Kittykins
Well-Known Member
That all said.. should the societies be doing more to promote their sports with the broadcasters? Surely the BSJA should help events promote themselves to television channels?
BBC reply re Hickstead Derby
- Thread starter SJFAN
- Start date
Onyxia
Well-Known Member
Good god yes!
I don't see why shows should just be left to promote themselves to TV-they have a big enough job putting the show together and getting bums on seats.
The sports powers that be should really be pulling out all the guns to get some TV time-horse sports have been big news and there is no reason they should not be again.
Henbug
Well-Known Member
Sky sports did a bloody fantastic job and I told them so
Sod the BBC.
^^^ Same here ^^^ Really enjoyed watching it and thought they did it well.
millitiger
Well-Known Member
i think it was unfortunate that Hickstead was on the same weekend as Wimbledon, Glastonbury, Formula 1 and the World Cup.
it is surely all about viewing figures and simply not enough people had watched the Derby in previous years compared to the events above.
it is surely all about viewing figures and simply not enough people had watched the Derby in previous years compared to the events above.
GREYSMEADOW
Well-Known Member
I thought the reason why the Hickstead Derby Meeting was moved from August to June was because of TV coverage with the BBC due to too many other sports being televised in August and didnt have the resources.
Im wondering now if the Derby Meeting will revert back to August around bank holiday time?
Im wondering now if the Derby Meeting will revert back to August around bank holiday time?
Miss.Geek
Well-Known Member
Fantastic comment, although I have never heard of the show!
Sky Sports showed the Derby, yes it was on several hours after the event but it was still broadcast and they will be at the Royal International meet in August. I also think that due to the World cup it never had a look in!
HumBugsey
Well-Known Member
Just an update, I have emailed sky sports to ask if they plan on selling any of what they broadcast to H&C. I want to watch it even more now, damn H&H called it a "vintage year" 
GREYSMEADOW
Well-Known Member
Miss.Geek - The Royal International meeting is this month (28 July - 1 August) then the Schools Meeting 5th August. Nothing at the end of August anymore.
Over2You
Well-Known Member
The Hickstead Derby Meeting, the RIHS, Canter Banter, FEI Equestrian World, the Nations Cup, Arena UK, HOYS, the World Cup, International Jumping of France, Spruce Meadows, and various others. Plus they show some eventing, polo, and dressage events. I would hardly call those a "few snippets".
I think Sky did a highly commendable job and am glad they have full rights for the next four years. The BBC have well and truly lost the plot. It took them something like a year-and-a-half to show just one season of All Saints (a brilliant Australian medical drama series), then dropped it completely without saying a word about doing so. Yet, it can put on endless repeats of Murder, She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder. It ruined the final season of Heroes by messing about with times and removing it to make way for sport. Now it has gone and slapped equestrian fans in the face by dropping Hickstead. They have only shown ONE equestrian event (Badminton) this year and that is an absolute disgrace. We pay our licence fees just the same as tennis, motor-sport, and football fans. They cater almost exclusively to the latter now and that should be motivation enough to boycott the licence fee.
Would any of you be interested in signing a petition to Downing Street if I started one? It is high time the BBC were sorted out.
Over2You
Well-Known Member
I didn't see any celebrity scurrying, but I did enjoy seeing Flt Lt. Richard Griffiths winning with Mean and Keen.
Scheherezade
Well-Known Member
This is the kind of 'argument' it is impossible to debate with logically, but I will try.
You don't like football, but lots of other people do. You like horses, but less people do. Therefore the majority wins. Bringing it down to "well I like it so it HAS to go" isn't helpful.
If the BBC cancelled coverage of the world cup, wimbledon or glastonbury (all of which are FAR more well-attended and watched than the Hickstead Derby on their own, let alone combined) then there would be national uproar - not just a few emails from HHo. They can only cover a finite number of events.
I think "a nail in the coffin" is a little melodramatic given how much I think coverage has increased in recent years - unfortunately this year there is a major clash.
You can please some people some of the time, and all that.
Chrissie
Active Member
I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this or not as I have not had chance to read all the replies
Why doesn't the BBC cover Equestrian Sports and just put them on the interactive red button? they use the red button to cover all the sports at the Olympics etc, so if they cannot use BBC1 to show Hickstead etc, then why can they not put this option on the red button instead? Everyone is being converted to digital tv, therefore this option would then be open to everyone. If they do it for the Olympics and often on sundays when the grand prix clashes with other sporting events, so why not with horsey sports as well?
It angers me that the BBC have slowly stopped showing top Equestrian events. I know loads of non-horsey people who say that their families used to watch them even though they weren't into horses. Have the BBC actually asked people what they want to watch???
Why doesn't the BBC cover Equestrian Sports and just put them on the interactive red button? they use the red button to cover all the sports at the Olympics etc, so if they cannot use BBC1 to show Hickstead etc, then why can they not put this option on the red button instead? Everyone is being converted to digital tv, therefore this option would then be open to everyone. If they do it for the Olympics and often on sundays when the grand prix clashes with other sporting events, so why not with horsey sports as well?
It angers me that the BBC have slowly stopped showing top Equestrian events. I know loads of non-horsey people who say that their families used to watch them even though they weren't into horses. Have the BBC actually asked people what they want to watch???
BBH
Well-Known Member
I think the viewing figures will be a clue as to who wants to watch equestrian sport.
I would imagine the production costs of Red Button are no different than to being given ' air time' so unless people are viewing there's no point wasting money. I remember my non horsey Dad watching but only because he wanted to see if a certain Mr Harvey Smith did anymore V signs. There were characters in those days.
Kittykins
Well-Known Member
But the whole point of a Public Service Broadcaster is to cater for minority groups. Our license fee is paid in order to ensure that they don't have to compete with commercial organisations for majority viewing figures. Currently they're taking taxpayers (for that's what the license has become) for a ride.
I would, and not only for their shoddy equestrian coverage and general abandonment of minority sports - also for their incredibly biased and frankly infuriating news coverage. Plus, their output of quality drama has diminished severely over the last few years.
The world service is the only part of the BBC that does a stirling job - and it's been hacked away at over the recent years in order to pay Jonathan Ross an obscene salary.
millitiger
Well-Known Member
is that the point of the BBC though?
i would have thought that as the license fee is compulsory if you own a TV, that the BBC have a moral responsibility to broadcast whatever makes the majority happy.
it all comes down to viewing figures and simply put, not enough people watch equestrian events to warrant the coverage.
usually they put it on the red button if BBC1 and 2 are full but as i said before the Derby weekend clashed with 5 or 6 other events, not one or two.
(and i for one would like to say thank goodness they got the World Cup coverage as the ITV pundits are appalling and i am also so glad that F1 is not ruined by ad breaks anymore!)
Over2You
Well-Known Member
Excellent! That is at least one signature guaranteed. I'm still working on a draft, but it will hopefully be online soon.
You are right about Jonathan Ross and his like. They are vastly over-paid, over-hyped non-entities in my opinion.
The role of the BBC (as far as I have heard) is to cater to ALL its licence fee payers. Those Bloody British Channels fail to do so time and time and time again. I strongly resent my licence going towards sporting events I never watch, being used to make mindless, god awful soaps, and mediocre game shows. If you have the audacity to send as much as a mild criticism their way, you get treated like a second rate citizen and don't get anything that resembles an explanation for their actions (as proven on this thread). They are clearly unwilling to change their agenda, and will go doing exactly what they please. That is exactly why a higher power must step-in and give viewers a voice.
Please sign my petition when it is finished. Thanks.