ffsake can you not show the lead in tellycrap

Has anybody seen a finish in England yet. I forgot the center of the racing universe is on (turfontein)

Interesting that Shayeen Shaw(the best presenter by a distance)has responded on Racing web.
The point that is missed,is that it is the overall product that is judged by the viewers.It does not really help to duck the blame.
The truth is that when a product is crap it is the top management that have to take the blame,as all solutions are in their hands!
A favourite saying of one of the most successful CEO's (Meyer Kahn)(sic)I ever met was "shit rolls downhill"

Yep noticed that he had posted on racingweb,but couldn`t find any posts on racingweb about tellytrack.Has he responded on there to questions raised here?

I enjoyed the race from Yorkshire SO no complaints here.

Reading these threads one cannot help but be amazed at the deafening silence from the operators. Whatever percentage of the racing world ABC represents it is nevertheless a percentage ( and a vocal one! ) and surely deserves some sort of response.

It continually amazes me that Phumelela actually has someone ( whom I believe is titled Communications Manager ) by the name of Robert Garner whose portfolio, one would imagine, is interacting with 'customers' on some of these issues. He is often to be seen loitering smirkingly at whatever junket is on the go but does not seem to concern himself with very much 'communicating' insofar as addressing customer queries and complaints. Actually - he strikes me as the living embodiment of why we should not be too critical of BEE............

Nevertheless - What we, as punters/fans/owners/supporters etc., need to possibly reach accord on is this : Assuming we are stuck with one channel for the foreseeable future how should it operate ? I am absolutely in no doubt that it should work as follows during the hours when racing is available :

Given the pressure on airtime the ABSOLUTE PRIORITY should be to broadcast LIVE (as opposed to recorded ) racing. Interviews, war stories etc., must out of necessity be consigned to the replay period when you can watch Mr/Ms X thanking everyone from the breeder to the gardener to your hearts content. I would even be prepared to accept no studio presence and no pre/post race comments. If we have to choose let's lean towards a LIVE information channel rather than a magazine type channel populated by breathless owners praising their MR 68 mules.

What I really fail to understand is why Tellytrack battles to differentiate between various races in terms of importance and relevance. The guidelines could read as follows :

1.) Priority is given to Graded races. ( So you won't have the Gold Cup interrupted by Thirsk or Cheltenham by PE ).

2.) RSA racing is given priority UNLESS races are behind schedule OR the pools on the alternate choice is larger. ( Surely it makes sense to broadcast the race with more local financial involvement no matter where it is sourced from! ) Centres, therefore, that cannot start on time or without horses bolting will be penalised.

3.) Tellytrack could show more flexibility before reverting to recordings : Too often do they cut a 'race in progress' on the basis that a local race is imminent only to inflict us with horses circling at the start for far longer than it took for the other scheduled race to finish!

4.) Would it really be that terrible to show the first 200 metres of a local race on a split screen whilst another race finished?

Lastly - it is worth revisiting some of the other points raised :

In terms of public interest racing is a minority sport! Gorrit? That's why the channel is funded internally. It's because viewership and interest could NEVER warrant it having its own dedicated channel a la Channel 23 ( the soccer channel ).

Most non racing people regard racing as corrupt. Or at the very least a little shady. If a neutral were to trawl through this site for a month the perception would be unlikely to change given the often wild and unsubstantiated allegations that are tossed around about almost all aspects of the sport. This tends to make major sponsors very coy about supporting the sport.

A large chunk of the support base focuses its betting activity primarily on 'exotic' bets - suggesting that a lottery type of approach to betting is actually more popular than a form based approach. Saftote obviously promotes the idea of 'winning big' via its offerings as it holds a monopoly on these bet types and markets them to a market which is largely voiceless.

Some time ago when the Australian rebel" cricket team were touring in a one dayer in PE Australia needed about 20 to win with 5 wickets still standing. The match was been broadcast on SABC on a Saturday and it was about 5 to 6 when the cricket went off and they boroadcast the News. Needless to say that Clive Rice destroyed the Aussies taking 5 wickets for next to nothing and SA won and we missed it. Some things never change.

Well at least Chainsaw (Shaheen) has attempted to reply on racingweb,

But in my opinion has not read the "constructive" comments here, the bottom line is that he has stated that tellytrack will always have sweden, ngong "live" racing over any "reasonable" decision from the guys pushing the buttons.

However thanks for the indirect reply.

I agree with Garrick except that SA racing must always come first. The coverage is dodgy enough as it is without creating reasons to make it worse.

Well,

Maybe all us owners should go on strike? No local racing, no paying trainers, no money on the tote, no funds for races and no funds for Tellytubbies...

Then the Groom's union will sort this lot quickly if their people have no work or pay and there mus't be plenty grooms all round...

They can't survive on overseas racing alone...or can they?

If strikes work for others why not for us? Furthermore Phumelela is just as useless as Tellytubs because although not all like PE racing i have runners there and my trainer had to throw some toys in a maiden plate after over 80 runners were nominated and 29 were accepted. He had to throw some weight just to get 2 separate races. The point is they want to save more money and card eight races but was forced to card nine. Cost them R50 000 to stage another Maiden Plate! Thieves!!!!!!!!

I'm sure there are more runners in PE than in the Western Cape? Only one meet a week, if lucky 2 every 2 or 3 weeks.

Let's be honest, pools in PE are regularly higher than Western Cape and the stakes nearly better except for features...

Just my opinion...

Shaheen and myself have address a few concerns/problems from both sides and I look forward to some constructive debate on the site and positive contributions for the good of racing.

If SABC or Supersport aren't interested in showing the big race days bar the Met and July why don't Tellytrack operate 2 channels on feature race days or even just for the feature races. The usual Tellytrack channel can carry on showing racing from all over the world as normal with virtually no interviews, previews etc, just live domestic and international live racing.

A second channel showing more in depth coverage using the likes of Neil Andrews, Molly, Shaheen etc with plenty in-depth anlysis featuring comments from trainers and jocks, form focus and previous relevant race replays. Parade ring, canter pasts, lead ins and post race interviews can also be shown live.

So I'm not talking about a permanent 2nd channel with a split between local/international races. Im talking about giving the racing enthusiast a more in depth, informative and enjoyable option for at least local feature races.

I can't see too much being lost in revenue by Phumulela as the main Tellytrack channel will carry on in tandem with this feature race channel so to speak. Those who want to punt and watch the live racing can do so and those that wanna watch a more all round product could so as well.

One would think that an improved TV service would have a better chance of introducing more viewers to the sport and giving a feature race the coverage it deserves.

Even RacingUK and Attheraces show previews, interviews and replays on their busiest days but they are not as in depth as Channel 4 or BBC as there first priority is to show racing from all the various courses.

On another note I also find in the UK that race times and schedules are strictly adhered to, I assume its far easier to produce and coordinate a schedule thats running on time. How often are there delays which cause programming issues in SA? This business of farting around the starting stalls for 10 mintutes before race time is not necessary, if a meeting falls behind schedule an effort should be made to get a move on for the rest of the card...

saksy you make a brilliant point. it is done in golf when the sun city tournament is on. why cant this happen on big days for racing. you dont even have to employ additional people, one feed from the track like they do if you there, the other the usual fruit salad of anything with four legs?

plus if they really want to be good they can have 3rd channel of racing international for scotia