BROLLY GOOD
Breezy Chamberlin doesn’t let anything rain on ITV’s parade
NOT since Steve McClaren was seen drowning as England manager has the basic brolly played such a prominent part in sports broadcasting.
ITV had waited 32 years for racing to return to their channel, dreaming of a bright, crisp New Year’s Day at Cheltenham to mark the occasion.
But, no, we could only vaguely make out the sodden features of their punditry team through splodges of rain on the camera.
Holding his own umbrella stood presenter Ed Chamberlin, while former jockey Luke Harvey held the matching green golf number for himself and his more illustrious former weighing-room buddy, Sir Anthony (AP) McCoy.
‘At least we have picked a nice day for it,’ said Chamberlin with a breezy touch of irony.
All around him the number of non-runners was totting up. Teeth chattered. Shoulders shivered. Off we went at one stage to ITV weather forecaster Lucy Verasamy, who, using all her meteorological expertise, confirmed that it was indeed raining.
So why, in heaven’s name, did Chamberlin and Co not find shelter somewhere? A makeshift studio? A rickety gazebo, even?
ITV had promised that their pundits would not be hidden away in the back of a truck a la Channel 4 before they lost their exclusive terrestrial rights. So they were going to stake out the paddock, come what may.
Given the problems caused by the bad weather — welcome to National Hunt, boys — it was a fairly good opening broadcast, the first in a four-year deal costing £30million. A little bit of ironing out — such as graphics we can read from the sofa — will no doubt happen.
But now for the positives. Chamberlin has an easy manner. He is also a long-time racing lover, hence his decision to quit his job as Sky’s main football presenter, and he did not betray any egregious lack of knowledge. The chemistry between him and McCoy was natural, even if the conditions meant the great man was unlikely to be mistaken for a ray of sunshine.
The two have been friends for 15 years and it showed. Harvey contributed well, in his jocular style.
‘Why,’ asked McCoy, jokingly, ‘have you gone from working in a nice warm studio working with two great pundits in Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to standing out in the rain at Cheltenham?’
Chamberlin is subscribed to ITV’s overriding aim to woo a new audience and keep hold of the racing purists. That is a tough task: the sport can be impenetrable to outsiders, while insiders can feel patronised if they are spoken to in words of one syllable.
Take Alice Plunkett telling us that the pre-parade ring ‘is very much like (Sir) Andy Murray’s locker room at Wimbledon before he heads out to Centre Court.’ A helpful analogy, or superfluous chatter? See what I mean?
On Channel 4, the viewing figures for the Derby fell by more than half in three years from the 3.3million who watched it when the BBC last broadcast the race.
ITV, however, are the biggest commercial station in Britain and should buck that trend, be their programmes good, bad or indifferent.
Yesterday’s highlight was Willy Twiston-Davies returning to National Hunt with a pulsating victory on Cogry, the horse on which Ryan Hatch was injured last month.
Lead commentator Richard Hoiles, the old No 2 on Channel 4, has a style that is more reassuring-British-Airways pilot than pants-on-fire exuberance, but he was animated enough for this one.
What else? Co-presenter Oli Bell was in Musselburgh for two races. He did a fluent job, though it was his blue gloves — a Christmas present, surely — that raised eyebrows among his colleagues shaking with cold back at Cheltenham. The nephew of Newmarket trainer Michael Bell, he will be presenting The Opening Show on ITV4, starting on Saturday.
In all, 60 days of racing will reside on ITV4, with 40 days on ITV1. That is not bad exposure in these days of sports having evacuated to satellite rivals.
One intriguing aspect is the relationship between Chamberlin and Matt Chapman (left), a boisterous, if knowledgeable, figure brought in from the At The Races channel to pep up the betting markets.
Chapman took a light-hearted dig at Chamberlin’s salary and later claimed the presenter had demanded to be known as ‘chief’. ‘You liar,’ Chamberlin shot back. Well, we didn’t get this kind of banter in the days of Dickie Davies.
Earlier Chapman, alluding to a horse called O O Seven, had said: ‘This is the place, ladies and gentleman, with the licence to thrill.’
‘What a load of nonsense,’ retorted Chamberlin. ‘And that horse is a non-runner, as I am sure Matt knows.’
Pantomime friction or genuine animosity? We’ll keep watching to find out.