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Horse Racing: Mccririck and Co Kick Out at Channel 4 Deal

Channel 4 has sailed into a storm as their presenters have rebelled over the pluggin of digital channel Racing UK.

Channel 4 are in urgent negotiations with John McCririck and other high-profile presenters as a result of an apparent conflict of interest emerging from the station’s plugging of digital TV channel Racing UK which started this week.

McCririck, Derek Thompson and racing broadcaster of the year Mike Cattermole are all under contract to the terrestrial Channel 4. However, they also appear on the digital channel At The Races. The problem for the trio is that rival digital channel Racing UK is paying £2m a year as part of a three-year deal which started on January 1 to keep Channel 4 on the air. The new contract for Channel 4 broadcasters is believed to insist on four plugs for Racing UK per afternoon.

Hannah Walker, Channel 4 Racing’s press officer, confirmed yesterday that negotiations between Highflyer Productions, which produces Channel 4 Racing, and its presenters were “ongoing and confidential”, adding that “the heart of this three-year deal, which guarantees significant terrestrial coverage for racing, is Channel 4’s relationship with Racing UK, and we look forward to going forward with them.”

Who McCririck, Cattermole and Thompson will be going forward with remains to be seen as their contracts with At The Races allow them to appear on Channel 4, but prohibit them from endorsing or promoting RUK in any way. Currently they are in an impossible position, whereby they can honour one of their contracts only by breaching another.

At The Races also has concerns that excessive promotion of Racing UK on Channel 4 could breach the cross-promotion code issued by OfCom, the office of communications. A key principle of the code is that cross-promotions should “not prejudice fair and effective competition”, while there are also rules in place to prevent advertising in editorial time.

“A number of At The Races presenters have responsibilities with terrestrial broadcasters,” Matthew Imi, ATR’s chief executive, said yesterday. “My understanding is that they have been asked by Channel 4 to sign a new contract which would involve them either participating in programming that will be seen on Racing UK, or promoting Racing UK as part of the Channel 4 deal. Clearly, that would be a breach of the contracts that those individuals have with At The Races.

“We believe that the broad exposure of horse racing to as wide an audience as possible is a good thing, but purely from a competitive standpoint, we will be keeping an eye on Channel 4 coverage to ensure that it is OfCom compliant at all times, and does not give a competitive advantage to Racing UK over At The Races.”

Racing UK, which is owned by a consortium of 30 racecourses, has insisted on the plugs as it hopes to recoup at least some of their investment in the Channel 4 deal by selling fresh subscriptions to its own service, which costs a minimum of £15 per month.

Channel 4 will broadcast 80 days of racing this year, an increase of five days from 2006, when its cameras will cover the Glorious Goodwood meeting for the first time. In all, 80% of its coverage is from courses allied to Racing UK, with a roster which includes York, Newmarket, and Cheltenham.

TV racing’s small world

Mike Cattermole

Channel 4 presenter

At The Races presenter

Tipster for weekly racing paper Raceform Update Racecourse commentator

Derek Thompson

Channel 4 presenter

At The Races presenter

Racing correspondent for Talksport radio

Racecourse commentator

John McCririck

Channel 4 betting guru

At The Races pundit

© Guardian News & Media 2008 Published: 1/4/2007

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