THE number of Irish subscribers to Racing TV more than doubled during the channel’s first year showing Irish racing.

Figures released by the channel’s parent company RMG show that there were 13,459 Irish subscribers by the end of 2019, an increase of 140% from the previous year when there were 5,622 Irish customers. Racing TV also saw a 6% increase in British subscribers last year to 47,171.

The channel has exclusive ‘direct-to-home’ rights for all Irish racing and for pictures from 35 British tracks. Racing TV covers 1,150 meetings per year and they claim to show “almost 90% of all group and graded races in Britain and Ireland.”

In a recent presentation given to Irish racecourse management, Racing TV highlighted a number of initiatives the channel had taken to promote Irish racing to a wider audience. This included allowing ITV Racing to show races from Leopardstown, Naas and Down Royal, and making Irish racing pictures available to 23 international broadcasters.

Unlike At The Races, who previously held the rights, Racing TV supplies clips of race finishes to racecourses and Horse Racing Ireland for social media use. Over 1,400 clips were supplied in 2019.

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