’m watching) laughes at some of the inane dross that is spewed out.
Finally, to end on a positive, a bit of credit to the BBC for their Vincent O’Brien tribute. Thought that was a nice touch.
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I think people are being very harsh on the beeb. I know not everyone has the luxury of having access to the two dedicated racing channels ,which I have, but for non racing people/ once a yr viewers many dont want "pure" racing for the big meetings shown as they can feel "left out" if that makes sense. And I can understand why. I am "hardcore" racing but I know from many non racing friends that they would find it hard to watch say ATR or RUK for 4 hrs straight (or even ch4). Whereas the beeb will hold their attention for that time span.
While I certainly agree that the beebs camera work of the races left a lot to be desired (to say the least) they did their best to fill the half hour gaps between races. In fact it was very similar to what I have seen for the coverage of the melbourne cup in Australia.
I would say everyone on here has a very good understanding of racing and all aspects of it and would love a pure hardcore coverage of the Derby but alot of non racing people will find what the bbc do interesting as they do a "racing by numbers" type programme. Again this will hold non racings prople attention longer than a ATR/RUK type production.
Claire Balding ,for me, has come on heaps in recent yrs. Remeber she is from ,in racing terms,a blue blood backround. yet I feel she is not (again) hard core in her racing presenting skills and genuinely trys to explain things to non racing people (as oppsoed to some presenters who are near arrogant towards people who may not au fait with the game).
Willie is struggling in front of the cameras but ,again, some might like that (ie the grannies fav).
Again JP will be familar to alot of people from other backrounds so he is a nice neutral man to have in the ring. And I can assure you alot of people would have enjoyed the gentle introduction to bookmaking that himself and gal put on)Just my 2p’s worth
Willie Carson makes a lot of mistakes, he said the Cape Cross wasn’t from the Northern Dancer bloodline for instance, he should have known this running a stud; he needs to research more, have an auto cue & have some sessions with a voice/public speaking coach.
What I can’t stand is not seeing horses before the race; when will both channels realise this is of primary interest to most of the serious viewers? Also I find all the tacky fashion shows & interviews with B list celebrities extremely tedious. Clare’s rush across the paddock trying to do interviews with owners & trainers (when they are obviously giving out final instructions) is gut wrenchingly awful; I scream at the TV, I want to see the horses not Clare’s bum.
I have taken to recording a lot of the televised racing & fast forwarding all the dross.The Wiltshire/Parrott double act is dreadful. Wiltshire’s free ad for Paddy Power (they are facing a 2 mil payout etc etc) a couple of minutes before the start at peak viewing time was unnecessary. I think his assertion that one of the first bets struck on the course was a 50k/15 about STS was made up. I was in early and looking to back STS at 3’s ………… the majority of the layers in Tatts went up at 11/4 …….. there were four layers at the bottom of the line, two of which were on the second row that went 3’s and the rails layers hadn’t opened. I never saw 10/3. STS was averaging 3.95 on the machine at that stage.
Couldn’t Auntie Beeb offer something for both the hardcore and the casual racing fans at the same time?
If BBCi can offer, for example, uninterrupted covereage of play on the outside courts at Wimbledon whilst the analogue channels concentrate on the two show courts, then it ought not be beyond its capabilities to have a feed on BBCi offering just paddock and to-post pictures (with analysis) of the same meeting they’re covering in a more populist manner on BBC1.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
In addition to the other points here I have to add how totally devoid of any sense of humour Jim McGrath is IMO. Apart from his occaisionally quirky but well used turns of phrase during his race commentaries which I have never had too much issue with he consistently displays zero personality and it is him I think of when I conclude how grey and boring BBC racing has become.
That is what I meant. This Claire is running around the paddock and you just have to look at the faces of the people there to see that they don’t really like her presence. Even I, as newbie, can see that.
And yes, it would be great to see more of the horses before the race. That is why I am looking, for the horses, not for the people who come to see the races. That is what it is all about, the horses and the jockeys. And the trainers ofcourse.
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