ITV take over as the horse racing broadcaster on free-to-air TV
On 27 December 2016, at Kempton Park and Chepstow, Channel 4 waved goodbye to horse racing after 32 years of showing the best of what horse racing had to offer. It would be the end of an era to horse racing, for the results would be critical for the sport.
Channel 4 had a long lasting relationship with the Highflyer Production Company which brought the humour alongside thrilling horse racing for many years. However, IMG productions took over several years ago which changed the whole completion of the coverage. Many said they took out the legends of broadcasting while making it too serious. The viewing figures dropped heavily and, as a result, the announcement was made in 2016 that horse racing needed to find a new channel and production team willing to repair the damage done by Channel 4 and to make the sport a lot more attractive. Luckily, ITV stepped in to bring it back.
Five days later, on ITV 1, Ed Chamberlain presented ITV racing alongside ex-jockeys, Luke Harvey and Sir Tony McCoy, as they battled their way through the driving wind and rain to showcase the sport of kings live from jumping headquarters at Cheltenham. There was excellent racing with many big races to find some festival clues for this year’s Blue Riband event in mid-march. Viewing figures were positive with it peaking at 831,000 with an average of 676,000 for the opening afternoon.
This could have been because the new show brought back some laughter. Matt Chapman was in the betting ring (otherwise known as the jungle) where things got slightly out of hand when he asked a bookie whether he had hair or not. However, the new look is definitely new. Richard Holies took over from the legendary Simon Holt as the commentator while they introduced a weather correspondent. They kept Alice Plunket and Mick Fitzgerald from Channel 4 as well to add informative detail. Oli Bell was at Musselburgh who kept the show rolling up Scotland. He would go on to host the weekly Opening show on the channel each Saturday morning.
However, horse-racing on TV remains in the balance as ITV have decided to broadcast most of their 100 meetings this year on ITV 4 alongside their opening show on Saturday mornings. The next live racing on the main channel (ITV 1) will not be on until the Cheltenham festival which is followed by the Grand National meeting three weeks later.
The viewing figures halved from the launch on New Year’s Day to the first Saturday afternoon broadcast, but the figures remained "positive" and saying that currently it's a "Skelton to build on." Hopefully ITV will encourage more people to keep the sport growing in the future. To do so, ITV needs to get the thumbs up.
As I write, the Jockey Club announced shocking plans that Kempton Park, home of so many great racing legends such as Kauto Star and Desert Orchid and of course, the grade one, King George VI chase would be demolished for a housing redevelopment. Kempton is currently known as the London racetrack which provides ground that is world-class throughout each and every winter on the turf - which is not heavy or soft like every other course around the UK, but good in the heart of summer. However, most weekday fixtures critics say that there is more bookies than punters. They want to build a new all-weather track at Newmarket to transfer the flat action. The national hunt world, however, are nervous of what might happen in the next five years. So it’s been a rollercoaster ride for the sport within the first month of 2017, and let’s hope it comes out on top for horse-racing.
By Kyle Merrick, Year 11
Channel 4 had a long lasting relationship with the Highflyer Production Company which brought the humour alongside thrilling horse racing for many years. However, IMG productions took over several years ago which changed the whole completion of the coverage. Many said they took out the legends of broadcasting while making it too serious. The viewing figures dropped heavily and, as a result, the announcement was made in 2016 that horse racing needed to find a new channel and production team willing to repair the damage done by Channel 4 and to make the sport a lot more attractive. Luckily, ITV stepped in to bring it back.
Five days later, on ITV 1, Ed Chamberlain presented ITV racing alongside ex-jockeys, Luke Harvey and Sir Tony McCoy, as they battled their way through the driving wind and rain to showcase the sport of kings live from jumping headquarters at Cheltenham. There was excellent racing with many big races to find some festival clues for this year’s Blue Riband event in mid-march. Viewing figures were positive with it peaking at 831,000 with an average of 676,000 for the opening afternoon.
This could have been because the new show brought back some laughter. Matt Chapman was in the betting ring (otherwise known as the jungle) where things got slightly out of hand when he asked a bookie whether he had hair or not. However, the new look is definitely new. Richard Holies took over from the legendary Simon Holt as the commentator while they introduced a weather correspondent. They kept Alice Plunket and Mick Fitzgerald from Channel 4 as well to add informative detail. Oli Bell was at Musselburgh who kept the show rolling up Scotland. He would go on to host the weekly Opening show on the channel each Saturday morning.
However, horse-racing on TV remains in the balance as ITV have decided to broadcast most of their 100 meetings this year on ITV 4 alongside their opening show on Saturday mornings. The next live racing on the main channel (ITV 1) will not be on until the Cheltenham festival which is followed by the Grand National meeting three weeks later.
The viewing figures halved from the launch on New Year’s Day to the first Saturday afternoon broadcast, but the figures remained "positive" and saying that currently it's a "Skelton to build on." Hopefully ITV will encourage more people to keep the sport growing in the future. To do so, ITV needs to get the thumbs up.
As I write, the Jockey Club announced shocking plans that Kempton Park, home of so many great racing legends such as Kauto Star and Desert Orchid and of course, the grade one, King George VI chase would be demolished for a housing redevelopment. Kempton is currently known as the London racetrack which provides ground that is world-class throughout each and every winter on the turf - which is not heavy or soft like every other course around the UK, but good in the heart of summer. However, most weekday fixtures critics say that there is more bookies than punters. They want to build a new all-weather track at Newmarket to transfer the flat action. The national hunt world, however, are nervous of what might happen in the next five years. So it’s been a rollercoaster ride for the sport within the first month of 2017, and let’s hope it comes out on top for horse-racing.
By Kyle Merrick, Year 11