Attheraces on the way back?

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From Racing Post

'New Attheraces' could be up and running by June


by Tony Smurthwaite



BRITAIN'S 59 racecourses are on Tuesday morning grappling with the dilemma of whether to pledge allegiance to a 'new Attheraces' after receiving an offer that could lead the failed racing channel back on to air by June 21.

A formal offer to resurrectthe channel was faxed to all racecourses on Monday afternoon. They have until May 21 to reach a decision that will have substantial ramifications for themselves, for racing and for those who want to watch racing.

A re-launch on June 21, the Monday after Royal Ascot, would end an 84-day black hole for the sport since the Attheraces channel slid off air last month amid an emotional send off.

"We were devastated when Attheraces went off air," said Matthew Imi, chief executive of what has been termed'new Attheraces'.

Imi revealed that the new offer had been sent out by the two remaining partners in Attheraces, BSkyB and Arena Leisure, as soon as they were sure that the exit of the third original partner, Channel 4, had been made good.

"We now feel we can make a revised media rights proposal unencumbered," added Imi, a racehorse owner with Emma Lavelle who took over as Attheraces chairman in June in his capacity as head of BSkyB division Sky Ventures.

The offer is for a daily TV racing channel to run for seven years, to 2011, with an option for a further three years. Racecourses will be offered a direct shareholding in new ATR, starting at ten per cent with the potential to rise to a third equal share with BSkyB and Arena.

Imi claimed that the deal tackled the thorny question of £50 million in rebates due from tracks and representing initial instalments paid by Attheraces under the now-collapsed original deal, which was valued at £307m over ten years.

No value has been put on the new offer, but cash from the sale of British racing overseas, and other incomes, could be offset against those rebates, said Imi, and would have the added attraction of averting legal action to recover rebates.

Far more problematic, however, could be the decision for racecourse managements over whether to accept the Attheraces offer or that of a rival that is much closer to home.

Supporters of The Horse Racing Channel, a proposed daily satellite and cable outlet set up by a group of racecourses, aim to retain ownership and management of valuable picture rights rather than allow another company to exploit them.

Imi was blunt in comparing the two offers. "We could be on air within four weeks on Sky Digital, free to air in seven million homes.

"That is the benchmark, set that against a channel charging subscription and with a 20,000 audience."

Point scoring between the two rival bidders looks set to raise temperatures.

Andrew Brown, project director of THRC, pulled no punches when he told the Racing Post: "We believe that our model is best for racing, best for racecourses, and that the courses themselves will be keen to invest in something that they control, rather than giving racing’s birthright to the very people who ranthe last failed venture."

Imi countered by saying that the key to the offer he supports was that racecourses "will share in all revenues" from a business model built on the basis that the bulk of its revenues will come from selling pictures of British races to overseas buyers, and not from interactive betting.

He added: "We envisage coverage from all 59 racecourses, Irish racing and the best of the international product. By May 21 if we have signed with a critical mass of racecourses then we can launch four weeks later. I won't be drawn on how many [racecourses] that means.

"We hope the tracks will embrace this on a relatively risk-free basis."

Presenters familiar to viewers of Attheraces will return to the screens, Imi suggested, but in a format more outside broadcast than studio set.

A studio set will be used, based at SIS headquarters in Corsham Street in London with live pictures from the tracks provided by RaceTech, which is in effect owned by racecourses.

Addressing concerns about the involvement of SIS, and its association with the major bookmakers, Imi said: "There will be no editorial involvement from SIS, the producers will be appointed by Sky.

"We are entirely happy for RaceTech to provide pictures although would like an increase from five to six cameras on location and would want guarantees of the expertise within production staff to create a high quality channel."

Imi said Sky would take responsibility for interactive betting, routing online users through skysports.com which claims 3.3 million unique users.

Key points of the Attheraces offer

DEADLINE FOR COURSES TO DECIDE - May 21
POSSIBLE START DATE FOR COVERAGE- June 21
PLATFORM - Sky Digital Channel 415, and cable channels
NUMBER OF RACECOURSES INVOLVED -Offer is to all 59, minimum number required for deal to progress is not known
FORMAT- More outside broadcast than studio-based, with re-branding and some existing ATR presenters back on screen
BUSINESS STRUCTURE - BSkyB and Arena Leisure plc 90 per cent, racecourses 10 per cent; progressing to equal 33.33 per cent partners over time
HOW WILL IT MAKE MONEY? - Principally from the sale of British racing overseas, plus advertising and sponsorship, and interactive betting.

http://www.racingpost.co.uk/horses/?MIval=rp_std_page&psection=racingpost.co.uk&page=morninglead3

And from attheraces.

attheraces offer new proposal to racecourses


A NEW proposal to broadcast live racing from all 59 UK racecourses has been put forward by attheraces on Monday.

The venture – currently known as NewATR – plans to operate a widely-distributed racing channel available to over 7 million Sky subscribers and up to 2 million more UK and Ireland cable subscribers.

As well as broadcasting racing from all UK tracks, the proposed channel would also cover international racing, including action from Ireland.

The channel – which would be able to launch in June - will retain the name attheraces and will occupy channel 415 on Sky’s digital platform.

NewATR will contract Racetech to provide pictures from the courses and SIS to produce the channel. However, editorial control will rest at all times with NewATR.

The channel will build on recent weekly reach figures of 850,000 by maintaining high-quality editorial content, but will focus more on coverage from the racecourses and less from the studio. It will enjoy a close working relationship with Sky Sports and will undergo a re-brand prior to launch.

Interactive betting through the channel – which will be more user-friendly - will be managed by Sky, who will also oversee development of a “best of breed” racing and betting website.

SkySports.com recently produced attheraces’ Cheltenham Festival microsite.

Following the exit of Channel 4 from attheraces, Sky and Arena have become equal shareholders in the business, which is seeking a seven-year media rights deal with the option to extend for a further three years.

The deal offered to the racecourses will provide them with revenue from day one and the racecourses will be offered 10% free equity in NewATR in the form of Ordinary shares with no funding obligation. There is also the option for the courses to acquire a total of 33.33% equity in NewATR.

The deadline for the courses to sign up is 21 May.

http://www.attheraces.co.uk/cgi-bin/attheraces/ukro/punter/personal/ppeAll.jsp?