Tellycrappier than normal

Tommy there is no mainstream tv coverage in the uk,apart from saturday on ch4 and 5 or 6 meetings a year on the BBC.(this weekends Arc is being shown uner the red button so if you don`t have digital ,you don`t watch)

two racing channels in the UK

1:attheraces you get if you have a package with satelite tv ot cable tv Mine costs me £50(r700 per month)

2: RacingUK YOU RECIEVE if you pay a further £20 a month.

So watching racing in the uk costs you roughly R1000 per month or R12K A YEAR

Hib, it sounds dramatic when converted to Rands but that is irrelevant if you live in the UK. Just as we in SA don't stop to calculate what our grocery bill comes to in the currency of Rwanda or Vietnam. Earn R, spend R. Earn £, spend £, etc. Is 70 quid a lot in UK terms is the only relevant question.

would be 11% of the monthly minimum wage!!

Hibby also a difficult comparison, its best to use a McDONALDS or lets use a bottle of JWB, how many can you buy for 70 quid or R900, we can buy 3.

I must say I have been thinking about this TT a lot recently..I would venture to say that 90% of the tote punters dont really look at what the horse looks like going down to the start...also all pa, jpot and pick 6 bets it doesnt affect except for 1st leg.

Big punters who would need to see the horse going down to start before they decide or not should really watch in real life ie be at the track if possible or at least have someone at the track to check for them.

Also doesnt really effect early claims on horses.

The post race interviews besides the opinions of trainers or jocks on their upcoming rides are worthless...and a good on course runner could or should be able to get that info anyway for viewers and can be communicated by the in studio presenter.

I have to add that there is one guy in SA ..Shaheen Shaw who is absolutely brilliant..again today his communication to those who listen he pointed out a horse at Birmingham on the reports he read that he said have a go..it came home easily at 20/1.

This guy is a credit to TT, Phum and horseracing in general..really and truley.

I don't see the point of this topic anymore, Tellytrack have come out and said they are a PUNTING CHANNEL, so I suggest you get use to the format.

They can only be a successful PUNTING CHANNEL by giving the punter what the punter wants.
I have a very novel and innovative idea for them......why not find out from punters what that is????
Until then a forum is the only way to provide ideas(good and bad) and some industry positives have been acheived by the "bitching" on these threads.

That TT is a gambling channel changes nothing. People who gamble on horse racing need certain information and seeing how a horse goes down is very important to many GAMBLERS. Trying to distinguish between racing and gambling is idiotic, at any rate in countries where betting is allowed on races.

I couldn't agree with you more Mr. Lips!!!

Without the punting public who support this game with BLOOD (sometimes) there would be no channel, no nothing.

They simply have to run the channel better. Obviously we are never going to get a dedicated second channel for ONLY SA racing but if they just utilized their resources properly they would not need it.
All they have to do is split screen the canter pasts with their other presentations and everyone is happy. Commentary stays with the live event and just pictures of canter pasts gets put on the split screen...How hard can that be?????

This will never change, we are fighting a losing battle.

People who run racing are puppets and are controlled by the allmighty rand (HAHAHAHHHA)......They will NEVER change as they don't have the capacity to!!!

Hibby, I know the BBC and Channel 4 have cut down on their coverage but I would have to say graded races are usually shown on mainstream TV, where the coverage is pretty exceptional. Channel 4 puts on a quality production every week and the main festivals all receive their due exposure.

The only time racing in SA gets mainstream coverage is on Met and July day. Besides the normal incompetence excuse I still can't figure out why Supersport don't run a channel that covers major race days in its entirety, like say Channel 4.

Racing UK operates on a shoestring budget and obviously the focus is on showing the races rather than cantor pasts, interviews etc. However I would still place them above Tellytrack as a product.

Attheraces runs news shows every day where there are informative interviews, previews and betting advice. Their website is also top class, even Racing UK's website shows the days replays if you missed the meeting. Tellytrack's website can only be described as a pathetic joke!

I was watching Neil Pretorius stumble his way through quite a big race at the Curragh on Sunday. Gan Amhras has participated in a the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom and Irish Derby and was favourite for a race at the Curragh on Sunday. Neil had no clue how to pronounce the name let alone have a clue who the horse was. He even said after JJ had run down the drain at Ascot on Sunday that he couldn't say who won the race cause he was only watching JJ! Nevermind the fact that he doesn't know who Sea the Stars is the point is that why is someone anchoring overseas racing when he obviously hasn't got 1 iota of an idea about what's going on?!

I was thinking surely it would be easier to just cross to the actual Attheraces/Racing UK presenters before each race than leave it to our bumbling beauts to cock things up.

What irritates me is Neil and his Tellytrack gang all claim to be trying to improve the channel but its the same shit that gets dished out all the time...

Dont get me wrong Im with you guys..but that would be in an "ideal world" which we dont live in..just thinking that the only way stakes can increase is increased tote turnover..but thats the owners problems

ABC is the voice of the punter so I must then say that yes for punters one would need to see all the horses go down to the start

But then there is a lot more info they should be giving as well..weights vs last time the horse ran well..more info from jocks and conditioners more input from presenters getting replays of past races etc

Without a dedicated channel that will never be possible ie to push tote turnover and give all that info on local racing..I think they are mutually exclusive with one channel

Would it not be better exposure for a strong local company like Vodacom or SAB to rather sponser and advertise the hell outa a second channel than to sponsor races (except the July of course)?

Rob I am in agreement with you, but the point I was trying to make is they don 't seem to listen to complaints or suggestions from these forums...falls on deaf ears?