I don't usually listen to much that the O'Learys have to say but I must admit Eddie has hit the nail on the head with his rant that "Irish Racing is being treated as a second class citizen on Racing TV"
https://www.racingpost.com/news/lat...ike-a-second-rate-citizen-on-racing-tv/367112
I particularly agree with his assessment on the quantity of races shown, thus:
"From what I've seen of Racing TV so far, it's like sitting in a betting shop. They go from race to race to another race. It's boring. What is the point in having great presenters like Gary O’Brien, Kevin O’Ryan, Kate Harrington and Donn McClean when we never hear from them? There are no stories being told any more."
Last Saturday was, at times, a joke (split screen or races just not shown) and often there are simply too many races for any meaningful discussion or insight to be presented between races. The complete opposite to this used to be Racing UK's presentation of the Cheltenham Festival, where they only covered that one meeting each day, had a great preview of each race with their knowledgable panel and had plenty of time to show the scenes in the winners enclosure without having to rush off to Hexham or Towcester for the next race.
I think true racing fans want to hear experts views ahead of the big races - I guess that is one reason why preview nights are so popular. I also applaud the efforts made by ITV to present short pieces about racing from a different angle to try and engage viewers from outside the sport. I wonder where Racing TVs real motives lie?
I would also like to see better access to live racing content online. As I live in Germany I cannot access the Racing TV live stream as it is limited to UK and Ireland residents. Even then, the prices are pretty steep. Surely it is in racing's best interest to spread the sport as widely as possible? There is certainly a school of thought that the free ATR coverage of Irish racing added a huge publicity benefit to them, and that now seems to be eroded once again by Racing TV.
I wondered what people's views on this were? Who has a Racing UK subscription? Thoughts on "max number of races vs. more discussion and content"?
https://www.racingpost.com/news/lat...ike-a-second-rate-citizen-on-racing-tv/367112
I particularly agree with his assessment on the quantity of races shown, thus:
"From what I've seen of Racing TV so far, it's like sitting in a betting shop. They go from race to race to another race. It's boring. What is the point in having great presenters like Gary O’Brien, Kevin O’Ryan, Kate Harrington and Donn McClean when we never hear from them? There are no stories being told any more."
Last Saturday was, at times, a joke (split screen or races just not shown) and often there are simply too many races for any meaningful discussion or insight to be presented between races. The complete opposite to this used to be Racing UK's presentation of the Cheltenham Festival, where they only covered that one meeting each day, had a great preview of each race with their knowledgable panel and had plenty of time to show the scenes in the winners enclosure without having to rush off to Hexham or Towcester for the next race.
I think true racing fans want to hear experts views ahead of the big races - I guess that is one reason why preview nights are so popular. I also applaud the efforts made by ITV to present short pieces about racing from a different angle to try and engage viewers from outside the sport. I wonder where Racing TVs real motives lie?
I would also like to see better access to live racing content online. As I live in Germany I cannot access the Racing TV live stream as it is limited to UK and Ireland residents. Even then, the prices are pretty steep. Surely it is in racing's best interest to spread the sport as widely as possible? There is certainly a school of thought that the free ATR coverage of Irish racing added a huge publicity benefit to them, and that now seems to be eroded once again by Racing TV.
I wondered what people's views on this were? Who has a Racing UK subscription? Thoughts on "max number of races vs. more discussion and content"?