- This topic has 864 replies, 161 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 4 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Liked Barry Geraghty having a pop at Ted Walsh for his constant putting down of Sprinter Sacre, still went for him after it though, a "bully in a weak division"
Masterminded struggled at times to put some of these away that Sprinter Sacre is destroying, think Ted Walsh actually said he didnt know if Sprinter Sacre was that better than him on the Morning Line.
He was embarrassing after the Lexus Chase too, " and thats Mrs er er, Tracy is with connections." "Im with Peter Casey, Ted."
Seems to have an absolute dislike for Paul Nicholls too, after the Lexus seemed like he had a ton on First Lieutenant.
The coverage has been just like BBC Lite so far, with Clare Balding, Mick Fitzgerald and Rishi Persad dominating.
They even interviewed ex-BBC jumps expert Richard Pitman on the first day and there were shots of Aussie Jim McGrath craning to eavesdrop on an interview, with his glasses perched "further back in the field" on the end of his nose.
Not to mention shots of Cornelius Lysaght doing the BBC radio coverage.
Alice Plunkett is still managing to prefix everything with "Listen" in that officious way. Even "Listen, thanks".
The biggest weakness is the sterile studio setting. So much better it would be if they were out and about mingling with the crowd.
Certainly never knowingly under-sold, the Channel 4 build-up to races or, indeed, the aftermath.
The coverage has been just like BBC Lite so far, with Clare Balding, Mick Fitzgerald and Rishi Persad dominating.
They even interviewed ex-BBC jumps expert Richard Pitman on the first day and there were shots of Aussie Jim McGrath craning to eavesdrop on an interview, with his glasses perched "further back in the field" on the end of his nose.
Not to mention shots of Cornelius Lysaght doing the BBC radio coverage.
Alice Plunkett is still managing to prefix everything with "Listen" in that officious way. Even "Listen, thanks".
The biggest weakness is the sterile studio setting. So much better it would be if they were out and about mingling with the crowd.
Crusty has hit the nail on the head(long time no speak crusty, then again we gave a "unhealty intrest in commentators")
The best laugh was Nick saying "Hey that guy even with the backpack is joining in with the celebrations" yes nick you knew it was Thommo (dont say you didn’t!)
Interesting to see Barty will be part of the GN team. ZZZZZZZZZZ bbc all over again………
Is there any "get out clause" for the current regime Crusty??
Ted Walsh with Claire didn’t work for me……I’ll miss his knockabout stuff and brilliant turn of phrase with Francome and McGrath as they discussed the runners before the races.
Its definitely humour that is missing overall and the percieved ‘double anchoring’of the show by both Claire and Nick Luck doesn’t work…….Nick Luck acts like a prefect in the booth with the other 2..don’t think they need him in there.
Didn’t think Claire was great today for some reason ……..her attempts to generate excitement and sum up particular moments seemed under par today………she made far too much of the Harry Fry/Girlfreind aspect re Rock On Ruby for example and she generally erred to much on the side of the non racing fan.
Exactly why the production should never have have changed. All Claire is good for is generating idle chit chat, no charisma, no answers, just pathetic poppycock.
Even the winners interviews with Rishi were just plain rubbish. Alice seemed to get into 2nd gear(just).
What exactly is Hicks trying to achieve?? from what I can see, NO progress yet…
I also thought Tom Lee was on of the casualties of the "hicks brigade" nice to hear you Tom, thats probably all we will see of you.
I’m sure a lot of you will disagree with me, but I’ve warmed to Rishi over the years he’s been on C4. He’s far more confident then he used to be, and seems to now be relishing his role, as opposed to the frightened rabbit look of earlier years. They’re giving him more to do now too. Ok he’s no expert, but I like his personality.
Hi
If you are wondering where the hell Bobs Worth came from to win the Gold Cup and are generally tired of C4’s arty close ups that cut viewing of the horses YOU backed then please take a few seconds to sign my petition against these punter unfriendly arty shots
https://www.change.org/petitions/channe … e-racing-2
Thanks
Burro’ you must be havin’ a laugh, Rishi is a complete embarrassment, racing is not a game for a moderate jack of all trades.
Moving onto Nick Luck – he is a man you would expect to be greeted by upon entering a funeral parlour.
Desperate and sterile.
Oh yes and Clair Balding looks like a member of the Beeb Beeb Ceeb in a foreign country without a proper briefing.
That Tanya betting ring non expert, I actually heard her say she had to leave the betting ring because of the amount of people there! Good god!!! Big Mac would have loved to be in the midst of the jungle, telling us the odds, shouting at people not to be silly and telling us to come racing.
What have we got? A squeaky incoherent isolated ipad user.
I thought that Tanya was an embarrassment – her ‘discussions’ with both the big firms reps and the smaller bookies were boring and lacked any depth of questioning.
I used to enjoy Big Mac’s Morning Line interviews at Cheltenham with the Irish lady bookmaker (Helen?). Don’t if she was on at all this year. For me some of the usual excitement in C4’s coverage was missing this year.
I have spoken to a few people who have no more than a mild, passing interest in racing but tune in for the big events on CH 4 Racing.
ALL of them have commented that the new format is not as warm and is not as engaging as it was with the previous line-up.
When do the Cheltenham viewing figs appear?
Hi
If you are wondering where the hell Bobs Worth came from to win the Gold Cup and are generally tired of C4’s arty close ups that cut viewing of the horses YOU backed then please take a few seconds to sign my petition against these punter unfriendly arty shots
https://www.change.org/petitions/channe … e-racing-2
Thanks
The biggest farce regarding those pictures was that RUK used exactly the same ones, an absolute disgrace for a supposed specialist racing channel that charges £20.80p a month.
ATR did the same trick at Uttoxeter last Saturday.
Big Mac apparently taken to hospital after taking ill at the racecourse today. Hope all is well wiyh him.
Interesting to note that the trade press paid virtually no heed to what to many will have
seemed
(and I must say seemed) like an attempt by McCririck to make himself the headline story of Cheltenham week rather than the racing.
The news that he’d been rushed to hospital with what was presumed to be some stress-aggravated condition warranted no more than a small mention on page 28 of Wednesday’s
Post
.
The news that he’d been released from hospital two days later with absolutely nothing whatsoever found to be wrong with him didn’t warrant any bigger a mention a good number of pages into Saturday’s
Post
, either.
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.
Don’t know if they’re set in stone Corm, but read elsewhere that they were down. Not really that surprising, as the new format has had an inevitably lukewarm reception.
I took out a subscription to RUK once Clare Baldings appointment was announced, but still popped in an out of the CH4 coverage……..it wasn’t great.
Nick Luck remains a solid presenter, but the combination of Balding/Walsh/Fitzgerald/Stevenson is hardly going to appeal to anyone who takes there racing seriously or appreciates decent presenting.
I used to like Ted Walsh, but his schtick is getting rather tiresome, and his sole intention seemed to be, being as disagreeable as possible. Sadly, he could read out the contents of the phonebook, and those around him would guffaw and chortle, as if to say "what a character". Some would say he "tells it like it is", I would say that he just came across as a bit of a…..
Don’t want to labour too much on Balding, as I’ve given my opinion on her, probably once too often. My intolerance to her presenting "skills" is probably a little irrational, but, nonetheless she, in my opinion, falls way short of the required standard.
As for Fitzgerald, and Stevenson, they seem to be universally disliked, and that they still hold down their current roles despite obviously being entirely unsuitable, is a sad state of affairs, but not one exclusive to coverage of racing, it has to be said.
Throw into the mix, the continued use of "arty" shots during the race….why do they do it? The biggest race of the meeting, The Gold Cup, and they completely missed the late run of Bobs Worth, just not good enough. I’ve said it before, but you wouldn’t cover a football match with a camera stuck down at the corner flag. Should, in fairness, add that this is becoming just as big a problem on ATR, and RUK.
Didn’t see the use of the I-pad thingy when I looked in, but apparently they’re still using it. To be fair, i think from what I’ve heard they’re going to ditch it.
Despite having a dig at CH4 now and then, I actually, on the whole, liked their coverage before. I stress to add that, as a terrestrial channel, it’s good to see them still giving a pretty decent amount of coverage to racing, and it’s to their credit. The need to revamp things from the previous regime was, as they’ve probably now realised, entirely unnecessary.
Dodgy presenting is not exclusive to racing, as any football fan subjected to of the likes of Alan Shearer, or Mark Lawrenson will surely agree, and for those not objected to coverage of sporting events north of the border, either by STV, or BBC Scotland, can I just say, consider yourself lucky.
Finishing on a positive note, I’ve still (yet) to see Colin Murrays name linked to a Racing job, and we can all be extremely grateful that they did not persevere with Matt "bloody" Dawson.
Big Mac apparently taken to hospital after taking ill at the racecourse today. Hope all is well wiyh him.
Interesting to note that the trade press paid virtually no heed to what to many will have
seemed
(and I must say seemed) like an attempt by McCririck to make himself the headline story of Cheltenham week rather than the racing.
The news that he’d been rushed to hospital with what was presumed to be some stress-aggravated condition warranted no more than a small mention on page 28 of Wednesday’s
Post
.
The news that he’d been released from hospital two days later with absolutely nothing whatsoever found to be wrong with him didn’t warrant any bigger a mention a good number of pages into Saturday’s
Post
, either.
gc
Hmmm…John McCririck or J T McNamara? I know which one I was concerned about.
By the way, Radio 5 Live’s affable roving reporter for Cheltenham, comedian Kevin Day, also found himself in Cheltenham hospital on Gold Cup day following an anaphylactic shock. He’s recovering now.
Mike
Interesting to note that the trade press paid virtually no heed to what to many will have
seemed
(and I must say seemed) like an attempt by McCririck to make himself the headline story of Cheltenham week rather than the racing.
The General public are perceived to be nothing more than a herd of headless Sheep harried around by the Powers that be,we are also labelled nodding donkeys that bow down to the demands those Sheperding us command.We are more than capable of thinking for ourselves but a lone voice is nothing more than a whisper in the Valley of the Kings.To a man John McCririck has lost all credibility he spent 30yrs trying to salvage like a Ship with a gaping wound,he is the sort of person who would take them all down with him if it gave him a glimmer of hope saving himself.Unfortunately John has become an Oscar Petorius type of figure and hasn’t got a leg to stand on when it comes to his ageism campaign.No I’m afraid the Public couldn’t care less if John sinks like the Titanic,unlike the poor souls that did!I’ve said it before but a Jockeys welfare comes way before the horses and in JT Mcnamara and even Davy Russell we have 2 deserving guys of media attention who risked their lives for our benefit and will hopefully continue too.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.