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Preparations are coming to a head for the latest running of the world’s greatest steeplechase, and for ITV Sport Production’s lead creative director Paul McNamara, “it’s all about giving people a comfortable ride.”
The Randox Grand National draws in between 500-800 million
viewers globally and is one of the crown jewels of British sport alongside
Wimbledon and the Oxbridge Boat Race as an event that has become a cultural
institution.
“To borrow a phrase, the National is when the majority of
people go racing,” says McNamara, who will also direct the feature race for the
tenth time.
The three day event in Aintree, Liverpool [April 9-11] is a
fraction of the 117 race days covered live and free to air by ITV Racing
(produced by ITV Sport Production, part of ITV Studios) over the year in a
contract with Racecourse Media Group recently extended from 2027 to 2030.
Nonetheless, its regular audiences are dwarfed by an occasion which attracted a
peak domestic audience of 5.2 million last time out. ITV coverage of Royal Ascot
came a close second, reaching five million viewers across its five days.
“We are lucky to be the custodians of this fabulous event,”
says McNamara. “As a production we look back at archive films from the
thirties, forties and fifties and wonder what people in 30 and 40 years will
think when they look back at what we've done. In many ways the race coverage
itself remains very similar. What we’ve done over the years is layer in
additional cameras like drones and depth of field cameras but the story of the
race has a similar pattern.
“The core ambition is to honour that legacy while pushing
coverage forward using the tools available today.”
Visually, the Grand National remains one of the most
comprehensively covered events in British sport. The 50-camera setup includes a
wire cam along the home straight, drones, and helicopters, alongside hi-motion
cameras and FS7 depth-of-field units. Yet there is a recognition that, in the
current economic climate, simply maintaining this level of coverage is an
achievement in itself.
“It’s a massive strength to stay where you are,” McNamara
observes. “I want nothing in terms of covering this. For example, I don’t think
we could integrate any more fence cameras and even if we did there's a risk of
overcomplicating the live race.
“For us, it's not about tricks. It's about showing people
clearly the story of the race so that they can follow all the action as it
happens. Our focus is not on adding more for the sake of it, but on delivering
clarity and consistency.”
Expanding coverage beyond the Race
What has changed significantly over the decades and notably
in ITV Racing’s stewardship (since 2017) has been presentation of the meet as
an entertainment experience. With more than 12 hours of live programming
building up to a race that lasts around 12 minutes, the challenge lies in
sustaining engagement throughout.
“It's always been our mantra that we're not a sports channel
- we're an entertainment channel that does sport,” explains McNamara. “If a
viewer tunes in at any point, regardless of their familiarity with racing, they
should be entertained, not alienated by terminology.”
With 150,000 people attending Aintree, ITV will take viewers
into the hospitality tents, grandstand and paddock to reflect all the colour
and excitement. “We’ll follow [ITV Racing presenter] Oli Bell into different
areas of the course. We’ll see the fans cooling down the horses and explain the
welfare of the animals. We’ll have sections on fashion. Even betting is
demystified, with presenters explaining how to place a wager in simple,
accessible terms. Everything is there to inform and entertain.”
The emphasis on accessibility also informs production
decisions. Presenters are often positioned in the parade ring, rather than in
more detached studio environments.
“When we began our racing coverage we adopted a football
philosophy which is to think of the parade ring like the managers’ dugout on
the side of the pitch. That’s why we present from the parade ring, right at the
heart of the action.”
There are subtle production changes, notably in presentation
of audio. Horse racing has traditionally relied on augmented sound due to the
scale of the courses, but ITV has worked to modernise this by refreshing its
sound libraries (down to the type of horse running on different ground and at
different speeds) and increasing the use of live “actuality” audio captured
around the track. Microphones positioned at key fences including Becher’s and
Canal Turn and remote sections of the 4 mile 550 yard course help create a more
immersive experience, blending authenticity with carefully managed enhancement.
Graphics and rerun
While live graphics tracking technologies and AI-based
systems have been explored, they are not yet considered reliable enough for
real-time use in such a complex environment.
“Tracking and timing is complicated,” says Tony Cahalane,
Technical Director, ITV Sport Production. “We’ve trialled AI-based visual
recognition, but commentators are usually ahead of the tracking. Tracking can
be done on an oval course; but it’s much harder on a course with the scale of
Aintree.
“We do name horses in the rerun when we can be absolutely
accurate. As a result, live coverage prioritises a clean, uncluttered picture,
with more detailed analysis and visualisation deployed in reruns where accuracy
can be guaranteed.”
The rerun itself is treated as a significant production in
its own right. A separate EVS, editorial team and truck handles it, working
with expert analyst Ruby Walsh to refine how the race is broken down and
explained. Its popularity is such that it has become the second most-watched
race in the UK – after the live run airs just minutes before.
“The key to making this run as slickly as it now does is in
using the preceding two days as rehearsal. We don’t just rock up. We can source
new angles from drone or hi-motion or fence cam not shown in the live run. A
lot of work goes into producing this.”
Digital output
Digital output has become an increasingly important part of
ITV’s operation. Alongside the linear broadcast, a dedicated on-site team
captures, edits, and distributes content in real time. Clips from races,
behind-the-scenes moments, and lighter editorial features are pushed across
social platforms, while each day’s Opening Shows are streamed simultaneously on
YouTube.
Maggie Price, Senior Production Manager, explains, “We have
two digital producers on site, one who clips races and content and another who
collects editorial content and colour. They will be constantly cutting and then
pushing things out to our social media sites. We have a dedicated ENG camera at
our disposal who can gather any additional information for anything that Paul might want to put into
the show, as well as content for our VTs of cultural features created for
airing the following day. All these are edited on site.”
She also highlights ITV’s Social Stable outreach on digital channels as “a
great chance to interact with viewers” and to pull that content into the main
linear programming.
“We invite viewers to share how they are watching the race
and this creates a sense of participation that extends beyond the broadcast
itself,” she says. “The team working remotely across ITV Racing's social media
platforms will usually export 16x9 footage from the ITV programme output and
then we will edit it via premiere pro into a vertical format (using keyframe
tracking and scene edit detection) which makes the content able to be
posted on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube shorts.”
Underlying ITV’s Grand National coverage is a long and
detailed planning process. Preparations begin months in advance, with initial
creative discussions taking place in the autumn and continuing through site
visits, production meetings, and ongoing collaboration with the racecourse.
Cahalane says, “It’s a wonderful event and a great team
effort; one that continues to demand care, attention, and respect year after
year.
“We’ve already put dates in the diary for 2027.”
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