Well Done Channel 4.

you need help , badly

ok gok

smartpunter, I`ll second that.

I noticed on Twitter Channel 4 put that over the 16 months that they have never had so many tweets congratulating them on the programme. The first reply said "It's not April 1st"

mr crisp. wrong way "round" gok ok.

Was pants apart from Emma. Figures down down down.

i thought it was good, they did their bit for the non serious punters and also had some decent coverage before the races.

Quite right.

The racing was magnificent, I really enjoyed the meeting.

Have to say i thoroughly enjoyed the coverage, every race every day, just the right mix of serious racing information and some lovely fillies to look at in between and Gok just the right person to present the fashion, rather than that odious plonker who did it for the Beeb, made me want to smash the tele!

I thought it was excellent, every race shown live (more of the same for Cheltenham please)... No switching channels halfway through....
All of the presenters did OK IMO (can't take to Cunningham) and that Gok Wan is probably the best of a Bad Bunch doing the Fashion
Cr@p.... I don't agree that everyone looked "Gorgeous" but at least he presented it without all the Stuck Up, Pompous ar5e licking
rubbish that we normally have to put up with... (Blonde Eve Bird, Francomes ex, silly Yank Bird and Sherwood from memory)...
Well Done Channel 4

did their bit for the non punter, cant the 2 of them speak for themselves,

It's great that the show itself included every race LIVE but the coverage itself is an embarrassment...they've turned it into a fcukin' circus!

It gets worse by the year

where have all the punters gone?

viewing figures down

they all now lose their money on fobts before midday

The punters have gone and are not coming back imo, people nowadays are too lazy to study form etc, they prefer to throw their wages away on fobts looking for a quick fortune, this country as encouraged laziness what with shows like Xfactor and BGT, giving youngsters a quick route to fame, nobody wants to earn it anymore. its sad but true.

maybe there clever than you think and sussed long before the so called pro,s that studying form is a waste of time,
julian wilson,r hughes,and the 30 to 50,  odd owners,trainers,jockeys banned for defrauding punters might have something to do with it

for the week 58% down on the beebs final ascot,well done keep it up

If C4 racing was an American tv drama it would never get a second series.

isn't it a UK tv drama?

wow 56%

diehards left

Showing all races live is terrific.

The presentation , presenters and format  though is dreadful.

I record the programme & simply fast forward to the races.

I cannot see horse racing being on terrestrial tv for much longer with the exceptions of Aintree , Epsom & Royal Ascot.

they are delusional as well as 'proud' of their coverage!

Good point johnny. It's right up there with those 3.30am programmes with sign language. Though they probably get more viewers

626 - fully agree squire...televising ALL races has been long overdue and should be applauded but turning it into the farce it's become is unforgivable.

Despite me being critical of many of the presenters and the format, it has it's good points and there are some positives though overall, it's an appalling show nowadays

a few pluses but fitzgerald, persad and cunningham lack of personality really drags the show down...how fitzgerald has a job as a regular on uk racing channels defies belief...

cunningham said after kingman won - will they consider stepping him up to 1m2f for which luck replied i don't think that will ever happen...this guy loves himself

persad is just persad and has been shooting well above his weight for many years now...another miracle worker who has managed to land many top jobs in sport without ever showing   

it is a real shame for clare balding and nick luck that they are surrounded by these 3 people as between them they are 2 very good presenters

gok wan has never been to ascot before this year - typical of channel 4 racing to put a novice in...the snob that was bbc was good value imo and at least had some charisma and pulled apart anyone that was dressed inappropriately

tania and the irishman whose name defies me also drag the show down...tom does a good job and should be running an event like this...stephenson is a nice person but not for telly as no charisma

apart from that pretty good

loads of fancied horses winning and the figures still down throughout the week not looking good is it

must have been good before i lost the will to live there,d been 27 rides of the meeting,26 races of the week,11 interviews with stoute amounting to 17 words,  and at the last count 53 runners in the king george, 47 of which will take in the eclipse on the way and 17 contenders to austraila,s crown,

Tom Lee? ffs

wasnt all bad at least ch 4 were almost certain high numbers were favoured on the straight course, ruk and lydia were convinced, ,1st 7 or 8 home in workingham not convincing enough

I've said it before and here it comes again - if they must persist with GB (not my cup of tea) then PLEASE put him at one end or the other because when he's between other presenters his constant head turning is very offputting - surely the 'professionals' running the show can see this!

the various presenters assigned to betting from john parrot, Tanya, brian the Irishman and tom lee either have no charisma or no real knowledge of betting - which is fully in line with the programmes content

who do you prefer arfur? not much choice tbf

betting on racing as dropped 50% in 10 years - hence viewers have dropped off accordingly.

where have all the punters/viewers gone - they re dead ,no one as replaced them as all new potential punters /viewers are sphyoned off by the bookies for the FOBTs,the tail not wagging the dog but eating the dog.

c4 suffers from the richard briers effect.

we were promised The good life but ended up with Ever decreasing circles.

C4 need to team up more with the racing post(they all sit there with a copy in front of them)they need to teach punters how to read the form in the post,not interview harry herbert about breeding,like cricket does a batting class or a spin bowling lesson - C4  s growth viewers will and can only be punters - so they need to get them into studying form.explain the class system,the hcp system,different tracks and going affect preformance.they need to show the graffics in the same lay out as the post so punters can follow along - they need to teach a new audience how to bet on horses - this is the only place where new viewers can come from,plus racing dosent want casual viewers who just watch - they need them to bet or go racing for C4 to have in benefit to racing.

then come back on and explain why the horse with 6 duck eggs  and backed from 20,s to 9 to 2 sluices up,

I  hate to say it but they need chapman viewers that are casual followers would love his love for the sport

in racing you not only have to beat the commission but also the insiders, its possible but why would a newcomer choose a sport like that?

maybe they should play them the phone call between dwyer and mulrenann, could make it the theme tune

^ t!t

They cant attract new viewers, its only us punters that want to watch, that will not change, and we are a limited number, the youngsters are not interested in horse racing, you get the youths betting on the football and that is it, as for what Ch4 can do to change the format, whatever they do, it will annoy some and please others, the fashion will always be a part of it, that is fine by me, I thought Gok done well, I can listen to Jim when he is on, he is good with his reading of races, the rest are at best very average, Tanya is awful, I mute most of the time, I want to watch the race, and not listen to them waffle on, I did not see the Interview with Claire and Mr Stoute, but im told she was good, he should be ashamed of himself, if he does not want to be interviewed, he should have informed them, it is brilliant they show every race, I went Tuesday and Wednesday and sat on my settee the rest of the week, it was heaven, I do fear for terrestrial tv coverage, there is just not the audience for it, what is worrying as well is our only paper being run by a man who sees fit to make Birchy his number One tipster

FINAL viewing figures for Royal Ascot released on Sunday show that the meeting has lost almost 60 per cent of its television audience in just two years on Channel 4.

Sure so long as the toffs are happy and got some fashion tips it's all worth it

bookies are basicly paying for channel4

aussie jim was gloating on the sunday forum

I don't think it's so much C4 as people are less into racing these days. Why do courses have to resort to getting Tom Jones or Jedward in for a concert to get people through the door? Mmmmmm. I will not be going to Sandown this summer as they want £40 just to get in cos of the concerts.
McCrirrick a loss for me. I would sooner hear him that Fitz and Cunningham.

What's happened to my Michael Stoute post ...surely it wasn't defamatory so why was it deleted ?

I have been involved in the game for over 30 years...

Ever since day one I have heard that the alleged "youngsters" do not want to be involved...

At the moment there are more "youngsters" betting than ever before thanks to the rise of football betting..

The reason why they will not progress to betting on horse racing is the uncertainty of what might actually run..

48 hour declarations have killed the game and the sheer amount of non-runners and trainers declaring them late in the day will kill the sport.

Remember why 48 hour decs were brought in...

It was because in Australia the declaration stage was at midnight their time and THEY HAD NO-ONE WORKING AT THAT HOUR TO TRANSCRIBE THE DECS and by the time some sweaty Aussie came into work in the morning it was not worth their while betting on UK Horseracing.Period..

You could not make it up....

100% agree H4T

Half the problem is that the production is so drenched in elitism and privilege that no one can or wants to engage with it - from the endless line of presenters only there because of family connections (one even interviewed her own parents), to the incessant walking product placement for 'the Honourable' Harry Herbert and his 'buy it until it goes to stud, then I own it' racing clubs, to the relentless adulation of people whose only real talent is having the money to buy expensive horses through an accident of birth, to the horribly pompous and patronising Balding, it's just a thoroughly unpleasant way for anyone with even half a brain to spend the afternoon.

All Balding and co's genuflection really does is underline what an enclosed world the racing industry is - and however hard C4 want to attract a new audience, you just can't be populist if most of your key presenters have never actually lived a day in the real world, and so have no concept whatsoever that watching nepotism, elitism and the worship of privilege isn't most people's idea of an afternoon of fun...

@millhouse -- much of what you say is true but in this case probably misses the point.

First, CB does not owe her C4 job to family connections. Whether she even owed her first job on Radio 5 (where she was bloody awful to start with, iirc) to connections is unclear -- after all, her family is in racing, not broadcasting.

Second, C4 might want to attract a new audience but populism does not seem to be the answer and is surely repelling viewers.

Third, football is by far our most popular sport. Which of its millionaire ex-player presenters lives in the "real world"?

The problem with Channel 4 Racing (and even more so, the Morning Line) is not elitist presenters but incompetent producers.

Agree with comingupthehill , they need to devote time to teaching viewers how to read form. I remember teaching my nephew the basics of looking at postdata in the racing post and I've taken him to the races a few times.
From that I've seen that people can get into racing but they need a helping hand.

once the new form students realise that the form is meaningless when every course claims that the going is good to firm after heavy watering, they will no longer trust the form and stop betting on it the same way as hundreds of previous form students are now doing.

The woman producer of the morning line should read these racing forums and try

to take on board some of the sensible suggestions made.

Yeah right!!! As it's hard to decide which is more pc , ch4 or bbc , I thoroughly expect to hear them come up with something saying there should be positive discrimination against the male jockeys in favour of the wimmin.