Channel 4 will end its coverage of British horse racing four days before rival commercial broadcaster ITV becomes the exclusive free-to-air home of the sport on January 1.
Channel 4 will end its coverage on December 27 with the Welsh Grand National from Chepstow and Kempton’s Christmas Festival. As a result, the New Year’s Eve meetings at Newbury and Lingfield will not be shown free-to-air.
The broadcaster cited “logistical problems” in handing over broadcast equipment to ITV as its reason for taking the decision.
A Channel 4 spokesperson said, according to the Racing Post newspaper: “Channel 4 has discussed with RMG [Racecourse Media Group] and Newbury and made clear that the logistical problems involved in handing over racing to another broadcaster in such a short space of time mean that we will not be broadcasting from Newbury on December 31.”
In January, ITV struck a four-year deal, from 2017 to 2020, to dislodge Channel 4 as the free-to-air home of British horse racing.
ITV will show nearly 100 days of racing each year, including all the marquee events on ITV’s main channel, such as the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National, the Derby, Royal Ascot, British Champions Day, Goodwood Festival, Ebor Festival and the St Leger. ITV will broadcast a minimum of 34 fixtures on its main channel and 60 on digital-terrestrial channel ITV4, in addition to a magazine preview programme every Saturday morning on ITV4.
The December 27 meetings will bring to an end Channel 4’s 32-year association with British horse racing.