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The Racing Channel was indeed £20 per month & that didn’t included the races that were on TV (& in some cases, depending on contracts, it didn’t show the extra races that weren’t on tv ie, cheltenham festival etc).
It only scrapped the subscription when it lost most of the racing to old ATR.
So it was £20 per month in 1995(?) and it’s still £20 per month in 2009!
Thanks, confusion reigns
Assuming you’re correct – and that is indeed what I thought – it does put £20 in 2009 into perspective somewhat
Wonder how many subscribers The Racing Channel had at peak?
I admit to having felt a little sorry for them when they lost most of their courses to ATR1’s bizarre, untenable business model.
Bluechariot – yes, but I would be happy to pay for it myself at £20 a month.
But obviously you are not going to so another meaningless statement.
I used to pay a similar amount per month for the inferior Racing Channel back in the day (and that was relatively more expensive as has been pointed out).
TRC was overpriced at 19.99pm. Richard Pitman’s paddock commentry was worth half that figure IMO.
Wouldn’t people want to see additional programmes though ? If you look at ATR, their coverage starts at 11:30am with some very handy phone guests and good presenters.
I am sure most would welcome additional programming but it again comes down to cost and it would need to be funded from somewhere.
The obvious funding source would be bookmaker sponsorship – however if they follow that route there will then be those who will be on here complaining about "selling out" to bookmakers and being in their pocket – almost a case of damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
Clearly RUK have recognised their funding is finite and have decided to concentrate in the live coverage as a priority.
How does the financial balance work out Paul. If RUK were part of a package that cost £12.99 with bigger channels, then obviously they have to go it alone and charge £20. What did they get from Setanta per £12.99 subscription package ?
For your average enthusiast, it comes at the wrong time considering RP are going to start subscription aswell.
I will probably pay the £20. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to pay that amount but it does grate that it can obviously be (and has been) done much cheaper. It feels just like most other things in rip-off Britain.
I wonder what percentage of the Setanta subscription went to RUK? Even if it was half (which it probably wasn’t) then it means that the price to run RUK as a stand-alone channel has trebled. I guess if we had a detailed break down of where the money is going/has been going/has come from then it would be easier to understand.
Wouldn’t people want to see additional programmes though ? If you look at ATR, their coverage starts at 11:30am with some very handy phone guests and good presenters.
There would be something to commend say an hour’s discussion of the day’s RUK meetings immediately before racing begins with emphasis on audience participation, in the mould of ‘Get On’. Generally speaking making the effort to involve folk in something they care about is a positive move as it creates a sense of belonging; more so if the ‘club’ is small and specialised, as is the case with RUK.
No guff from bookies’ reps, trainers and jockeys, just soberish intercourse on the forthcoming races between subscribers and the day’s presenter and pundit.
However any ‘extras’ must be secondary to providing good, comprehensive coverage of the live races themselves and if RUK’s finances are stretched this is where all the available cash must be targeted.
IMVHO
I don’t know the financial breakdowns, however there was clearly an efficiency in using Setanta’s administration (having said that anyone who has ever had the misfortune to experience Setanta’s "customer service" would undoubtedly dispute that).
One presumes the increase in price from what they received per-subscription from Setanta to the £20, is to cover administration costs, either bringing it "in house" or, more probable, outsourcing elsewhere.
Setanta had over 2 million subscribers, who all had access to RUK.
Even if Setanta was only paying RUK 50p per subscriber, that’s still more than they’ll be pulling in at £20 a pop.
Just to add to the price comparisons – before the original Racing Channel, I was once of a small number of subscribers to a service called SIS Review.
That provided a single nightly rerun of all the racing for that day at a cost of £900 per annum. Since it gave me the option to keep a video library, I thought the edge it provided at the time was well worth the money.I tend to see the RUK price in the same way – if it enables me to back one extra winner, then it pays for itself.
It was in the Racing Post the other day that Setanta paid RUK £4million a year to be part of the Setanta platform.
If that’s true, it equates to around 16,500 subscribers at £20 per month. I’ve no idea how many subs they had as a standalone channel but it would be a surprise if the subscriptions that were paid for by bookmakers were at the full rate.
And if they had a lot more than £4m-worth then why would you go with Setanta in the first place?
Think it’s going to be tough as people really will resent paying £20 for something that was £12.99 – and ESPN will soon be hawking their Premier League football matches for a fee as well. It all makes watching the telly an expensive business!
I work in the racing industry and am thinking long and hard before signing up and we’ll have to wait and see how much the Post will charge for their website at just the same time.
I’m really pleased that Setanta has gone into administration, and that the 200 people there have lost their jobs.
I subscribed to Setanta last year, because I wanted to watch the baseball (even though it was replays).
When I moved from the Pub basement to living in the building in the car park, I couldn’t get TV reception anymore, so I cancelled my subscription.
About 3 months later, I moved back to the basement, so I tried to renew my subscription.
I tried doing it online, and then made several telephone calls – apparently there was a problem because I was a returning customer. I had to speak to a special department, that only worked weekdays 9-5, or whatever.
Always engaged – gave up.
I think they wanted to check whether I owed them money, before thay agreed to renew my subscription.
Question.
How can I owe them money, when I pay by direct debit for a period 1-2 months ahead?I’m glad the cnuts have lost their jobs.
I work in the racing industry and am thinking long and hard before signing up
Really? For me it’s an absolute no-brainer from the very same point of view. I’ve no qualms about paying the £20. Time for me to switch my yankees to Tom Pepper
Can’t undertsnad those moans about constant replays once the live stuf has finished. That is one of the strengths rather than a blank screen or bloody teleshopping.
Just a matter of interest does anyone know if Racing UK hand out freebies to those in the industry?
The following is Racing UK’s reply to a few queries that I raised directly with them about increasing the subscription price up to £20 per month:-
We appreciate your points on the subscription increase to £20 per month. The price point will revert to its 2004 launch price of £20 a month but this will include the £9.99 monthly subscription to Racing UK’s on-line services. RUK members will also continue to benefit from up to £675 worth of free race day tickets per year.
Setanta’s demise is unfortunate but it underlines the need for sports channels to ensure they operate with sound business models to survive. As part of the Setanta bundle, we benefitted from considerable operational cost savings and obviously now have to incur start-up costs as a stand-alone business.
Prior to Setanta, we had roughly 35,000 subscribers at £20 a month in 2006 and now we are adding more value through broadband, members club packs and racecourse admission.
In addition, as a concession, annual subscribers will get the channel free until their next annual renewal date. We don’t want our most loyal customers to have to pay twice, even though we will have to make good the cash lost in the Setanta administration.
We believe the total package still represents good value for enthusiasts and ensures they are guaranteed every race from all our 30 courses.
We sincerely hope you continue coverage from Racing UK.
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Drone
The original Racing Channel was aired as part of the then £13 a month basic Sky package, which covered a great deal more than just horseracing.
Apologies; it woukl appear I had a senior moment!
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