Broadcasting of the Grand National

The John Smith’s Grand National is always a highlight of the televised sporting calendar and 2008 will be no exception. The BBC has outsourced its John Smith’s Grand National meeting coverage this year for the first time. Sunset+Vine, which already provides the corporation’s other horseracing coverage, will take over at the event which has been televised since 1960.

More than 50 cameras will be utilised including one in the jockeys’ changing room and others in two helicopters. The BBC head of television sport, Philip Bernie, said: “Sunset+Vine has been producing the major part of our horseracing output for the last four years and the company has done an excellent job. We have a very good relationship with Sunset+Vine and it made sense to have one production company producing all the horseracing coverage.”

Sunset+Vine chairman Jeff Foulser declared: “The Grand National on the BBC has been part of the British sporting calendar for decades and the coverage has been produced to a very high standard. It is now up to us to maintain that standard and take it on from here. “

Tremendous Audience Share

A domestic audience of 7.6 million people, representing a massive 66.5 per cent share of the television audience at the time, saw the live broadcast on BBC1 in 2007. This is the highest viewing figure for a sporting event outside of football. The Grand National re-run, shortly after the big race, was seen by 5.1 million people, almost four times as many people as watched the Cheltenham Gold Cup live on Channel 4 in March.

Great Radio Coverage

BBC Radio 5 Live covers the John Smith’s Grand National meeting extensively, with live reporting of all three days from Aintree augmented by a series of preview programmes.

Global Interest

In addition to worldwide news access and online reports, BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, distributes footage of the John Smith’s Grand National to 140 countries worldwide. This makes the great race very much a global event, enjoyed by millions of viewers around the world. The estimated worldwide audience for the John Smith’s Grand National is 600 million.