The HD channel, currently available in around three million homes, drew an average audience of 324,000. This year’s three-day Aintree festival, of which the Grand National is the highlight, was the first UK horseracing event broadcast in HD.
The standard BBC1 coverage drew 7.5 million, down 12.7 per cent on last year’s audience, which had been down 14.9 per cent on the year before.
See the next issue of TV Sports Markets for a full analysis of the BBC’s HD sports broadcasts in 2010.