ITV has announced it will continue as the exclusive free-to-air broadcaster of British horse racing until 2023.
The broadcaster, which has shown horse racing exclusively on terrestrial television since 2017, has secured the rights to continue broadcasting nearly 100 days of live racing for the next three years.
The deal guarantees all the marquee events will be broadcast live on ITV’s main channel between 2021 and 2023, including the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National meeting from Aintree, the Derby Festival from Epsom Downs, Royal Ascot and British Champions Day from Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, York’s Ebor Festival and Doncaster’s St Leger.
Led by presenters Ed Chamberlin Francesca Cumani, the ITV Racing team will continue to bring to viewers comprehensive coverage of the entire UK horse racing calendar with weekly coverage across ITV, ITV4 and online via ITV Hub.
As part of the deal, The Opening Show, ITV Racing’s magazine preview programme, will continue each Saturday morning and on each day at the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National meeting and Royal Ascot.
The announcement follows a successful return of British horse racing in June following months during which the sport was paused for the lockdown period due to the coronavirus pandemic.
🤳 A message from our very own @chamberlinsport following today’s exciting news!
Here’s to bringing you another three years of top-class free-to-air Racing live on @ITV! 🏇#ITVRacing
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 4, 2020
During this time, Royal Ascot, despite the absence of the traditional pageantry, drew eight-year high figures each day, the peak viewing figure for the Investec Derby 2020 was over 2.2 million, the highest viewing figure for the race since 2012, and most recently Stradivarius and Frankie Dettori’s record-breaking fourth success in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup last week was watched by over a million people on the first day of ‘Glorious Goodwood’ 2020.
ITV Racing’s coverage has seen significant increases in audiences during its tenure, after taking over from previous free-to-air racing rights holders Channel 4 in 2017.
According to ITV figures, ratings for its coverage so far in 2020 are 22% higher than in 2019 and 45% higher than in 2016, when Channel 4 held the rights.
The broadcaster reports increases in audiences for its biggest race days, with the 2019 Grand National’s average audience up by more than 2m compared with 2016 and this year’s Cheltenham Festival hitting audience highs not seen since records began in 2003.
ITV’s horse racing coverage has also won strong acclaim, winning a BAFTA for its coverage of the 2017 Grand National, while presenters Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani won the Broadcaster Sports Presenter of the Year award at the 2018 British Sports Journalism Awards.
Commenting on ITV’s deal, Niall Sloane, the broadcaster’s director of sport, said:
“ITV is delighted to announce the continuation of free to air coverage of a sport that is loved and followed by so many. To do so following a successful resumption of the sport with wide audiences returning to our coverage after such a long lay-off is particularly welcome and we look forward to bringing the very best this wonderful sport has to offer to viewers over the next few years.”
The deal further enhances ITV’s portfolio of sports rights, which includes live coverage of the England internationals, Six Nations, Rugby World Cup, Tour de France and the French Open.
Richard FitzGerald, Chief Executive of Racecourse Media Group (RMG), said:
“ITV has been a terrific partner for British horseracing over the last three years and ITV has earned the right to renew the contract for a further three years. Its award-winning productions are reflected with increased audiences, in contrast to wider TV audience trends, and they have succeeded in attracting a new, younger audience, without alienating in any way the existing fanbase.
We look forward to working closely with the broadcaster in ensuring racing remains in this fantastic shop window provided by ITV and all its platforms. I’d also like to thank all the sport’s participants, particularly the jockeys, for the positive roles they have played in engaging with the ITV coverage.”
Delia Bushell, Group Chief Executive of The Jockey Club, which stages events including the Grand National at Aintree, Cheltenham Festival, Epsom Derby and Newmarket’s Guineas Festival, said:
“I’m delighted this new agreement has been reached between British Racing’s rightsholders and ITV. We look forward to continuing to work with the ITV Racing team to develop the opportunities this excellent free-to-air broadcasting provides us, as we seek to grow in popularity and diversity as a sport in the years ahead.”
Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer, Ascot Racecourse, added:
“The extension of our highly successful terrestrial partnership with ITV is great news for Ascot. It is a pleasure to be a part of this award-winning partnership with ITV which has seen continued growth of audiences across all our race meetings. We look forward to the next three years’ working together to bring Ascot’s racing to existing and new audiences across the ITV portfolio of platforms.”
David Leyden Dunbar, ARC Director of Partnerships, said:
“The whole team at ITV Racing have done a tremendous job of showcasing our sport on terrestrial television since 2017.
“Bringing our biggest meetings and stars to the widest possible audience is of huge importance to the whole industry and we believe that the ITV team are perfectly placed to deliver for the benefit of everyone across racing.”
For a full list of all forthcoming live UK horse racing matches on the box, visit SOTB’s dedicated racing TV listings page.
–
–