Host Chamberlin hopes kids don’t barge in
ED CHAMBERLIN will be hosting ITV’s racing coverage from the spare bedroom of his Hampshire home when the sport returns to our screens. Racing is planning to restart on June 1, subject to final government permission, with ITV due to show its first action on Friday June 5, from Newmarket.
Last week Chamberlin, along with ITV colleagues Francesca Cumani and Jason Weaver, did rehearsals, testing out their newly constructed home studios. ‘Everything is remote,’ said Chamberlin. ‘The director is in his own house as is the director’s assistant and the editor. ‘This shows ITV’s commitment to the sport. It has been a huge logistical operation to get all this kit installed.
‘I have a large camera, two monitors and a computer, a bank of wires and two big lights along with my ITV backdrop.
‘We did all sorts of things (in the rehearsal). We used a couple of races from York’s Ebor meeting last year. We learned about zipping around between Francesca and Jason, and practised bringing in Richard Hoiles, who did a commentary. ‘We practised using Skype and Zoom because there is potential to do interviews and we also pretended something had crashed. We tried every scenario. ‘It all went pretty well but a few things went wrong to test us.’ There are two things he fears about presenting from home. ‘One is that my WiFi goes down but they have a back-up for that,’ said Chamberlin. ‘I have 4G boosters hanging out of the windows! ‘The other is that after all the home-schooling, one of my children comes in and asks what is four plus four while I am talking about the 2.15 at Newmarket.’ Racing looks like being the first major professional sport to return in Britain without spectators.
Chamberlin, who hopes some presenter presence may be allowed on track by the time Royal Ascot starts on June 16, added: ‘I feel more responsibility doing this than anything I have done in television. ‘For instance, Daily Mail readers are going to be tuning into live sport thinking: “Why the hell is this happening?”. We’ll explain that. How we are broadcasting safely and remotely will be an important message.
‘The priority will be to be sensitive. People will be watching who have been suffering, who have lost loved ones and we have to give our thanks to the people working on the front line. ‘But we also have to be conscious that sport can be such a force for good. Racing has the opportunity to do that and bring a bit of joy to people’s lives.’
•IRISH racing will return at Naas on June 8. The Irish 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas will be held at the Curragh on June 12 and 13, a week after their British equivalents are scheduled to take place. The Irish Derby will be run at the Curragh on June 27.