Your timings look sensible, rzt, but I don't think ITV will be able to resist scheduling against EastEnders on weeknights.

The penultimate National on BBC One was certainly one to remember:

Penultimate? I thought Channel 4 were taking over from next year?

You're right - for some reason I thought we were currently in 2011. I think I need to go back to bed.

Well - talk about going out with the bang. Arguably the best finish to a National ever.

Going to be a bit of controversy too...

starting to think the BBC is best off out of it.

Any reason for the delay in soap ratings from yesterday??

BGT vs TVUK tonight, will TVUK win again, or will BGT time their ads right??

Clare Balding (likely to transfer to Channel 4 Racing) unfortunately had to sign off on a funereal note after 2 deaths (gold cup champion Synchronized, and According To Pete).
"That WAS the Grand National on the BBC".

Agreed.

And the Beeb have managed to weave in some of the tremendous memory bank built up over the last 52 years and Sir Peter O'Sullivan as well-without mentioning that this is their last go.

(Edit -has now been mentioned-with the signature BBC music from Champions)

Sadly more fatalities today, including Synchonised.

Full credit to Clare-she does not shy away from the grim side.

Depends what people have paid for. I think Adidas paid ITV especially for the 20:12 ad spot last week so if they've done that again The Voice could win overall. If they haven't, and Britain's Got Talent is laid out the same way as a fortnight ago it'll be much closer.

I thought the guy reading out the result was very dismissive about Synchronized. I think he was warned by the producers as he sounded more emotional when he revealed the news about According To Pete.

The BBC also used the word 'obstacle' with the fifth fence which may get some criticism but if they weren't sure if it was a horse or a jockey they couldn't say much else.

Well there montage at the end made me weep. I can't believe they let the national and racing go. I thought the Beeb gave it a damn good go.

As for the deaths well it's sad and terrible but it happens I'm afraid. I thought the Beeb dealt with it better than last year.

I don't know if C4 will take Clair because they already have a good line up of presenters.

Audience wise C4 defiantly will not get as much.

Ken

True, and TVUK has been building week on week anyway, so could go higher again, even if BGT reclaims some of last weeks lost audience...

Certainly a thrilling end to the last "mass audience" National (although it arguably ceased to be that more than a decade ago). However the carnage around the course today did make me think the Beeb may well be best out. It was a difficult watch and I think the inherent cruelty and the changing public mood may have served to accelerate the decline over recent years.

I can see why the BBC weren't much fussed about losing racing.

David Coleman, Racing Post "It's as if the BBC didn't fight for it once Channel 4 put in their £15m to £20m offer. It's a bloody disgrace".
Former BBC boss Sir Paul Fox, Daily Telegraph "It's bordering on a National disgrace".
Comentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan, The Independent "" A horrendous development of the Beeb abrogating what I consider their responsibility to cover a national event... If they are not there for celebrating national events, what are they there for?"

(You get the idea).

Does anybody have last night's ratings for all the soaps? Nothing's been updated on DS yet, and I can't find the info anywhere else?

Thanks in hopeful advance!

last nights soaps ratings?

and yet plenty of other people would say its better for the BBC to ensure coverage of national events that cant find a home on commercial TV. Lets face it if BBC had put in a £21 million bid simply to keep the National on the BBC, instead of another freeview channel would cause outrage from the usual sources.

Lets face it, no one is really loosing out here, the event has not gone behind a Pay Wall, the only thing its missing is the ability of the National organiser to put a "As aired on the BBC" sticker on its product, if that has value to them, they need to decide how much.

You just have to look at Crufts, no one cares about it anymore, certainly not outside of dog lovers, and whilst it maybe good for targeted advertising, is it good for the events to be limited in that fashion.

All I know is, no more licence fee payers money is going into an event that needlessly kills horses, and encourages gambling, I cant say im sad about that.

Surprise surprise to see people downplaying it in here, but the National is most certainly a big loss to the BBC as one of the sporting events of the year. People (rightly or wrongly) expect to be able to see those kind of events on the BBC.

I'm sure Channel 4 will do it justice moving forwards and I don't honestly believe it's going to result in a significant loss of interest. Less will watch the coverage overall of course with the commercial breaks, but the race itself is still going to be a massive draw.

Good old Coleman!

There all right. The BBC when it comes to sport need to re-focus. They just don't care anymore and you look at the people in the running for DG and I just conclude that BBC Sport is finished.

I have hated the BBC's direction in sport. For ages we were saying "Oh they will focus on Major events". They have just lost one of the biggest forever I believe.

The BBC blame this on the licence fee freeze and I say that is just bollocks. He did not have to cut Sport but he has. The money has been re distributed. Yet they keep stuff like the BBC Asian Network!

I would cut that and it's digital radio stations except 5live. Then they should. They need to invest into Sport and get new fresh management in.

Sport brings people together in a way that other TV doesn't and they are making a huge mistake.

I also hate the government for freezing the licence fee. Instead they should have pressured the BBC to cut management pay and become better value for money with a threat with a cut in the licence fee.

If it carries on then they might as well just sell her off. I don't want to pay for a bloated version of ITV I want the real BBC back.

Ken

From another angle that may not necessarily be a good thing, I used to tune in to Crufts, but I would not seek it out now(cant say i know where it is). Depends how important it is to have an event televised where it can actually command an audience.

Also on this issue of the National, there are people on this thread who call the BBC the worlds greatest PR machine, saying that between its radio, and TV stations, it can promote just about anything into being successful (one wonders where it failed on Outcasts, Dont Scare The Hair, and The Royal Bodyguard), if we take this theory too be true, how much will the National loose in TV ratings, from not having that PR hype?

We must not forget that, despite the cuts and presumed lack of interest at the very top, the BBC still has a huge sports budget which has to go somewhere. Its hard to work out whether they budgeted to keep the racing and what Channel 4 did was unexpected, or whether it was written off.

Assuming the sports budget remains unchanged the BBC cant help but be a player, if slightly diminished.

2 horses died, same as last year. And as tragic as that is, as it was then, I don't remember you saying any of this last year.