Which card would you prefer to watch?
Top class Card at Cheltenham or the average card at the Newcastle flapping track.
TT programming leaves a lot to be desired.
Hi Dave on the scheduling piece it’s at times a rights issue but mostly it’s about trying to schedule as far as possible to suit our local program so we took the following into account:
1. Saturday’s always are congested as we have two local meetings Kenilworth being Guineas day we also did not want to shorten potentially the time we have as we already struggle to get all the shots the punters would like.
2. Because of the length of jump races they take much longer to show so on a double header you put your times under even more pressure.
3. Apart from Cheltenham festival and the grand national turnover on flat racing is higher than jump racing.
4. In order to try and maximize turnover on the tote we need to try and schedule 10 minutes between races.
5. At this time of the year we often get racing abandoned in the UK so all weather helps ensure we avoid that.
It’s hard to please everyone but we try our best to use statistics to maximize turnovers that in turn provide funding for the sport. Even the so called chariot racing brings in turnover when there would be nothing else to show. Tellytrack is the only way we have to try and maximize turnover for racing we are looking to introduce a subscription channel where customers can choose to watch what they want and that will then allow more options for our customers.
Good to see a reply. That's almost unusual and is to be commended.
I will repeat comments that I have made in the past :
1. Whether I like it or not I fully accept that South African racing must take priority for reasons that are obvious but too numerous to list here.
2. I accept that we may lose some meetings from the UK due to weather.(As an aside - if the UK cried off as easily as SA does due to inclement weather there would be NIL UK racing during their winter).
3. It's not quite as difficult to please everyone as you might imagine: Deliver what is scheduled on time and COMMUNICATE clearly when that becomes impossible or circumstances conspire against you.
4. There are simple reasons why 'jumps' racing is not as well supported as flat racing. In no particular order :
a.) It is not promoted at all. So an offering which must surely be cheaper to offer than local racing is neglected.
b.) It is actively discriminated against. I recommend you have a bet on a jump race & then have to watch a barely discernible quarter screen with no sound while Cecil waffles on about another topic IN RUNNING.
c.) How often does Tellytrack show the entire scheduled race on a quarter screen with no sound whilst they lovingly display horses meandering down to the start?
d.) The issue regarding the length of a jump race is complete 'hooey'. If you take the advertised start of a race - finish you will often find that a 3 mile jump race takes less time than a 1000m sprint; largely because jump racing features quick starts, no starting stall delays, no re-shoeing, no bolted horses etc.
e.) If one is stupid enough to use the stream so as to enjoy a picture unfettered by odds and exhortations for us to GET ON! some extortionately priced tote product then we have to deal with the issue of deliberate streaming delays; with results sometimes being posted before we have even seen the race run.
And so it goes on. (Which is why I have largely turned up betting on horses).
5. I was always led to believe that Tellytrack was primarily a 'betting/racing' channel. Only when it suits Tellytrack. Despite today being Guineas Day (with all the alleged congestion) they made plenty of time to interview a whole slew of nobodies in some Gauteng betting facility. And this increased turnover how? God help us when they next have some 'launch' or other racing related issue deserving of broadcasting; they will simply cut into the live feed no matter what races they were scheduled to broadcast.
......my beef is that Tabonline try to get as many betting venues as they can fit in the portal yet TT only have access to some and not all.....even now in Ozz they have Canberra flat this morning but no pictures nor betting scrolls...... but hey there's Horsham( wherever the f@ck that is).....:S
......and Bendigo but no Hawksbury......FFS why have these venues if no pictures are available.....one would think that TT and/or Tabonline actually do not know what feeds and venues they will receive and get out the old shotgun and try cover it all and may get lucky with some of them.......:S
As usual Garrick has pointed out all the relevant and extremely frustrating points on this particular subject.
Don't like to disagree with Dave about UK weather loss on meetings but when you take into account the (a)Lottery of whether Flamingo starts let alone finishes (b) virtual disappearance of Midweek racing in CPT during the winter(c)track problems at Greyville and Scotsville(d) groom and Jockey strikes(e)starting stall malfunctions and now "Tonder time"in Gauteng one could be grateful for overseas racing which brings in Income with very little overhead.Licence Fees etc etc.
My main whine was that top class pre Cheltenham Festival racing was on view on Saturday and would ,to the purist, been a pleasure to watch.
At the end of the day I respect that local racing is the bread and butter bit Newcastle AW vis a vis last saturday's Cheltenham card.!!
......perhaps Fat Boy Slim with his new role at the tote and with his foot still in the door at TT......will eventually see the folly of having tote betting at picture-less venues ......and gravitate around to the less is more principal that normally eludes people from the mass retail mentality.....of trying to blast countless betting venues hoping to snare the odd unwitting fish to drop a few bob here and there......because fishing with gill nets...... is not going to get those elusive whales......:huh:
A reply .... wonders never cease ..... best bit imo is that a subscription service is in the offing .... depending on the costs, it may be worthwhile .... at least one would have choice then .... hopefully not as limited (pretty useless) as the 'bouquets' being offered by Multichoice :dry:
Muhtiman wrote: ......sure they will be giving some free subscriptions to the whales.....however trying to cater for every odd bod puts too much on the plate.....carts jumps dirt dish it up.....what eva....but will not get any polished product and much more wastage.....if the couch playing punter is fixed in front of the TV with TT.....he/she is only prompted by the pictures that they see.....having these extra non scripted bumf jamming the betting portals is not that conducive and collectively does not jack up turnover as much as having less venues but doing it properly....now no pictures at Bunbury..:oops: . just missed another race because one cannot be Tab radio streaming and TT and and and......:sick:
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