New C4 coverage

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BennyB

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Was interested to watch today. I appreciate it wasn't ideal that they were all in a studio at Chelters while the action was at Muss., however I was distinctly underwhelmed.

The touch screen is a gimmick (and seems not to work), Luck is OK but the others are pretty wooden. Mick Fitz is nowhere near as good as Francome, and whilst I don't mind Claire Balding as a rule, she is a tad patronising sometimes.

What does everyone else think?
 
Started watching on Racing UK and suddenly remembered about C4 so recorded it on the Skybox. Will probably take a look tomorrow morning but I'm not holding my breath, the producer Carl Hicks used to produce the truly awful BBC coverage and can't imagine this will be any better. Still will give it a chance.

I imagine it will be Racing UK and ATR in this house pretty soon though.
 
The biggest shock in all this is that Jim McGrath still remains, he must have kissed some good arse along the years. I don't like character assassinating people, but I feel purely on performance he is worthless. He has no angle on betting events, seems to have no passion for tipping winners. It all seems a token academic exercise for him. His rudeness to Big Mac, is akin to what Balding and Persad reguarly did to Carson on the Beeb.

He always comes across like the headmaster figure and it really gets on my tits. What gives him the right to interupt Big Mac half way through his news paper round up just to point score or be a smart arse?!! For me, having watched racing for years, Big Mac has made that fecking show what it is. People are quick to judge the man on appearance and what not, but the criticisms of Big Mac have always struck me as superficially driven.

The reality is, whatever impression the powers that be try to give, the mugs that keep this sport going, those who frequent betting shops, are all a bit crackers really, and Big Mac epitomises this perfectly. Maybe becuase of his posture and outspokeness he's a closet racist or something and this is the real reason people can't stand him?

The day the academics (i.e. McGrath, Balding, Persad etc) manage to bastardise racing and moreover the people with the real experience of the game such as Carson and Big Mac is the day we've been taken over by the salesman.:)
 
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Whatever you've got is more than I have. I'm stuck with low quality replay streams, but they serve their purpose I guess.

I wonder if the new NBN (fiber optics) down here will allow me to access an HD cable type subscription in the future? RUK have international subscriptions on PC, but the quality is no different to the streams already accessible.

Frustrating at times, especially big fields at Ascot etc.
 
biggest shame is francome going. balding and luck are fine as presenters. other additions are a bit meh. rishi persad ffs?

will learn more from when it does a proper race meet than today's show which was more like morning line crossed with a henderson stable tour crossed with a few races from musselburgh.
 
i think Mac has been the Hurricane Higgins of the sport tbh..he has always been the face of racing even before C4..outspoken and you never knew what you would get..then as with snooker the relatively boring people take over and ride on the back of the colourful character who actually got people watching to start with.

it matters not what anyone here thinks of Mac or Higgins..the public in general like watching colourful characters...they initially bring interest in..not because of the sport..but because of how they approach it.

Persad and Fitzgerald are two of the most pointless boring additions ever on any show
 
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Agreed, Ec1.

You've put that across very well there. The more I think of it, the more unforgivable it is to scrap Mac, the voice of the betting ring imo.:)
 
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Although I can't stand it when after the race he always makes you feel like a twat for not backing the winner, 'they knew', 'pricewise knew' etc, but apart from that, we've lost a character havn't we.
 
Marble said:
It all seems a token academic exercise for him.
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Whilst not too bothered about whether McGrath or Big Mac are on or not, I actually think racing needs to become MORE academic to attract viewers. Other sports don't shirk from bombarding the viewer with well explained statistics and data and they don't suffer from doing so.

I'd like more in depth analysis of sectional timing, trakus type data etc. with people like James Willoughby analysing it all.
 
I do like their studio location at Cheltenham; it will be a great focus for the action there.
Clare Balding will hopefully "lighten up" on C4 as time goes by.
Nick Luck surprisingly wrote a witty ****_pull article in RUK magazine this fall, he may be the new stand up man here.
The screen has great potential when guys get used to working it.
Alastair Down the greatest loss; the fact that RUK used his voice on their King George Chase promo last week might mean they are getting him on their team.
Given the choice would folk prefer their presenters to be too OTT, too safe, too smart or too thick?
Or is that why TV have so many presenters in the first place?
Morning Line will be the big test for the new team. If they get that right the rest will follow, I hope.
 
Gamla Stan said:
I'd like more in depth analysis of sectional timing, trakus type data etc. with people like James Willoughby analysing it all.
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i would like that too....but i get the feeling that sectional times and what not are about as appealing to most punters as watching Jimmy Saville presented TOTP's shows from 1983.
 
Gamila, guess what I'm saying is, I think the new crowd of academic media types like taking cheap shots at the likes of Carson and McCririck etc, but these old timers add something which EC1 has described very well.

Sectional timings would be great, certainly give Jim McGrath more to base his weak form study anaylisis on anyway.

Supposed to be a professional, I think he's an amateur.:)
 
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Those two represent grit and steel, something Persad, Balding and a few others would have to purchase off a local council imo.

The world and channel 4's dog is obviously more interested in spineless and insular characters than those with backbone.

The modern day implementation of liberalisation lets say....
 
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the general public dont give a shiyite about Big Mac leaving. The man has done more harm to racing than most and will not be missed. Nobody needs a betting angle anymore. Its pointless. The price is on screen. You dont need a fat smelly erse repeating them.

The main thing i hate about mainstream racing broadcasts is the lack of form discussion and that is what they have GC for, yet he was given no opportunity to discuss form for any of the live races. I'll be sticking to RUK.
 
I thought it worked well today, albeit probably due more to accident than design.
Claire Balding (who knows her horseracing much better than the Persad's of this world) out in the country asking pertinent questions of a trainer who gave her enough respect to answer them properly, and 4 presenters in the studio who knew their onions enough to generate sensible discussion about the form of the horses in question.
No McCririck self- publicising histrionics, no Thompson buffoonery, no letter-box gob with her painted on smile, no daft quiz, and little of the other frippery and nonsense that filled so much of the usual programme.
For a while there, I thought we were back to the old BBC days, when they used to take horseracing seriously
 
How do you define the thoughts of an obscure 'general public'?
 
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Was out visiting yesterday and didn't see any of it. Reading the earlier comments, I had the impression McCririck was involved but latterly not.

McCririck is the worst thing to ever happen to racing. Only C4 ever gave this buffoon air time until the other channels jumped on the controversy bandwagon and shame on them for doing so. He was sacked years ago from a succession of jobs because he is a buffoon. He admits he failed as a bookie so his knowledge about betting must be questionable. He is a self-aggrandising moron whose extreme political views have no place on a sports programme.

Would any other presenter or commentator in any sport ever be allowed to express such political views? Can you imagine the outcry if they did?

C4 gave this clown his public platform and have a lot to answer for. But they were the 'quirky' channel when they started and he fitted the part at the time.

Racing needs a programme with gravitas, not gimmicks.
 
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reet hard said:
Claire Balding (who knows her horseracing much better than the Persad's of this world) out in the country asking pertinent questions of a trainer who gave her enough respect to answer them properly
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I didnt think it was neccarsary for her to ask corky brown how long he had been with henderson twice in the space of 3 minutes he awnsered quite clearly the first time
she has a very patronising manner and its clear she has been told to lose weight for her new show so perhaps its going to be style over substance.

agree with DO re McCririck well past his sell by date

not sure why they can get rid of Alistair Down but keep Spencer she would be better served by playing the rear end of a horse in Xmas pantos

persad likeable chap but dosnt add anything

i dont mind fitzgerald

glad to be rid of carson

bit early to judge the program as a whole given the main meeting was canceled

but as euro stated early at least it means we have racing on a regular basis on terrestial television and that is the most important thing
 
I spent nearly 2 hours on Monday watching Gary Neville appraise the Premier League season so far. He was insightful, honest and opinionated. I didn't agree with all of his views (on diving in particular), but he was given the time and latitude to explain them all fully.

It was a very entertaining couple of hours. I think Sky's coverage has been improved immensely since they gave Neville the time and permission to go in-depth into zonal vs. man-to-man at corners...the art of tackling...goalkeepers punching vs. catching, etc.

Racing is absolutely ripe for this type of analysis. Sire stats, course records, jumping techniques, pace analysis, etc. I accept that they have to do fashion at Ascot, and they need to do something on retired jockeys/trainers/horses every now and again. But they have 2 hours (more if you count the morning line). Take away the time for ads, actual racing, looking at the horses in the parade ring and betting news, and they should have a chance for at least 4 x 8-10 minutes of in-depth stuff. It could be a stable visit. It could be sectional analysis of previous races for an upcoming flat race. It could be an in-depth look at the form of all the contenders for the showcase handicap hurdle. It could be a detailed look at the jumping techniques of the favourites in an upcoming novice chase.
 
Bar the Bull said:
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Racing is absolutely ripe for this type of analysis. Sire stats, course records, jumping techniques, pace analysis, etc. I accept that they have to do fashion at Ascot, and they need to do something on retired jockeys/trainers/horses every now and again. But they have 2 hours (more if you count the morning line). Take away the time for ads, actual racing, looking at the horses in the parade ring and betting news, and they should have a chance for at least 4 x 8-10 minutes of in-depth stuff. It could be a stable visit. It could be sectional analysis of previous races for an upcoming flat race. It could be an in-depth look at the form of all the contenders for the showcase handicap hurdle. It could be a detailed look at the jumping techniques of the favourites in an upcoming novice chase.
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Agree with all of this bar looking at sire stats, unless you want to send the audience skint.
 
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