Attheraces Gets Off To A Good Start

Attheraces, the joint digital TV venture between BSkyB, Channel 4 and Arena Leisure, has announced an “extremely encouraging” set of viewing figures for its first three weeks on air.

According to Arena Leisure, between 1 May and 18 May the horseracing and betting channel attracted an average peak audience of 50,554 during live afternoon racing, which takes place between 2pm and 4.30pm. The channel also achieved a one-off peak audience of 102,171, which was recorded at 3pm on 6 May.

Chris Stoddart, CEO of Attheraces, said: “These audience figures have exceeded our expectations. We have always planned to build our audience and these ratings mark an extremely encouraging start, particularly in light of the fact that we have not yet rolled out our TV channel marketing campaign, which is planned for July – September.”

Attheraces, formerly known as Go Racing (see Go Racing Rebrands), holds the media rights to UK horseracing for the next 10 years. The consortium finalised the £387m deal last June following lengthy negotiations with the British Horseracing Board (see Go Racing Back In The Saddle).

Attheraces: 020 7291 1670 www.attheraces.co.uk

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