Advertising by bookmakers persuaded ITV bosses to bid for the horse racing

The big off track news for horse racing over the new year was ITV 'winning' the rights to televise the sport from 1 January 2017. Underrated journalist Lee Mottershead of the Racing Post got the scoop, which was then well covered in the back pages of most of the papers.
Racing was officially the third most popular spectator sport in the UK last year, after football and rugby union. With attendance at racecourses continuing to rise, it is likely to overtake rugby in 2016. It was only the World Cup which boosted rugby above horse racing in 2015.
Analysis of this development has focused on the poor viewing figures obtained by Channel 4 and some surprise in non-racing circles that ITV bosses were willing to pay the widely quoted £36m figure. 
Channel 4's coverage has been technically proficient but all too cosy and comfortable. The presenters seem too often to be personal friends with the jockeys and trainers they highlight (witness all the praise they have been heaping on new trainer Kerry Lee in recent weeks). This closeness to the subjects hampers objective analysis, with the featured pundits rarely willing to criticise jockeys, trainers or administrators in the way that, for example, the best Sky Sports cricket broadcasters do.
Betting is obviously a huge factor in racing. Since John McCririck was sacked from Channel 4 Racing, proper questioning of dubious bookmaking practice has completely ceased. 'Big Mac's' pantomime sexism belonged in the 1970's, but he knew his subject inside out and was a proper journalist. Representatives of the big bookmakers are now invited on to the programme simply to advertise their prices and special offers (the product), and are never held to account on behalf of the punter.
Interestingly one point largely missed in the coverage of the TV deal, is the significant part played by the betting industry in making horse racing attractive to ITV again. The bigger audiences that ITV can deliver will make advertising during the racing very attractive to bookmakers. ITV bosses rightly anticipate that this will be a very lucrative revenue stream.
This potential conflict of interest will need to be closely watched. An independently minded betting correspondent willing to speak their mind will be essential to punter confidence in the new ITV(7) coverage. Gosh I'd like that job!