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The BBC will no longer be providing daily horseracing tips on its Radio 4 Today programme.
Racing tips have been part of the news programme for the past 47 years, and are broadcast at the end of each sports bulletin at 6:30am, 7:30am and 8:30am from Monday to Saturday.
The BBC Radio 4 Today programme will still provide horseracing tips; but instead of it being a daily segment, these will only be offered for the biggest days in the racing calendar, such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The announcement was made by presenter Amol Raja, talking to sports reporter Mike Williams, saying: “No racing tips from you today, Mike. That is because we have decided to break the tradition of having racing tips every day of the year. Instead, we’re going to reserve the tips for the biggest days in the racing calendar.
“We will very much continue to cover horse racing, as we do so many other sports, not least through interviews with leading lights in the racing world. And we will sometimes continue to broadcast from the big ticket events like the Grand National festival or Cheltenham Gold Cup week.”
The decision has come as a disappointment to the industry as emphasised by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) Chair Michael Dugher, who told the Racing Post: “This is sad news but unsurprising. It also says a lot about the current standing of the sport at the BBC. I suspect there have always been people at BBC Radio 4 that regard the racing tips as a bit ‘below stairs’ and, if they like racing at all, they only care about the big ‘dressing up’ meetings like Royal Ascot or Cheltenham.
“Millions of ordinary people enjoy a regular bet – whether that’s on bingo, the lottery or sports like racing. There’s definitely more than a hint of snobbery from the Today Programme with this decision.”
In other horseracing news, a collective agreement has been reached between 1/ST Content, Tabcorp, Arena Racing Company (ARC) and Racecourse Media Group (RMG), to create a network of rights holders.
