TV coverage

One thing that surely needs to be eradicated is the presence of someone in the betting ring. Who watching on TV gives a toss what prices they are offering on course? All it needs is a rolling ticker at the bottom of the screen showing the best price for each horse in the next race and which firm you can get that price with.

How about a free Super 6 type of comp like on Soccer Saturday? Surely one of the big firms will stump up the prize for it as it will surely reel in new customers.
 
simmo said:
I also think we mistake ourselves as being representative of the wider public watching the sport and therefore imagine that what we want to see is what people in general want to see, or that we know what Joe Punter wants. We're not.
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I can see where you're coming from but it would be like me trying to get attracted into watching Formula 1 or, God forbid, cricket.

What could TV channels do to get me in while keeping their core viewers?

Watching the Olympics would be another example. Tuning in to certain sports just because they're on or there's a GB competitor is one thing. Being helped to understand what's happening by deeply knowledgeable pundits adds enormously to my very limited appreciation of these sports.
 
I suspect that in the long run initiatives such as this one are potentially of greater importance in drawing new people into racing than tweaking its presentation on tv.

HRI launch Go Racing Student Society

Horse Racing Ireland’s ‘Go Racing Student Society’ was launched today at Gordon Elliott’s Cullentra House Stables in Longwood, County Meath.Jockey Bryan Cooper joined students from UCD, DIT and Smurfit Graduate Business School to welcome the initiative and invite students to join up for 2016. The ‘Go Racing Student Society’ will build on the growing interest in horse racing among students and create opportunities to experience the sport in greater depth, going behind the scenes at racecourses and breeding and training establishments.

Members of the ‘Go Racing Student Society’ will get an opportunity to experience racehorse ownership as the society has been made a member of the Gordon Elliott Racing Club which has four horses in training.

The first ‘Go Racing Student Society’ event will take place on February 6th at the Irish Gold Cup meeting in Leopardstown, where student members will have a chance to win a trip to day three of the Cheltenham Festival. There will be at least one society outing per quarter which will include both educational and social events. These will include trips to trainers’ yards, studs, Irish bloodstock sales and race meetings around the country. Horse Racing Ireland will also partner with the ITBA Next Generation and arrange joint events for members of both.

Commenting on the initiative, HRI’s Marketing & Events Executive, Kate O’Sullivan said: “The ‘Go Racing Student Society’ is an excellent opportunity for students to meet like-minded people and enjoy exclusive events. I would encourage anyone with any level of interest to join the society. It is fantastic to have Gordon’s support and it will be great to follow the careers of the four club horses.”

The society is open to anyone currently in third level education. Joining the society is free and trips will be discounted. Students who are interested in joining can do so on www.goracing.ie.
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I agree. Grand National and Derby aside the only way to get new people watching TV is to get them to the racecourse first. They need hooking before they watch, and it's in this area that racing falls down badly.
 
simmo said:
I also think we mistake ourselves as being representative of the wider public watching the sport and therefore imagine that what we want to see is what people in general want to see, or that we know what Joe Punter wants. We're not.
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A lot of articles talk about casual viewers / joe punter etc. I don't think there is such a thing as casual viewers of horse racing. Bottom line is unless you like Horse racing or are having a bet you wont watch it. Casual viewers watch Come Dine With Me and all that other shiyte that fills up the stations.

Concentrate on showing the best pictures, the best form and paddock discussions, a quick replay. Job done. No need for fluff, massive ipads, bookies burds, fat oafs smoking cigars. Give the core fans of racing the program they want and they will have a success on ITV. Its not an entertainment show its a sports show.
 
Maruco said:
I agree. Grand National and Derby aside the only way to get new people watching TV is to get them to the racecourse first. They need hooking before they watch, and it's in this area that racing falls down badly.
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Spot on - bar the Derby comment? Unless you mean the football team?
 
By Joe Punter, in my mind I am referring to majority of racing fans who are afficionados and can tell you all about certain aspects of racing (mostly to do with punting) but lack the level of knowledge shown on this forum, which in my experience is far above that of your average punter who constitutes the majority of the audience on Ch4. A larger audience drawn in purely by the programme being on the telly is going to know even less.

I suspect, therefore, that what we think they'd like to see might not be the same as what those people actually would like to see (that is horrible English). Paddock watching for example, which was cited as a must for all punters earlier in this thread (can't recall who), is actually only a must for punters who know something about paddock watching. I know a fair bit about horse racing and gambling and i've sat in the paddock and watched the horses go round (whilst shouting abuse at Thommo) - I still couldn't tell you which horses looked good or not - although the jockeys did tell me which one of them was going to win in advance, which was nice of them.

I just think we'd be better asking people who don't watch racing what would make the sport more compelling for them, rather than the constant array of "well, I thinks...", that have been going on for years in the sport.
 
Grey said:
I suspect that in the long run initiatives such as this one are potentially of greater importance in drawing new people into racing than tweaking its presentation on tv.
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Excellent initiative, smart, simple, cheap. Kudos HRI
 
I understand why they would defend their coverage and the team. Why would they do anything else. It would however have been good to hear their thoughts on how things could be improved.

They make a fair point made that viewing figures were in decline on the BBC before the swich, and the truth is that all sports viewing figures on terrestrial TV bar football have seen a similar decline in viewing figures.

Having said that I think they have inadvertently found the single common denominator between the BBC and C4 horse racing ratings decline. Rishi! :D
 
It's an interesting watch, if a little defensive. Persad has an interesting point but the sport by its very nature is a difficult one to access and I'd be hard pressed to come up with ideas of how to change that. With regards to the coverage do you accept your lot and appeal to the diehards or try and appeal to a larger audience?

With ITV's plan to split the coverage between two channels they have a chance to do both. The showcase events such as the National and Derby should be focused towards the entertainment side of things. Channel 4's idea to have a whole days programming themed around the National was a good one and should be carried forward by ITV. I don't think hardcore racing fans would begrudge the coverage being a little more light hearted on such days as long as the coverage on ITV4 was of a more serious nature.

Messing with the sport itself is a dangerous game and not one I'd support. I would've been interested to hear what kind of changes Persad is thinking of but I got the impression from Luck's face and all the edits in that video he was being reigned in a little.

*written before seeing Maruco's post
 
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On reflection, if they'd know about the switch to ITV,maybe C4 wouldn't have bothered to change the time of the Grand National.
 
I think that's almost certain Roger. The negotiation must have been made under the assumption that they'd still have the coverage. The timings are interesting and I still think there's something in this that we don't know.
 
TheBear said:
With ITV's plan to split the coverage between two channels they have a chance to do both. The showcase events such as the National and Derby should be focused towards the entertainment side of things. Channel 4's idea to have a whole days programming themed around the National was a good one and should be carried forward by ITV. I don't think hardcore racing fans would begrudge the coverage being a little more light hearted on such days as long as the coverage on ITV4 was of a more serious nature.
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I'd agree with that. It's a good observation. Split coverage would allow them to experiment with the format, style, and presenters. I suspect what we'll actually get though is small re-hash with a slightly different mix of the same old presenters.
 
Watching Sunday Forum on ATR, Mccririk is an absolute tosspot, will not let anyone else speak, just shouts, anyone who thinks he is good for the sport needs a padded cell.
 
He does talk sh1te on this issue.
But shall we just have all and sundry talking pc. Would bore the arse off me.
 
i love it when he talks sh1te..never a dull moment with Mac..cracking stuff..heads gone a bit now..but i'd still rather watch him than the dullard club.

I'd love to see Mac/MattC/Rory/Andy Holding.. having a chat in front of the cameras.would be great..Rory would love it i know:)
 
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The thing is I'm sure Mac has some valid points, some not so valid, but he just shouts above whoever is in the firing line at the time so you can't hear who's making what points. If you're listening to a debate, you want to hear both side's arguments.

The irony this morning is that Mac thinks the whip spoils the image of racing, yet doesn't realise anyone new to racing who switched on to that rumpus wouldn't find the image of racing that great either. Beside which if Mac finds racing that objectionable, he should get off the gravy train.
 
There is a significant amount of racing 'talent' that exists between Mac's dribblings and the "dullard club"?

Problem is, none of them are part of the racing establishment, so don't get a look-in and have to hide-out on the Internet.
 
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