Ideas for The Morning Line

Agree tincan.
Irish Sport coverage is better because the pundits are not afraid to put their opinion across and do so with enthusiasm.
Ted Walsh was the best thing to happen Irish TV coverage back in the mid 1980s.
To think he is still there 30 years later is something.
The late lamented Colm Murray had a common touch yet a touch of class beyond words with his passion and asides.
Not up on youtube to my knowledge but his studio coverage of Cheltenham Festival 2011 with Tracy Piggott was like stand up/racontuer/seanchai rolled into one.
It was his last live TV coverage so floor managers and editors gave him a free hand.
As for The Morning Line the show has too many presenters on any given day.
One on the track to double on market moves and one anchor should be enough.
Add one guest, a dark horse feature and big race history/trends.
Maybe a "career of jockey/horse/trainer " from the past for the "four Yorkshiremen" types like myself and my porridge would be more digestible.
Slim + OnTheBridle/An Capall + Grey (the James May type character) and you would be getting places.
 
Bring back monkey business! I'm sure they can fork out £500 and soon they'll have so few viewers I might have a chance of getting through on the phonelines!
 
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Bring back Big Mac.
Who cares if he is a sexist, fat pig he makes the show and went about his job with more passion and enthusiasm than the rest put together.
 
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What was Big Mac's job though, Nate? It was bsically telling us what price the bookies were going........something anyone with a working Internet connection already knew.

He was as big a waste of time as the rest of them.
 
Oli bell, Matt Chapman, Big Mac and a bit of brains and smarm in the summer months with James Willoughby and we could have a dream team on our hands I think :)
 
The rest of who though Grassy...is it the people on ATR or RUK who you say are good?

Here is a thought about personality..you could have 4 people who you really rate..but after a while you get fed up with seeing/hearing them..its human nature..familiarity breeds contempt. It very hard to keep any format fresh without constantly changing them round.

I'll give an example..when Graham Cunningham made a few appearances on C4 racing before he got the main gig..the comments on Betfair forum ...yes i know..but they are hard to please no?....were very positive..oh he's like a breath of fresh air..says it like it is...be good on the morning line etc...and now look..after familiarity has hit in..barely anyone wants to watch him any more

That happens with most people..its starts off fine..then people get bored with seeing the same people.

The way round it is to circulate people..Morning Line does that...but everyone has seen so much of those they do circulate..they are bored with them all.

Can someone tell me what they like about ATR/RUK that they think is lacking on The Morning Line?

I think at some point a decision has to be made if ML is to continue talking to the lesser interested racing fan or the dedicated racing fan. At the moment by trying to keep it simple they are alienating the real fans who won't watch it because its "lightweight" from what i can see.
 
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Grasshopper said:
What was Big Mac's job though, Nate? It was bsically telling us what price the bookies were going........something anyone with a working Internet connection already knew.

He was as big a waste of time as the rest of them.
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In fairness he would say the unsayable at times ... And I'm just talking about racing ( his sexism was weird )
I never watch it but that's as much because tv in the morning is something I've never got used to.
 
fonz said:
Oli bell, Matt Chapman, Big Mac and a bit of brains and smarm in the summer months with James Willoughby and we could have a dream team on our hands I think :)
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as in my above post..would people get bored with these though?..familiarity etc over time.

this is why i want to know why people rate ATR/RUK..is it the content..presenters?
 
fonz said:
Oli bell, Matt Chapman, Big Mac and a bit of brains and smarm in the summer months with James Willoughby and we could have a dream team on our hands I think :)
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I would happily turn it on if matt chapman was presenting. So long as isis were the production team
 
NHughes said:
Bring back Big Mac.
Who cares if he is a sexist, fat pig he makes the show and went about his job with more passion and enthusiasm than the rest put together.
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His fatness isn't an issue for anyone but there is no place for rudeness or especially sexism or classism (if I may coin a new word) in the 21st Century.

Despite all of that, my biggest criticism of him was that he used the show entirely for his own non-racing agenda: his right-wing extremism, his politicking and his self-promotion as a figure of controversy.

I didn't like that he was a bookies' mouthpiece but now the show is inviting the bookies themselves to do their own thing.

On the odd occasion he got on with the show and kept away from all of that, he had a lot to offer but the baggage was excessive. He had to go.

I also believe staying would have served merely to highlight his worsening health issues and he would have become an ever more pathetic sight.
 
Basically the ML is about previewing races that day and whilst the coverage itself in the afternoon has to cater for people who know racing, people who now sfa about racing and all those in between, I would wager that the ML is predominantly watched by those that know racing and want the latest info. The first thing they need to change in my view is the title of the show, how many non racing people glancing through the tv schedules know what the Morning Line means ? Something simple is all that's needed eg "Today's C4 Racing Preview" or similar. A quick show of the map showing where the meetings are taking place, the latest going , and a list of non runners should only take up the first couple of minutes and then the programme itself should only have two presenters, maybe different ones each week on a rota basis, and should only last about half an hour maybe with a graphic of the latest betting of the race being discussed, similar to Oddschecker, rather than the betting from just one bookmaker. Short and simple is all we need at that time of day. Maybe repeat again at 8.30 rather than on C4+1.
 
Frankly you could give the job to Sgt Bilko and it wouldn't make any difference. The racing fan is a pretty unforgiving type with a nasty streak in them. You only need to see a thread on here crudely entitled 'who don't we like' and give it a few pages and you'll probably have netted not far short of everyone who stood in front of camera in the last 12 months. There was a time when people wanted Graham Cunningham on the show, and quite rightly pointed out that he'd be a massive improvement on Mike Cattermole. Now people want shut of Cunningham.

The bottom line is racing ain't a great spectator sport, and there ain't a great deal you can do about it. You can shuffle deckchairs on the Titanic but whatever combination you come up with, it won't reverse the antipathy. Ch4 have tried so many combinations now that surely you must realise that a so-called 'dream team' doesn't exist. the product ain't strong enough so it has to become something else

In the mid 90's it probably had it's apogee when it was closer to a light entertainment show. Look at how 'Top Gear' has been transformed from the boring petrol heads car magazine, to an entertainment show. But you can't do that every week (you'd find it incredibly difficult to generate the ideas). What they did instead was try to develop 'characters' with the likes of Down, Francome, Thompson, McCrirrick all playing off each other refereed by Lesley Graham.

The only way forward for the show is light entertainment, or, heavy duty analysis and betting. If it starts to turn a profit in for its viewers, people will start to engage with it.

I'm not sure that 'rent an opinion' is necessarily a format that people will go with either. The idea that irish coverage is superior is nothing short of a laugh. You can't even guarantee that the Irish will follow a race properly, and their commentators just 'call the register' front to back, and once they've finished, they go back and start again. Hopeless in 1970's stuff.

I think it's dangerous to confuse a group of people arguing their opinions with entertainment. Is that really the sort of image you want to put across anyway? You can listen to this kind of thing on talk radio. I suppose it could be worth trying as a desperate throw of the dice, but my own guess is that people will turn off if all they're doing is watching middle aged men bickering in some ego fuelled fest.

I was always taken by the comments made by a female trainer who is given to wearing leather trench coats and driving an Aston Martin. She pointed out that marketing 'another old man in a trilby' doesn't really give you much of a chance.

Racing's dooooooooooooooomed (but it's not alone)
 
9am slot

45 min show

One jockey per show - no bookmaker

Less corporation drivel, CH4 is meant to be edgier telvision. Ted Walsh does it well in Ireland

No need for a regular panel - let the guests bring the variety

Some highlights of the midweek racing

Piece from a handicapper

Phone call with a trainer of the day

ATR do the latter well
 
EC1 said:
isn't Mac on RUK now though??..not heard anyone moaning about him on there tbh.

this article disagrees with my view about aiming at the true racing fan..so maybe i'm out of step

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/feb/01/channel-4-racing-viewing-figures-popularity

it seems its deemed too serious
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It is. Cunningham is a know all that actually adds nothing. It was different when John Francome and Jim McGrath were the main guests. Both are hugely knowledgeable, respected and opinionated. The other thing is the Morning Line used to be the where you found out what the prices would be for the day before the internet explosion and overnight prices. Now its just a platform (as is RUK and ATR) for bookmaker PR men/women to bore the bollocks out of us with their inane ****. I used to brief someone who used to go on TV because she was absolutely clueless as to what was going on and basically repeated what I said. No one benefits from this and the sooner bookmakers realise they are getting nothing out of these idiots the better. The only exception should be if they are making a proper trading decision to take one on, not mickey mouse offers and enhancements for a fiver.
 
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nothing much to add other than the morning line and the general c4 racing program used to be much better before the big changes were made a couple of years ago. it's all very flat now.
 
LUKE said:
The morning line during festival week is something worth seeing.
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Agreed - but the subject matter is so eagerly-anticipated, that even the C4 crew cannot ruin the experience. It is good in spite of them - not because of them.
 
Regarding Irish v English terrestial coverage -I would say the RTE show is more entertaining if you haven't had a bet-both shows suffer from lowest common denominator betting coverage and hearing a pr guy that I despise asking someone on rte was he looked after sickened me.
Obviously there is a massive cultural difference between the 2 countries -going back about 10 years ago there was a horse killed at Leopardstown at one of the good Sunday meetings over hurdles-RTE showed the fatal fall twice on the main evening news along with comments from Colm Murray and Ted Walsh.If ever Ch4 show a replay of Istabraqs first champion hurdle it's not the actual coverage as seen live the angle at the final hurdle has been edited to avoid showing the fatal fall of Shadow Leader.
 
Hall and Walsh have good chemisty, ch4 motley crew have nothing

Another big difference is RTE interview jocks in the parade when the dust has settled and not with a 8 foot microphone immediate post race
 
Brian Gleeson suffers from trying to be like John McCririck while Tom whatever his name is knows nothing about betting and is a smug **** that offers nothing. Other than that you can't fault the coverage.
 
SlimChance said:
Brian Gleeson suffers from trying to be like John McCririck while Tom whatever his name is knows nothing about betting and is a smug **** that offers nothing. Other than that you can't fault the coverage.
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I saw the smug fella leave Leopardstown straight after Sea The Stars won the Champion Chase-adds nothing bar smugness.
 
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