THE final day of the festival kicked off with fanfare and again Ed Chamberlin leaves us in no doubt about How. Big. This. Is.

Friday was the acid test for team ITV and Ed, despite his professionalism, did seem to be aware of it and initially nervous about it.

The challenge for ITV has really been to distinguish themselves from their predecessors at Channel Four. The home of X Factor taking over from the Big Brother house.

Over the course of the week the team has improved and become more comfortable. They have been covering racing since New Year’s Day but realistically this week is their first significant audience.

This cannibalistic effect of the Cheltenham Festival on the rest of the racing calendar wasn’t a topic for discussion this week. Appropriately, but the tone did often veer into North Korean state broadcast at times, such was the gushing praise for all the horses, trainers, jockeys and winning connections.

The absence of bookmakers’ representatives on the coverage is no loss. Matt Chapman manages to capture all that’s required from the betting ring.

The pre-recorded inserts discussing crucial parts of each race and the intricacies of how to ride the track really worked well. Here Mick Fitz provided real insight into a jockey’s thinking at critical points in a race. As a jockey his debriefs were famous for their length and detail. That talent is his biggest asset and he wasn’t as effective on Friday as on Thursday.

The sparing use of Richard Hoiles pre-race is highly effective, given his distinctive voice, to mix things up.

Ed keeps everything flowing; he is the ultimate professional and really his presence eases the lament for the absence of the likes of Nick Luck and Clare Balding. When Chamberlin has the microphone and controls the broadcast, there are no silences, missed beats or dead air and the gimmicks like the infra-red camera are well integrated.

This week though has been all about A.P. He’s the marquee signing, He was given a statue. The viewers were reminded of his greatness. He chatted to Martin Pipe, it wasn’t an interview, as he didn’t ask any questions.

“The Champ”, as Mick Fitz fawningly refers to him, has a problem. He’s not a jockey anymore, and on the evidence of the first few days of the Festival, Sir Anthony McCoy has not made peace with this new reality.

A.P.’s addiction to riding winners made him one of the all-time greats in the sport, but what made him great in that sphere, the selfishness, the will to win, the razor-sharp competitive edge, doesn’t yet make for great broadcasting.

His reluctance to share his thoughts when his experiences would have provided most insight (“I’m not going to tell Ruby Walsh how to do his job”) was the clearest dereliction of duty. However, he did evolve over the week.

Much like A.P’s career in the saddle - where he had the humility to say he had less talent than others but ultimately rode more winners than them all - by Friday the champ appeared more comfortable in the role and added insight to the broadcast. He will learn, he will improve, he will begin to be more critical. It’s an evolution; it’s part of a recovery.

ITV wanted to step out of the shadow of Channel Four but they have provided us with a fascinating observation of the recovery process of a chronic addict. What could be more ‘Channel Four’ than that?