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BBC Lose the Grand National and the Derby


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Old 19-03-2012, 06:31
The Net
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One more of the Crown Jewels of the BBC is lost. Whilst the event remains free to all it is another dagger into the BBC sport portfolio. I am not sure why the BBC have let this go but I suspect Channel 4s great support of the sport has given them the nod.
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Old 19-03-2012, 06:47
Ian Aberdon
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Wimbledon will follow. In a few short years, wave bye bye to all live sport on the Beeb.
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Old 19-03-2012, 06:52
harry hamster
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One more of the Crown Jewels of the BBC is lost. Whilst the event remains free to all it is another dagger into the BBC sport portfolio. I am not sure why the BBC have let this go but I suspect Channel 4s great support of the sport has given them the nod.
The head of BBC sport is not a horse racing fan.

Channel 4 racing is bankrolled by the horse racing mad Arabs.
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:11
Department_S
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The head of BBC sport is not a horse racing fan.

Channel 4 racing is bankrolled by the horse racing mad Arabs.
Yes a rather damning verdict by the Racing Post feature editor on BBC Breakfast this morning articulated that the two heads of BBC Sport are not interested in horse racing. They paid over double the amount it would have taken ( about £4m) to keep The Grand National, The Derby and Royal Ascot for the rights to just half of the Grand Prix races, That in itself saddens e deeply.

60 years of tradition gone and those two in my opinion should hang their heads in shame. I really do believe that.

I am pleased for Channel 4 but the three events will slightly lose gravitas not having the BBC cover them.
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:15
Big Boy Barry
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The BBC's coverage of the Grand National has been poor in recent years.

Classic camera angles have been changed.
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:29
ftv
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The BBC Sport budget has been cut by 15% so it is inevitable that something, somewhere, will have to go.But it's been clear over recent years that the BBC hierarchy have no interest in horse racing. They'll want to keep Wimbledon so they get their free seats there.
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:50
The Net
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The BBC Sport budget has been cut by 15% so it is inevitable that something, somewhere, will have to go.But it's been clear over recent years that the BBC hierarchy have no interest in horse racing. They'll want to keep Wimbledon so they get their free seats there.
Given that Royal Ascot is equally a shindig event I do not buy that cynical argument. I think the BBC s shrinking significance goes on unabated underpinned by the disastrously unnecessary move to Salford quays

Yes it is clear the two heads of sport are petrol heads and not race goers but their preference should not affect such a major policy decision as to lose 60'years of horse racing.

I wonder what Sir Peter O'Sulleven would think.
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:53
The Net
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The BBC's coverage of the Grand National has been poor in recent years.

Classic camera angles have been changed.
The number of cameras have been cut - we shouldn't blame the production team but the cost implications at BBC Sport.
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:53
mossy2103
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Yes it is clear the two heads of sport are petrol heads
If they were so, then they would have ensured that F1 remained on the BBC in its entirety.

and not race goers but their preference should not affect such a major policy decision as to lose 60'years of horse racing.
But staying wedded to a 60-year tradition should?
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Old 19-03-2012, 07:57
Spot
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Damn, that means no omnibus repeat of Come Dine With Me.
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:01
Shrewn
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Shame, but it's been on the cards since Grandstand went. They'll want to keep MOTD, Wimbledon, The Open. The Olympics will be up for bidding soon
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:08
mossy2103
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And remember that the BBC won back the World Athletics Championships from Channel 4 for 2015 and 2017.


Of course, if Channel 4 take on much more sport, they are in danger of being seen as a sports channel for some parts of the year, acting as a turn-off for some viewers.
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:11
Straker
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Speaks volumes that in the BBCNews rundown of other events listed as lost to the BBC alongside the racing there was not a single mention of the French and Australian Open Tennis tournaments. Both Grand Slam events gone from the Beeb this year it seems these didn’t even warrant passing mention, so unimportant are they to the BBC.

The BBC is like some mad surgeon hacking off his patients legs because their toenails need clipping.
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:20
derek500
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Speaks volumes that in the BBCNews rundown of other events listed as lost to the BBC alongside the racing there was not a single mention of the French and Australian Open Tennis tournaments. Both Grand Slam events gone from the Beeb this year
Wasn't the Australian Open on the BBC this year? I'm sure it was. I remember flicking between Eurosport HD and BBC HD.
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:23
Straker
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Wasn't the Australian Open on the BBC this year?


One of the semis and both finals compared to hours of daily coverage of the whole 2 weeks last year.
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:25
mossy2103
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As I recall, both finals and one men's semi
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:26
derek500
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One of the semis and both finals compared to hours of daily coverage of the whole 2 weeks last year.
So not 'gone' then, 'reduced'?

Is the French 'gone' or 'reduced'?
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:29
MartinImber
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Wish they had kept F1 properly!
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:33
Straker
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So not 'gone' then, 'reduced'?

Is the French 'gone' or 'reduced'?
No self-respecting tennis fan would regard 3 poxy matches out of a 2 week tournament as continuing to have any worthwhile coverage. And what bonehead negotiated showing one semi and not both?!?!?! Idiots.

ITV3 have the French and if I were them I’d not let the BBC have so much as 10 seconds of any match, even when it comes to clips for the news. **** ’em.
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Old 19-03-2012, 08:43
derek500
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No self-respecting tennis fan would regard 3 poxy matches out of a 2 week tournament as continuing to have any worthwhile coverage.
Unfortunately 'true' tennis fans have always been poorly served by 'free tv', even before the days of pay.
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Old 19-03-2012, 09:00
keithl
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There was almost something of an inevitability about this after the whole lot started to be banded together. I'm surprised that the BBC didn't think to simply put in a bid for the Grand National meeting on its own, which would - even with everything else still on Channel 4 - have surely led to more money overall for horse racing?

Another point I think will be the overall coverage. Like most of the country I'm not a horseracing fan, so whenever I watch the National I need some things explained to me in "diddy" terms - what the odds mean, what a furlong is, etc. To me, Channel 4 Racing seems to be great for the racing punter who tunes in every day it's on, but it is impenetrable for someone like me who just doesn't understand it. I have this wee niggling suspicion that we'll see viewing figures for the National in particular drop dramatically, and that long term horseracing will suffer for not having the BBC coverage which - by the very fact it was occasional - meant that it had to explain things to the average viewer.
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Old 19-03-2012, 09:09
derek500
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Like most of the country I'm not a horseracing fan, so whenever I watch the National I need some things explained to me in "diddy" terms - what the odds mean, what a furlong is, etc.
Every time?
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Old 19-03-2012, 09:09
Inspiration
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Wonder if Clare Balding will jump over to C4 now or if she will decide to do other sports?
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Old 19-03-2012, 09:14
omnidirectional
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Of course, if Channel 4 take on much more sport, they are in danger of being seen as a sports channel for some parts of the year, acting as a turn-off for some viewers.
That's quite an exaggeration. Most weeks of the year, sport on C4 is nothing more than two hours of horse racing on a Saturday afternoon. Even BBC One still has more sport!
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Old 19-03-2012, 09:28
BenFranklin
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BBC really should have bid £5m a year for the lot
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