Channel 4, which has covered racing for almost 30 years, is to stop broadcasting the sport after ITV sensationally won the rights to become the sport’s terrestrial partner in a four-year deal from 2017.
Channel 4 has covered racing exclusively for the past three years after the BBC finally gave it up in 2013, but ITV is expected to broadcast only about 25 cherry-picked days, including Royal Ascot, the Derby and Grand National, on its main channel, with the rest consigned to ITV4. Channel 4 currently covers around 90 days racing a year, all on terrestrial television.
It is believed ITV has paid somewhere in the region of £30 million for the rights. Unless Channel 4 pulls out of its contract early, its last meetings will be Kempton’s Christmas Festival and Newbury’s Challow Hurdle meeting on Dec 31. ITV will start at Cheltenham’s popular New Year’s Day meeting.
Channel 4 has employed Sir Tony McCoy as a pundit Photo: Rex
Channel 4 has been unable to stop the decline in viewing figures although the Grand National audience has held up. The figures for Royal Ascot have almost halved and the Derby is down. Its coverage has been criticised as bland, lacking humour and too betting orientated. To stem the exodus of viewers it has hired Sir Tony McCoy as a pundit and taken Clare Blading back after she decided to skip the National to present the Boat Race on the BBC.
During the same time, however, racecourse attendances have increased, with a record aggregate figure for 2016. However the racing authorities are believed to be as keen on boosting viewing figures as the money offered and clearly believe the station which once ran the popular ITV Seven can return to former glories. The irony is that viewing figures for ITV4 will be considerably lower than they are for Channel 4 on an average day.
A Channel 4 spokesperson said: “We are proud of the award winning coverage we have given to horse racing over the last three decades – and the 90 days of live terrestrial television exposure. We wish racing all the best from 2017.”
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