Channel 4 Racing

Channel 4 Racing
Starring Various
Country of origin United Kingdom
Production
Producer(s) Highflyer (1984-2012), IMG Sports Media (2013-2016)
Release
Original network Channel 4
Original release March 22, 1984 (1984-03-22) – December 31, 2016 (2016-12-31)

Channel 4 Racing is the name given to the horse racing coverage on the British television station Channel 4.

History

The first transmission of racing on the channel was on 22 March 1984 from Doncaster, as it took over midweek coverage which had previously been on ITV. On 5 October 1985, it took over ITV's Saturday afternoon coverage (previously The ITV Seven) when World of Sport finished. From the beginning of 1986, however, the amount of racing covered, especially on Saturday afternoons, was substantially reduced, and not until the late 1990s would it reach the scale it had enjoyed when it was on ITV.

Coverage

Major UK events covered by Channel 4 include the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Derby and Oaks from Epsom and the St Leger at Doncaster, Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival. These events have moved between the BBC and ITV over the years.

Internationally, it has covered the Breeders' Cup in the United States of America, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France and the Dubai World Cup in the UAE.

The Morning Line

The Morning Line is a Saturday morning look at the day's live horse racing on Channel 4. It provides tips and advice for the forthcoming day's racing. The show features contributions from a panel of racing pundits. Every Saturday the team of pundits have a virtual £100 with which they make their charity bet selections for the day.

Current portfolio

Channel 4 Racing mainly, but not exclusively, features meetings from the Racing UK courses having initially signed a three-year contract which ran between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2009 - the contract guarantees 80 days of racing each year on Channel 4.[1] Coverage is sponsored by Dubai.

From 2013, Channel 4 Racing became the exclusive home of free-to-air televised racing, having signed a four-year deal in March 2012. Coverage includes all major races including The Derby, Cheltenham Festival and for the first time on Channel 4, the Grand National and Royal Ascot, and international races including the Dubai World Cup and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.[2]

End of Channel 4 Racing

On New Years Day 2016 it was announced that Channel 4 had lost their horse racing rights after 32 years to ITV who would have exclusive free to air rights to British Horse Racing from the 1st January 2017 meaning Channel 4 will broadcast their final day of horse racing on 31st December 2016 and the following day the rights will move to ITV Sport. The reason for the change was said to be that ratings had dipped for most of the big meetings that used to be broadcast on the BBC up to 2012 since the move to Channel 4. Under the new deal ITV will show a minimum of 34 days of horse racing live on ITV with a further 60 days a year live on ITV4.[3]

Presenters

The line up was refreshed by new production company IMG Sports Media in 2013 and hosted Horse Racing on Channel 4 between 2013-2016. Presenters:

Commentators:

Former Presenters from the Highflyer era include:

References

  1. ↑ Channel 4 contract signed Racing UK
  2. ↑ "Channel 4 gets rights for Grand National, Derby and Royal Ascot". BBC Sport. 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  3. ↑ "ITV announce Horse Racing Deal". ITV Press Centre. ITV. Retrieved 4/1/16. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.