Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done
Was great to see the great one and the other stallions on the morning line.
All comers, all grounds, all beaten!
This perfect mix of poetry and destruction.
Does Geoff Banks know what he's talking about. Was asked about the big sprint at Ascot today and starts rabbiting on about the Arc, then just now he seemed to think today was Champions Day.
Geoff Banks = switch off
Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done
Cunningham is confidently tipping Air Force Blue on the grounds that Aidan O'Brien won a race yesterday. This is the incisive analysis that makes the ML such a national treasure of a programme.
Last edited by an capall; 10th October 2015 at 3:38 PM.
"And still they gazed and still the wonder grew. That one small head could carry all he knew.
And that small head knew that Impaire Et Passe would win the Champion Hurdle."
I quite liked the new format of the Morning Line this morning; think it works very well.
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Lee Mottershead in RP
Disastrous viewing figures for C4 on Champions Day
VIEWING FIGURES for Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday fell by 34 per cent compared to last year as the £4 million raceday attracted a fraction of the viewers for Bargain Hunt on BBC1.
Channel 4 reported a record low average audience of 367,000 for live coverage compared to last year's figure of 557,000.
Saturday's rating for a marathon broadcast from 12.30pm to 4pm was 67 per cent less than the 1.1m average achieved by the BBC in 2012, the corporation's last Champions Day.
Channel 4 is seeking to win a new racing deal from 2017 and gave Britain's richest raceday an unprecedented amount of coverage with all six races shown live following a special edition of The Morning Line that included Frankie Dettori, new champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa and an interactive audience.
However, the afternoon show, which peaked at 530,0000 viewers (equivalent to a 6.1 per cent share) had a smaller average audience than the previous two Saturdays, with Future Champions Day getting 411,000 viewers and Cambridgeshire day 398,000. The Morning Line averaged 186,000 viewers.
BBC1's Saturday afternoon presentation of the world amateur boxing championships, on air during the racing, was more popular than the Ascot fare with 500,000 watching, while the edition of Bargain Hunt that competed with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Qipco Champion Stakes had an 800,000 average.
Rod Street, British Champions Series chief executive, said: "We anticipated viewing figures may suffer due to the meeting's early start, which avoided a clash with the Rugby World Cup quarter-final.
"Moving an hour earlier was absolutely the right thing to do, not only to avoid a head-to-head with the rugby but also because Ascot racegoers travelling by train would have been competing with thousands of rugby fans on their way to Twickenham.
"However, we are still surprised by the figures, as we believe Qipco British Champions Day is worthy of a larger number of viewers, especially since we recorded our best attendance on Saturday [30,967] since Frankel's last race in 2012, reflecting great interest in the day.
"Channel 4 introduced some terrific innovations, including the interactive Morning Line and new drone coverage, which is really encouraging and we must build on that when we return to the correct slot in 2016."
Perhaps it was just the rubbish racing? CH4 continue to almost ignore racing fans when it comes to coverage. I honestly don't understand the fashion angles, the sitting round the kitchen table with a jockey and his family. Spend time discussing form, work through the races, get presenters that won't just suck up to trainers and then they might just get people watching again.
What did any of ye make of the "5 minute forum " on RUK yesterday ?
Announcer and three panelists discuss ten questions with a five minute answer/discussion .
it certainly cut the waffle.
From Daily Mail, so pinch of salt
Channel 4 could face strong opposition from ITV to retain their horse racing coverage, which has been the subject of much criticism over the last three years.A new, four-year terrestrial deal starting in 2017 is expected to be completed by Christmas and ITV are showing interest in the tender, although no decision has yet been made whether to bid. It makes increasing sense for racing to split marquee events from the regular daily meetings — especially as these are well covered by two dedicated racing channels.
But the dilemma for the sport is whether to continue with C4’s coverage of 90 days a year, including all the big races, or take up a potential offer from ITV just for the big occasions, which could be worth a lot more.Certainly racing rights come cheap compared to other sports coverage. The £15million cost of C4’s current, four-year deal is equivalent to what Sky are paying for one and a half Premier League games from next season. C4 made great play of national treasure Clare Balding hosting their racing. But she only did Cheltenham and Royal Ascot in 2015 and has yet to decide whether to front any racing next year.
Some people say he’s the best since Arkle and that’s certainly true when you look at what he’s done
Clare Balding back to head the coverage for all the major racedays next year on C4, flat and NH, wonder what Lord Snooty makes of that.
AP to join C4 Racing as of The Open meeting
How many TV races has he commented on, Lydia?
Last edited by Colin Phillips; 30th October 2015 at 11:54 AM.
Ah! but a man's reach should exceed his grasp......
Nice one colin
im not entirely convinced this is going to send ratings through the roof ....somehow.
Trouble is if he wants to do media work then people will find it hard to say no. Despite the sinking feeling. I mean who's going to tell him "you were a great jockey mate, but a bit of a boring cnt so kindly fck off and do something else" ?
...well no one has told Mick Fitz the last bit yet Clive..so he could get a few years
In my opinion the only jockey or ex jockey to make a good pundit is Ruby when he appears on RTE-can be fairly blunt but that's better then the don't rock the boat approach that most of them have.
Melbourne Cup not being shown on British TV this year according to the RP. Strange as they (ATR) have a program from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM which includes coverage from Flemington plus looking at the SKY TV guide Eurosport are showing it too
http://www.racingpost.com/news/live....324&category=0
edgt (2nd November 2015)