C4 Derby TV figures slump. Has Racing lost its appeal?

[BillyHills]

TV Audience figures for the Derby were the worst on record;

SATURDAY'S Derby was watched by the smallest television audience this century, it has emerged, as just 1.5 million tuned in for Australia's victory. Since the race moved to Channel 4 from the BBC in 2013 the audience has more than halved. In 2012, the final year the Derby was broadcast by the BBC, a peak audience of 3.3 million tuned in. The figures are a fresh blow for Channel 4 Racing and those within racing who led the TV rights negotiations that ended in Channel 4 becoming the sole terrestrial broadcaster of racing. Although the TV audience for the Grand National has held up well, sharp falls in audience has been a common theme for the major Flat meetings such as Royal Ascot and the Derby. Saturday's Classic was watched by an average audience of 770,000 an audience share of 8.3 per cent, compared to 834,000 and 10.7 per cent the previous year. Oaks day was watched by a peak audience of 558,000, down almost 30 per cent on the 2013 peak audience of 788,000. An average audience of 320,000 was only marginally down on the 356,000 12 months ago.

How did you watch the Derby? If you did. I must admit i was flicking between C4 and Racing UK and recording Racing UK so i could skip back and watch any interviews or races i may have missed at the other meetings. I don't find C4 very interesting, although Claire Balding and Nick Luck may be excellent at their jobs i don't think the three stooges that sit in that mobile caravan really do much for the show. Jim McGrath and Graham Cunningham seem very scripted to me and are quite boring. Nick Luck is a superb anchor man but was so much better on Racing UK where he had more scope to do what he wanted. Emma Spencer may be good to look at but is poor as is Tanya compared to BigMac, not natural presenters at all. At the end of the day all i want is to watch the racing, see the horses at the start/paddock, get a full picture of the betting moves and a good coverage of the race with added information from those that know what they are talking about (trainers etc..) Too many distractions and little cameo films on C4 for my liking (and adverts!) . BBC made a good decision to pull out of racing when they did as that was going the same way.

[Trotter]

Re: C4 Derby TV figures slump. Has Racing lost its appeal? I always watch racing on RUK or ATR to support the dedicated racing channels If channel 4 were there every day showing Yarmouth on a wet Wednesday and Wolverhampton on a cold Friday night I might watch C4 but if not I'll stick the channels which cover the sport day in day out Similar to the cycling.....sometimes the same event (same pictures) is on ITV4 and Eurosport........I always watch eurosport because they're there every day showing the racing live and not just cherry picking the Tour de France.