Racing’s ‘Drive to Survive’ show puts sport in front of Tik Tok generation | Horse racing

TThe concept of “prime time” isn’t what it used to be, but Friday 9pm on ITV1 remains a memorable standout slot in the Champions Full Gallop schedule., An all-round access and on-the-sideline attempt to have at least some of the impact on jump racing that the Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive had on F1.

When Drive to Survive began in March 2019, F1 was suffering from declining revenue and ratings, and struggling to grow and diversify its ageing audience. In other words, similar issues to those facing racing today, but Drive to Survive’s six seasons Since then, F1 has become one of the world’s fastest growing sports, attracting millions of new fans and enjoying brighter prospects than it has enjoyed for decades.

The show created a new genre of sports documentary, and is a must-see for anyone who wants to watch the breakpoints of professional tennis. – Golf – Full Swing – It follows suit, using the individuals and personalities involved to try and give the general audience an emotional foothold into the action.

ITV obviously doesn’t have the global reach of Netflix, but then again, neither does National Hunt racing, and while Netflix subscriptions in the UK seem to have plateaued at around one in two households, ITV is available on every TV in the UK. potential The attendance for “Champions Full Gallop” reaches seven figures, and if even one in 100 becomes an occasional bettor, racetrack attendee, or both, the impact will be substantial.

At least, that is probably the thinking behind Racecourse Media Group, which includes The Jockey Club Racecourse and several major independent racecourses, deciding to invest in the six-part series, along with Flutter Entertainment, the owner of betting brands such as Paddy Power and Betfair.

There are some obvious similarities between F1 and racing – speed, intense competition, and ever-present danger. But there are also important differences when it comes to marketing the sport to an entirely new audience. For example, 75% of the population has a driver’s license, but very few have ever learned to ride a horse. So for many people, driving a car at 200 miles per hour is going to be an immediate immersion than riding a horse at 35 miles per hour.

But the exhilaration of competing and winning is universally understood, and this is the Champions Full Gallop. They communicate really well. The whole series will follow the 2023-24 season, but the first episode will focus on the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, which as luck would have it was one of the most dramatic and memorable races in the show’s long history.

The format is standard for modern drama documentaries, with plenty of narrators explaining the lead up to the race and no shots lasting longer than five or ten seconds to accommodate modern attention spans, and whilst this may be a bit jarring for some viewers it will be instantly familiar to the Tik Tok generation and Harry Cobden in particular shows a natural understanding of what the format demands.

Meanwhile, the race itself is presented through a mix of helmet camera footage, close-ups and commentary from the jockeys, including snippets of chatter just before the start, when everyone was wondering whether Shishkin would take the lead.

Of course, even casual racing fans will remember how the race ended, but for those who have no idea what happened or no racing knowledge whatsoever, it’s very easy to follow, memorable and packed with a lot of excitement.

For most of us in the horse racing world, the horses are the real stars, what draw us back to the sport, but for spectators who come to races, and horses in general, with a completely blank slate, it is the people around them, especially the jockeys, who are the sport’s best ambassadors.