Armchair punters suffer blow with demise of Racing Channel

THE Racing Channel, which had become hugely popular in Ireland and is owned by US sports broadcaster TRNI, is to close.

The shock announcement was made by presenter, Richard Pitman, when the station came on air shortly after noon yesterday. Today will be the last afternoon the Channel will cover racing. It also covers American racing extensively in the evenings and that will cease on January 31.

The Racing Channel’s future had become increasingly uncertain since January 1, when it lost the right to transmit Irish racing. They had been left with only nine British meetings and a motley diet of international racing, mainly comprising totally uninteresting South African fare.