Talk Sport Forums - TV racing 'Back To The Future'

Extraordinary times for TV racing :news: By: Mike Cattermole (January 13 2016)

It's a new era for racing on TV from next year when ITV take over the sport's principal broadcasting contract from Channel 4 but our new columnist Mike Cattermole, says it's unlikely that the sport's new partners will want to be too radical as they bid to arrest declining audience figures.

The feeling that our great sport is approaching a major crossroads, in more ways then one, is overwhelming me right now.

Big bookies merging aside, the approved betting partners policy could be the shrewdest hand ever played by racing's rulers in the game of poker with the bookmaking industry. But equally, it could be the biggest bluff and blunder ever made, even if you can't help but admire the courage behind the decision.

And it will be a high stakes game in the world of racing television too when ITV takes over the exclusive terrestrial coverage from C4 on January 1 in 2017.

Forgive me for climbing on the bandwagon, but are there any racing columnists out there who have not had a say on this subject over the past fortnight or so? It is important, sure, but it is not as if racing's TV followers are ever going to be starved of coverage, and good coverage too, with both At The Races and Racing UK doing the industry proud.

However, until Sky takes over the world, :'D terrestrial television will remain the only way for most armchair racegoers to keep across it.

The powers that be at C4 must be kicking themselves for letting racing slip completely through their fingers after 31 years in partnership. This reverse, just three years after securing the complete terrestrial rights to UK racing - which, make no mistake, was a huge coup - is quite extraordinary.

C4 chose to ditch Andrew Franklin's Highflyer Productions in favour of IMG Sports Media to produce the new output. A merciless decision given that it was on the back of Highflyer's popular and award-winning programmes that C4 managed to snare the complete portfolio in the first place.

Those actions had the effect of ripping the heart out of the teams behind and in front of the cameras and I don't think the viewing public liked it very much.

I have been stopped many times on the racecourse over the past three years and asked whether the old faces could come back. I usually asked them to give the new team a chance to bed in, and I meant it, as I have a lot of friends and colleagues on the current show.

You can't help wondering if Highflyer had kept the gig whether C4 would be in this position now. And that is not to say that the old programmes were faultless. All of us that worked on them knew that they needed freshening up.

From what little I have seen, the new programmes have been professionally produced but have been a touch sterile and, with the banter going missing, had become too deferential. Why this has happened is much harder to fathom when I know that the presenters involved are not devoid of a sense of humour.

I feel for them now with the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads for the next 11 months. It won't be easy. And given that the end is in sight, you could hardly blame C4 for drawing in the purse strings too. Or perhaps they will try extra hard to make a point, give it everything and go out in a blaze of glory.

In the strange world of TV, ITV1 can be regarded by racing as a promotion over C4. Most of racing's showcase days will now be on the nation's second most-watched channel, even if only around 30 days are planned. The fact that the rest of the schedule is on ITV4 is no bad thing. ITV4 is found on Freeview TV, which is picked up by 18 million households.

That said, it has always amazed me at the British TV public's lack of dexterity when it comes to changing channels. But so long as there is plenty of cross-promotion to help, those that want to find it will find it. Fingers crossed on that one.

The make and shape of the new programmes will be decided over the next few months and various presenters will be signed up. There will be some new faces and, I hope, familiar ones, too. However, don't expect ITV to be too radical in its choices, given what has happened at C4.

There are plenty of talented racing broadcasters out there who would easily cut it on terrestrial TV if given the chance. All of us have our favourites and, rest assured, when the new team is announced later in the year it will not be greeted with unanimous approval.

What everybody will be firmly behind, though, is the hope to make watching horse racing fun and amusing again. Let's hope ITV cracks it. o:D :clap: