Old friend returns to the fold
THOSE of us with memories longer than we may care to admit will welcome back a dear old friend when ITV screens the 1.25 Dipper chase from Cheltenham today.
After winning a franchise war with existing terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4, ITV start off a new era in coverage, after a break of 32 years away from the sport.
When they were last screening racing, we enjoyed the easy humour and jaunty trilby of John Rickman and the measured, colonial tones of commentator Raleigh Gilbert.
Gilbert started his racing journalism on these very pages in the 1950s, but struggled to get past the excellence of Sir Peter O’Sullevan and Julian Wilson at the BBC.
Then along came Channel 4, with their fresh, humorous and irreverent style, featuring John Francome, Derek Thompson and the rampaging John McCririck, the punter’s pal.
Television coverage in racing is like no other sport. The important of a mass audience to sponsors and advertisers means that racing pays the regular channels to cover the races.
Designated channels like At The Races and subscription-based Racing UK are excellent vehicles to promote racing, but can never provide huge numbers.
So, the return of ITV gives the commercial channel a great new relationship with racing’s rulers but an equally onerous responsibility to the lads and lassies who enjoy a little flutter.
New anchor Ed Chamberlin and commentator Richard Hoiles head up a new team, with many familiar faces – and perhaps one or two that we could manage without.
The new broadcaster is committed to 100 days racing a year, some like this afternoon’s debut offering on ITV1, but most on ITV4, available through every receiver.