RACING will be screened on ITV1 and ITV4 from 2017 onwards, the commercial channel having secured a £30m deal over four years with the Racecourse Media Group. This brings to an end Channel 4’s 30-year relationship with the sport, declining viewing figures having effectively forced a change.

It is no surprise that Channel 4 Racing has given way, its poor performance having come under increasing scrutiny in recent times. The two abiding questions concern ITV’s chances of improving the situation and which broadcasters it will employ.

It is rather unfair to suggest, as some have done, that Channel 4 failed because the production team at IMG proved less imaginative than their predecessors at Highflyer.

This cosy assumption takes no account of a general ‘falling off’ in public interest. If some newspapers feel they can cut right back on racing, it is perfectly logical to suggest that fewer people will watch it on television, as well.

Harking back to the BBC’s impressive figures conveniently overlooks the fact that on Grandstand, for example, racing was used merely as a convenient ‘filler’ before a big rugby match or whatever.

Will the switch to ITV make much difference? Possibly not. Racing needs to accept that most people watch because they’ve had a bet. Saying there will be converts among those seeing the sport for the first time - some people leave ITV on all day - is possibly true but they will still need the gambling instinct in the first place. There is another problem for the incoming channel in that ITV4 is not available to many Irish households via the Saorview free-to-air package.

As for the staffing, one can only hope an announcement is made before too long. Presumably Nick Luck will be available but it remains to be seen how the BBC will react to Clare Balding (a freelance, remember) fronting the main programmes for its arch rival.

ITV is a populist channel and, beyond question, Derek Thompson is a populist broadcaster who may have more cause for optimism than most. One can also imagine Jeremy Kyle being used in a Roy Keane sort of way - abrasive, argumentative and likely to stimulate many a pub debate.

Good luck and good judgement may enable ITV to arrest a general disaffection with televised racing. It is to be hoped so, because this latest development has the look of a last throw of the dice about it.