Racing UK Test

Racing UK to launch Wednesday on Channel 432. Sub Only from October 1.

Racing UK gears up for subscription service

by Howard Wright


VIEWERS of Racing UK will have 30 days to decide whether to take out a subscription to carry on watching the 24-hour satellite channel, which is to be rebranded and relaunched on Wednesday.

From September 1, Racing UK will begin round-the-clock broadcasting from a permanent slot, on Sky channel 432, which is being made available under a commercial agreement with Setanta Sport.

The current service of live racing from 30 courses will continue to be shown on channel 425, where Racing UK has "lodged" under an arrangement with iSports TV since its launch on May 29, but that option will disappear on October 1.

From that date, access to Racing UK, with its group of courses that include all the majors, except Ascot, will be by subscription only.

Rival channel At The Races will continue to show live racing from at least 27 courses, including the all-weather monopoly provided by BSkyB's joint partner Arena Leisure, on a free-to-air service as part of the Sky Family package.

Racing UK chairman Simon Bazalgette said on Friday: "This is the next phase in our development, and allows us to promote the channel as widely as possible, knowing we have a permanent platform for our quality racing."

The 24-hour channel 432 will carry information and news in the morning - largely via graphics and data, not a studio-presented show - and highlights in the evening.

Details of subscription, which is expected to cost £20-25 per month, will be announced next week.

Bazalgette conceded that the encrypted service was being launched at the start of a six-month period when Racing UK's live British action will be nowhere near as comprehensive as ATR's.

The split of courses between the two channels means there will be four blank days on Racing UK in October, eight in November and seven in December, out of 88 days when racing takes place. In the first quarter of 2005 there will be a total of 28 days out of 85 with no live UK action, compared with one on ATR.

However, Bazalgette said: "We have a couple of months to sort out contracts before the main period of potential blanks comes in early next year.

"We will have live racing from South Africa, and are in the process of negotiating to bring in American and French racing.

"We want to make sure we show quality racing, which is what people mainly want.

"It will be coverage that people who are passionate about racing will want to see, so that we make sure viewers are getting good value for their subscriptions."

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/news/rp_std_page.sd?psection=racingpost.co.uk&page=top11

mikeym wrote:

If the english subscribers pay £25 we would probably have to fork out €30. Hardly worth it since that the family pack is around €27.

Thats what I thought it would be.

Racing UK announce subscription rate

by Howard Wright


RACING UK, which has been rebranded and is being relaunched on its own 24-hour channel (Sky Sports 432) on Tuesday, will cost £20 per month – or £200 for a year, if paid in advance – from October 1, when coverage on the current, shared channel 425 slot is due to disappear.

In keeping with the channel’s stated intention when it was launched on May 29, the service will only be available through an encrypted transmission. The promoters say they need 20,000 subscribers to break even.

RUK is still hoping that betting partners will provide discounts for subscribers, but Betfair has already withdrawn from discussions, and last week Ladbrokes chief executive Chris Bell said his company had no plans to take up the offer.

RUK chairman Simon Bazalgette said on Tuesday: “The subscription rate recognises the quality of our racing and the betting opportunities it provides. It also allows us to be much less dependent on advertising, and will prevent piracy of the pictures.”

The amount of coverage from RUK’s courses, especially at weekends, will increase as races broadcast on Channel 4 will be shown when the subscription basis begins.

However, as the Racing Post revealed last week, there will be noticeable gaps in daily UK racing available over the first six months of the subscription, caused by the split of courses between RUK and rival At The Races.

The total of 47 blank days among 173 on which racing is scheduled will be even bigger if Plumpton and Wetherby, the only uncommitted courses, go with ATR, and obviously does not take account of inevitable abandonments.

RUK has exclusive rights to racing from South Africa, and Bazalgette confirmed on Tuesday that he is still negotiating to acquire live action from other countries.

Despite the early blanks, RUK channel editor Jim Ramsay said he was “very excited” by the chance to run an independent channel, “where we can control our own scheduling and not be constrained by time factors.”

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/news/rp_std_page.sd?psection=racingpost.co.uk&page=industry1

This works out to €30 per month & €295 per annum (may be discounted down).