ITV has signed a four-year deal to become the exclusive terrestrial broadcast partner for British racing from 2017, replacing Channel 4.
Having won the tender process, ITV will begin broadcasting from Cheltenham’s New Year’s Day fixture on January 1. Channel 4’s last broadcast will be of the Newbury meeting on December 31.
ITV is committed to showing nearly 100 days of racing each year, with the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National meeting at Aintree, the Derby at Epsom and Royal Ascot among the marquee events to be shown on the main ITV channel.
In total ITV will show a minimum of 34 fixtures on ITV’s main channel and 60 on ITV4, in addition to a magazine program broadcast each Saturday morning on ITV4, replacing the current Channel 4 version ‘The Morning Line’.
“This is a great opportunity for everyone in the industry to support ITV in jointly promoting the sport and telling the stories throughout the year to as wide an audience as possible,” Richard Fitzgerald, chief executive of Racecourse Media Group (RMG), who headed racing’s negotiating team, said.
“The unprecedented level of interest in the tender shows what an attractive proposition the sport is. This is reflected in the new deal, which will generate increased revenues for racing.”
Channel 4 itself acquired exclusive broadcast rights in 2013, meaning showcase events such as Royal Ascot and the Derby moved from the BBC.
Much has been made of viewing figures for the sport on Channel 4, which will show Formula One motor racing this year after the BBC cut short its contract.
The sport has two dedicated channels, Racing UK and At The Races.
