MULTI-YEAR ITV AGREEMENT FOR BTCC, WITH EXTENDED LIVE BROADCASTS
The HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship will enjoy
an unprecedented amount of live Sunday afternoon ITV coverage
from 2008 – its landmark 50th anniversary season –
after finalising a new three-year agreement.
A season total of some 46 hours of live air time will be
devoted by ITV4 to the BTCC – Britain’s premier
motor racing championship – plus a further ten hours
of highlights, which will be broadcast on the weekend following
each event in hour-long programmes.
Extending the reach of the championship even further, ITV1,
Britain’s largest commercial terrestrial network, will
also broadcast a one-hour highlights programme on the Monday
night after each event. Its sister digital station Men &
Motors will schedule that same programme during the week following
each event.
This gives the BTCC a massive total of some 76 hours of UK
broadcasting – across both the digital and terrestrial
ITV networks – making it the most significant UK TV
broadcast arrangement in the championship’s long history.
Eight of the ten fixtures will be shown live and non-stop
on ITV4 from 12.30pm-5.30pm with the remaining two receiving
three hours of coverage apiece. All three BTCC races on the
day will now be broadcast in their entirety and the valuable
extra airtime also means that more ‘behind the scenes’
stories will be shown, thus giving viewers greater insight
into the BTCC. As well, some support races will be seen live
on ITV for the first time.
Furthermore, ITV’s website www.itv.com will live-stream
each Sunday afternoon BTCC broadcast.
ITV4 broadcasts to around 90 per cent of the UK’s households
via freeview digital, cable, and satellite signals –
and is now home to many of ITV’s top sporting events
including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, boxing and the
Tour de France. Other high-profile sports will also be joining
ITV4’s line-up.
Alan Gow, BTCC Series Director, comments: “This is
fantastic news for everyone associated with the BTCC –
our teams, drivers, partners and fans – who will all
benefit from the increased ITV coverage of our events. To
have 76 hours of BTCC programming is simply phenomenal...
that’s a staggering 4,560 minutes of ITV scheduling,
broadcast on both the ‘free to air’ digital and
terrestrial platforms.
“With five hours of live coverage on race-day, ITV4
is able to now devote more time and resources to fully cover
our events as well as to reflect on the BTCC’s history,
in what is the championship’s 50th anniversary season.
“ITV has been the BTCC’s TV broadcaster since
2002 – and the fact that it has embarked on such an
expansion of its coverage, while also committing to a multi-year
agreement, is solid proof of its enthusiasm for the championship
as a major sporting spectacle for its viewers.”
Mark Sharman, ITV Director of News and Sport, says: “We
are delighted to have secured coverage of the HiQ MSA British
Touring Car Championship for ITV4 – as the channel is
an increasing destination for premium sports events and is
now available to almost nine out of ten UK homes, as well
as being simulcast on itv.com.
“This new contract will see a significant increase
in the airtime we are devoting to the BTCC, allowing us to
broadcast the races live and reflect more of the excitement
and scale of the ten events.”
2008 BTCC transmission times, ITV4:
Brands Hatch, 30 March, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Rockingham, 13 April, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Donington Park, 4 May, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Thruxton, 18 May, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Croft, 1 June, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Snetterton, 13 July, 12.30pm-2.30pm & 5pm-6pm
Oulton Park, 27 July, 12.30pm-2.30pm & 5pm-6pm
Knockhill, 17 August, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Silverstone, 31 August, 12.30pm-5.30pm
Brands Hatch, 21 September, 12.30pm-5.30pm
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