26 June, 2015 |Brad Bishop – @bradbishop12
Racing Victoria is hopeful that vision of Victorian racing will be on free-to-air television nationally within a fortnight.
Friday’s Racing.com Park Synthetic meeting at Pakenham commences the arrangement that will see Seven West Media broadcast Victorian racing via free-to-air Channel 78 on its national metropolitan network in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
The vision will not yet be available on regional networks, but Saundry said the industry was working hard to make it accessible to everyone as soon as possible.
“Getting vision into country Victoria is a priority and we’re looking for a solution as soon as possible,” Saundry told Racing.com’s Racing Ahead on RSN.
“I would hope within the next two weeks that that would become a reality.”
The coverage of Racing.com Park on Friday will be the feed of the Racing Live service that has been operating since TVN ceased in March. That interim service will continue until Seven West Media commences its coverage on 29 August.
Racing Victoria is working to not only get Victorian coverage back in pubs and clubs via Sky Channel, but also exploring options that might see Channel 78 available via Foxtel. Saundry conceded the arrangement was not ideal, but stressed that it was an interim one and requested patience.
“I realise it’s not perfect, but what I’m asking is that people be patient because we’re heading into a brave new world for Victorian racing that will allow Victorian racing to be broadcast on many platforms,” he said.
“That’s the No. 1 goal; to get the broadcast of Victorian racing to as many people whenever, wherever and however they choose.
“Yes, it is an interim arrangement – Channel 7 understands that, Racing Victoria understands that – and we’ll continue to pursue the broader distribution into regional markets over the next couple of weeks.”
Even with Channel 78 up and running, Victorian thoroughbred racing will continue to be streamed live and free across computers, tablets and mobiles via Racing.com, sportsbet.com.au and crownbet.com.au, while vision remains available in the state’s 92 retail TAB agencies.
