C4 ratings catastrophe for The Derby

Bar the Bull said:
I think it is more to do with marketing than nationalism. It is no coincidence that Sky are sponsoring the big British team in cycling.

Marketing makes a difference. Let's see how many of the people below enter a team in the free to enter World Cup competition after this post. Many of them may be lured by the cash prize, the chance to prove themselves top dog on the forum, but maybe it is the power of suggestion.

Maybe it is how simple it is to click on the link below. Or just that you need to select 6 teams, so knowledge of football is not a pre-requisite.

http://www.talkinghorses.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20036

Gamla Stan
Bonjers
moehat
reet hard
Walsworth
Colin Phillips
edgt
LUKE
links781
Part time punter
Ardross
granger
G-G
Desert Orchid
SlimChance
HawkWing
SteveM
Click to expand...

I have had 7 teams picked for over a week. I am waiting until tomorrow. Is that okay? Or if you would rather I didn't enter I won't? I very rarely bet on anything.,that doesn't mean I don't like sport or don't know anything about it. You sure know how to attract people to take part. Maybe you should go and work at CH4?
 
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G-G said:
I have had 7 teams picked for over a week. I am waiting until tomorrow. Is that okay? Or if you would rather I didn't enter I won't? I very rarely bet on anything.,that doesn't mean I don't like sport or don't know anything about it. You sure know how to attract people to take part. Maybe you should go and work at CH4?
Click to expand...

Of course it's okay. I didn't realise you planned to enter.
 
G-G said:
I have had 7 teams picked for over a week. I am waiting until tomorrow. Is that okay? Or if you would rather I didn't enter I won't? I very rarely bet on anything.,that doesn't mean I don't like sport or don't know anything about it. You sure know how to attract people to take part. Maybe you should go and work at CH4?
Click to expand...

Holy Jaysus.
 
Luke, if it makes it any easier, I can suggest you go for a Sizing Entry.

Australia (Sizing Australia)
Chile (Sizing Chile)
Brazil (Sizing Rio)
France (Sizing France)
Italy (Sizing Italy)
Switzerland (Sizing Matterhorn)

Trust me, it has just as much chance as any other entry.
 
Bar the Bull said:
Luke, if it makes it any easier, I can suggest you go for a Sizing Entry.

Australia (Sizing Australia)
Chile (Sizing Chile)
Brazil (Sizing Rio)
France (Sizing France)
Italy (Sizing Italy)
Switzerland (Sizing Matterhorn)

Trust me, it has just as much chance as any other entry.
Click to expand...

Brilliant.
 
Bar the Bull said:
I think it is more to do with marketing than nationalism. It is no coincidence that Sky are sponsoring the big British team in cycling.

Marketing makes a difference. Let's see how many of the people below enter a team in the free to enter World Cup competition after this post. Many of them may be lured by the cash prize, the chance to prove themselves top dog on the forum, but maybe it is the power of suggestion.

Maybe it is how simple it is to click on the link below. Or just that you need to select 6 teams, so knowledge of football is not a pre-requisite.

http://www.talkinghorses.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20036

Gamla Stan
Bonjers
moehat
reet hard
Walsworth
Colin Phillips
edgt
LUKE
links781
Part time punter
Ardross
granger
G-G
Desert Orchid
SlimChance
HawkWing
SteveM
Click to expand...

I was always going to enter late to get the biggest ricks in your handicap.
 
Going back to the original topic...because I used to ride, I have a lot of FB friends with horses and/or an interest in at least one of the other equestrian disciplines. I'm a member of a closed FB group of around 125 horsey folk ranging in age from early 20s to late 50s.

I posted a thread in there asking them if they ever watched C4 Racing and if not, why not. Of the 60-odd responses I got, a handful (single figures) said they did occasionally. Of the overwhelming majority who don't, the resons, in order of frequency with which they were repeated, came in as follows:

1. Don't like racing; it's cruel, don't like seeing horses whipped, don't like seeing them die on live TV (at least 80% of the people who said they didn't watch it cited this as a reason why).
2. Usually out on Saturdays doing something with own horse
3. Too much focus on betting, not enough about the horses

Now these aren't fluffy-wuffy urban dwelling vegetarians - these are women (in the main) who know country life, nature red in tooth and claw, have lost horses in upsetting and sometimes tragic circumstances, understand how fragile horses are...and they still find it cruel.

Whether you agree with them or not is academic - the point is, racing has an image problem. And if the prevailing perception among the general public is shifting to "racing = animal cruelty" (which a glance at social media after every Grand National would suggest is not as far from the truth as we would like it to be) then eventually it's going to become socially unacceptable to admit to being a racing fan. And that's a wider problem than a minority channel getting a smaller audience share for a niche sport.
 
The above is a very good point. It's testament to horse racing's relationship with the RSPCA that court action has not been taken against at least the Grand National. You suspect that it'll just take one more "bad" National before it is banned. I'd give NH racing 10 years max after that.
 
My only criticism is that it doesn't focus anywhere near enough on the betting. I bet half the team don't even though that 6/4 is 40% of a market.

Without betting, the game is finished so they should be starting there. Masses of 18-30 year old males have football accumulators every Saturday so the appetite for betting is there, it's just transferring that to racing which is the tricky bit.
 
I really don't mind what aspect of racing they focus on, so long as they do it well.

If they talk about betting, do it well. I don't give a sh1te about the Scoop 6. I want to know what has moved in the market. If it is significant, do the stable usually gamble, etc.
If they talk about breeding, do it well. None of this "he is by Galileo, so he should stay", which is usually all you get.
If they talk about form, do it well. I think there is too much focus on the "ran on well so needs further" or "beaten close home so didn't stay" or "didn't get a clear run last time so should be favoruite today regardless" side of things from all bar McGrath (Cunningham seems to have gotten lazy).

It is also show business, so having somebody like Jim McGrath or Tanya is not likely to attract viewers. They have zero personality. Unfortunately, Mick Fitz has a personality, but it is not a nice one.
 
They should have jack douglas doing the interviews and freddie parrot face davis the commentaries


Professor Stanley unwin would be excellent for explaining the form
 
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I also find the obsession with the scoop 6 a big turn off. Even when C4 don't show the races they bang on endlessly about it. Granted it was something a lot more than usual were interested in when it kept rolling over.


More of Emma Spencer would be a plus IMO as long as she's kept away from interviewing the jockeys


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They need to riff Tanya.."massive gamble for xxxxx in all the offices it's now into 18/1 from 20's' - completely useless. Or stop having people like Doris Pilchard on cos she won a scoop six once...

If fact - They should reset the show and have contributors from here - would be excellent..

- Steve M's dosage ditty
- DO/EC1 - ratings dissection
- Edgt - Conformation corner
- Slimchance - stable girls I've shagged this week
- clivex - Racing this week - a view from the man on the Clapham Omnibus
- Grey - why racing should be governed from Brussels
- BtB - the doping daily
- Ardross - whip count in Ireland statitics
- etc, etc
 
Good point. It's just that I have this word association accumulator -BAR - CYCLING - TOUR DE FRANCE - DOPING.

I'll work on it.
 
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