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Thanks for this news, Steeplechasing.
I was expecting to read about it first in the Racing Post tomorrow (nothing on its lamentable website at the moment — they don’t seem to put "proper" news stories on there).
It’s ironic and entirely appropriate that Jim McGrath has written this story as he will be one of the main BBC people to lose out.
I still find it quite shocking, although I realise I am in a minority, as usual, on this. People will rue the day that the BBC was forced to cease its involvement.
There’s not a chance Channel 4 will be able to generate anything like the audiences of the BBC. Everything Channel 4 has taken over has resulted in greatly reduced audience figures.
People trust the BBC as the national public service broadcaster of the country, with an international reputation for excellence. Sales abroad of the BBC coverage will have been lucrative. Channel 4 won’t have anything like the pulling power.
Casual viewers who watch the BBC won’t just switch to Channel 4, although existing devotees of the meetings involved will have to do so.
Judging by the barrage of criticism of Channel 4’s Cheltenham coverage, and the obvious deficiencies of many of its lightweight presenters and pundits, the omens aren’t good at all.
Royal Ascot will be ruined by Channel 4’s involvement.
The BBC has got some very high profile critics on this forum, mainly based on the false idea that the BBC isn’t interested in racing. It’s shed much of its coverage but that’s no reason for racing to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as usual on the altar of money.
What the BBC has covered, it has done very well generally, leaving aside weak links like Willie Carson. It was interesting to note in one of the newspaper articles on this saga that Willie was criticised by one of the senior negotiators for his abysmal performances and that this was one of the factors. Likewise the appallingly shallow betting coverage by John Parrott and Gary Wiltshire.
Clare Balding, Ian Bartlett, Richard Pitman and others have all done well, not forgetting Sir Peter O’Sullevan and others.
It’s the end of an era, no two ways about it, but it’s certainly nothing to crow about.Expected BBC to chuck racing after the Grand National controversy. Didn’t expect it this soon though. What chance anti-racing BBC documentaries and News features concentrating on safety rather than winner/spectacle/story of the National?
Value Is EverythingThe decision to stop broadcasting racing was made collectively in the hours after last year’s Grand National. At the top of tiers upon tiers of ‘management’ at the BBC there are people on extraordinary salaries, who live in North London and are left-wing in that Post Blair Mandelson way of having almost pop star wealth but reading the Guardian and believing in ‘social democracy’ (as long as they get to live in Dartmouth Park away from all the graffiti, skunk and stabbings).
Yes, I have no written proof, but I can assure each and every one of you that last April they all thought more or less the same thing: ‘what have we got here: sport of kings; poor dumb animals being whipped; stuffy old sport we’re not interested in; queen mother liked it; not edgy; youth not interested; virtually no non-white people involved (BBC types don’t visit betting shops); tweed; Harriet Harman doesn’t like it; ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS HATE IT (must be bad, then) we’ll look good at North London dinner parties if we stop showing it.
‘OK Let’s stop showing it.’This is a huge nail in the coffin of the British Turf. Make no mistake. Channel 5 next; then cable.
Have always wanted to watch a Paddy Power advert just as the horses sre milling round at the start of the National one race that should have been protected.
Expected BBC to chuck racing after the Grand National controversy. Didn’t expect it this soon though. What chance anti-racing BBC documentaries and News features concentrating on safety rather than winner/spectacle/story of the National?
That already happens regularly, the whip "controversy" was highlighted on Champion Hurdle day on the main 6.00 news. You may say what whip controversy? And you would be right.
It’s nothing less than the BBC deserve and I am delighted, I suggested removing the crown jewels from them after they repeatedly showed their lack of commitment to the sport but never thought it would happen so quickly.
I bet Peter O’Sullevan never thought he would live to see the day.
The fact is the BBC could have kept racing for a fraction of the money they are paying for F1, good riddance to them.It’s all very well Jim McGrath whinging now but where were the likes of him and Balding etc fighting racing’s corner when the BBC were slashing meeting after meeting?
The silence was deafening from them, I wonder how McGrath’s wage for 13 meetings compares to the one he received for 89 meetings for the BBC?I don’t see it as the end of the world even if viewing figures for the Grand National go down significantly.
Hopefully C4 will weed out some of the mediocrity in their personnel currently presenting the sport.I presume radio coverage will be lost as well, Could we have a channel 4 racing radio in the pipeline???
Thanks for this news, Steeplechasing.
I was expecting to read about it first in the Racing Post tomorrow (nothing on its lamentable website at the moment —The reason there was nothing on the Racing Post website when you looked is the story was embargoed until midnight so it, rightly, should not have been on their web site at that time.
It is interesting that Jim McGrath and the Telegraph chose to break the embargo – another case of McGrath sour grapes perhaps?
I presume radio coverage will be lost as well, Could we have a channel 4 racing radio in the pipeline???
Radio rights are negotiated separately
I’m confused about how the money side of this works out. Is it 15m for 1 year or 4? BBC offered 7.5m+ for 1 year or 4?
Whichever way it seems like racing is losing money.
Say it’s one year for these figures. BBC’s 7.5m for 13 days works out at £576,923 per race day compared to C4’s 15m for 93 days (13 plus is it 80 they already show) which comes to £161,290. Those differences will still be the same if the deal is for 4 years. Bearing in mind C4 would still have had to pay up to keep the racing they already show it sounds like the racing fraternity have taken the worst deal that was on offer.
Who else was in the bidding by the way, does anyone know? Recent reports seemed to make it a 2 horse race (sorry for the pun). If National, Royal Ascot, et al are still part of the Crown Jewels of broadcasting and must be shown on terrestrial tv then that only leaves ITV and Channel 5? I wouldn’t have thought either of them could afford to bid in the first place.
ITV didn’t bid for the rights and assume Channel 5 didn’t either. I agree that its nothing less than the BBC deserve but also fear Channel 4 will be dumbing down meetings like Royal Ascot. I’m sure privately Ascot aren’t overly happy at this news.
The decision to stop broadcasting racing was made collectively in the hours after last year’s Grand National. At the top of tiers upon tiers of ‘management’ at the BBC there are people on extraordinary salaries, who live in North London and are left-wing in that Post Blair Mandelson way of having almost pop star wealth but reading the Guardian and believing in ‘social democracy’ (as long as they get to live in Dartmouth Park away from all the graffiti, skunk and stabbings).
Yes, I have no written proof, but I can assure each and every one of you that last April they all thought more or less the same thing: ‘what have we got here: sport of kings; poor dumb animals being whipped; stuffy old sport we’re not interested in; queen mother liked it; not edgy; youth not interested; virtually no non-white people involved (BBC types don’t visit betting shops); tweed; Harriet Harman doesn’t like it; ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS HATE IT (must be bad, then) we’ll look good at North London dinner parties if we stop showing it.
‘OK Let’s stop showing it.’This is a huge nail in the coffin of the British Turf. Make no mistake. Channel 5 next; then cable.
At least there aren’t any conspiracy theorists on here driven by irrational political agendas.
Politicians of any hue, and those who express strong political opinions, should be lined up against the wall and shot!
He did a bad job in the cross country sure, but he probably thought it was a load of old cobblers and couldn’t hide his boredom. I don’t blame him. He was otherwise good.
I do suspect like the earlier poster that he got a bit of a bollocking off camera, hence Alastair’s on camera near rant about how good he is.
I did wonder at the time if perhaps Croc McGrath has been given the top job and Down was blowing off because of that. God forbid.
Morning all
I’m sorry but what do people expect? C4 is not a specialist racing broadcaster and neither is the BBC. If you want a specialist racing service, we are hugely fortunate (or not) in having two dedicated racing channels.
The problem is you have to pay for them – just as the cricket, golf, football and motor racing fan has to pay for their specialist coverage.
I don’t know how and in what way C4 will cover Ascot – my guess is, ads notwithstanding, they will cover Ascot much the same way with the appropriate decorum, pomp and circumstance. There won’t be ads during the Royal procession but there are ads on both RUK and ATR – that’s how channels survive without a licence fee and clearly the subs alone don’t cover it.
The audience for C4 won’t match the numbers the BBC had but they will still want the whole experience, not just the racing, important though it is to us.
I haven’t watched terrestrial racing coverage for some years – I don’t miss it that much.
Racing is aquiring a reputation for being underhanded and harbouring some seedy types in or near the top echelons of the game including certain jockeys, some already departed in ingnominy. It’s the desire among connections to make more money than prizes can provide.
Racing is aquiring a reputation for being underhanded and harbouring some seedy types in or near the top echelons of the game including certain jockeys, some already departed in ingnominy. It’s the desire among connections to make more money than prizes can provide.
Eh? Are you on the right thread?
Mike
Morning all
I’m sorry but what do people expect? C4 is not a specialist racing broadcaster and neither is the BBC. If you want a specialist racing service, we are hugely fortunate (or not) in having two dedicated racing channels.
The problem is you have to pay for them – just as the cricket, golf, football and motor racing fan has to pay for their specialist coverage.
I don’t know how and in what way C4 will cover Ascot – my guess is, ads notwithstanding, they will cover Ascot much the same way with the appropriate decorum, pomp and circumstance. There won’t be ads during the Royal procession but there are ads on both RUK and ATR – that’s how channels survive without a licence fee and clearly the subs alone don’t cover it.
The audience for C4 won’t match the numbers the BBC had but they will still want the whole experience, not just the racing, important though it is to us.
I haven’t watched terrestrial racing coverage for some years – I don’t miss it that much.
I’d like to see some vetting of the ads. The William Hill ad during the festival which masqueraded as tips from AP McCoy was a joke. It was an ad outside of the advert break and an insult to the intelligence.
Also Channel 4’s positive / negatives section :
What is to be gained from telling people exchange moves, paddock picks and the like 5 seconds before a race starts without recalling that information after the finish to determine which – if any – were helpful.
I find Channel 4’s reliance on betting information a bore and i consider myself a seasoned campaigner. Lord knows what Joe and Jo Bloggs think of it. It’s just waffle to fill airtime. Most people would prefer a guaranteed view of the horses in the parade ring to seeing a screen with " Exchange positives " on it. This info, along with paddock picks, should be given down at the start and referred to later.
Commentaries – i like Richard Hoiles but too often he can commentate on a race and they’ve gone a full circuit before he’s mentioned colours and identified viewers where their horse is in the field. He’ll mention the first three and then one horse will make a minor mistake over the first fence and he stops to tell people about it. He’ll do this in staying chases when a minor mistake is nothing.
Again, i think people who are new to racing would prefer to check the colours and be told where their horse is.The Morning Line suffers from the same problems and reliance on betting information. At 8.00am do we really need to be told of prices shorting up ??!! MORE DISCUSSION ON THE RACES PLEASE, with insider info on fitness or form.
Thing is most punters will have their money on before the programme goes on air. At the racecourse it is different, maybe with the Internet you can quickly make a be during the live coverage.
I think that everyone would gain from seeing the horses in the paddock. This would put horses at the centre where they should be & may go some way in engaging new watchers Channel 4 seem the best at this, but I was very disappointed they didn’t manage to do this for all the Cheltenham races. Their coverage of Cheltenham was poor this year. They do not seem good at rising to the occasion, & this doesn’t bode well for the Grand National.
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