For the high jump
I'm writing this with some trepidation. A few days ago I thought it was another good news story for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport: following the return of cricket to ´óÏó´«Ã½ television, the reappearance of another old favourite.
But now I realise there'll be even more suspicion that we're a bunch of royalist horsey types. After Zara Phillips's victory in , which has generated a lively response, we're bringing back showjumping to primetime television...
In fact, I'm about the least horsey type imaginable. Having been brought up in Bradford and now living in London, I'm allergic to green fields. I've nothing at all against horses - they seem relatively benign animals - but it's the one subject on which there's a unbridgeable chasm between and me. She grew up with them, while the only horse I knew as a kid was .
However, the idea came this summer while watching "Only Fools On Horses" - the nightly show for celebrity riders in aid of Sport Relief. It had more weaknesses than strengths as a format; but it attracted enough of an audience to make us wonder whether the real thing was due for a comeback.
In recent years we've covered the in Grandstand on Saturday and Sunday afternoons - and it hasn't had the peak time showings that were traditional in the early decades of television. But the Puissance is still one of the classic events: a horse, a rider and an intimidatingly-high wall. Simple as that.
So as an experiment, this Friday night showjumping takes its place in the spotlight again. Clare will be presenting, and you can see it all live from 9pm on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two.
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Great to have Show Jumping back on the ´óÏó´«Ã½. I used to love watching many years ago!
Don't worry about the negative comments. Just look at these quotes from the SPOTY blog:
"SPOTY was won by someone riding a horse. What does that say about the state of British sport?"
&
"Why is Tony MacCoy never nominated for SPOTY?"
You can't win guys!!!
I hope we're getting the classic ´óÏó´«Ã½ showjumping theme for this? If not, there'll be riots on the streets of Cheltenham. Polite riots, obviously.
Is that why we had the pony riding item on Breakfast this morning?
I have to say the "sport" bulletin on breakfast have become like SPOTY - something to appeal to everyone instead of being of interest to sports fans.
In the end you won't interest those who don't care about sport for the very reason that they don't care about sport, and you'll lose those who do care about sport because of the dumbing down element
Surely there's more than enough horse riding on the telly already? The Grand National's enough for me.
And no animal with armoured feet that doesn't know it's a vegetarian can be described as benign.
Dear Roger,
This is great news. No doubt you'll be back with all the stats to tell us just how popular it is in due course...
Seriously, olympia was compulsive viewing for me in the 80's and the Puissance, Shetland Grand National and Pony Club competitions bring back happy memories of childhood Christmasses. Thankyou for this experiment - perhaps there might be scope for a little more show jumping for 2007 in addition to the already excellent Three Day Event coverage? Is this not just the sort of sport/event that would suit ´óÏó´«Ã½i with a round-up programme on ´óÏó´«Ã½ 2?
Interesting experiment but it means showjumping is deemed worthy of a 9pm slot while snooker fans wait until midnight... (Yes, I know some people have the red button)
Show jumping back on ´óÏó´«Ã½, about time too!
I don't want to disappoint Gary, so hot off the press: the average audience for the showjumping was 2.1m, which is encouraging.
Meantime, I hope Steve enjoyed the music. It would have been on my conscience for some time if there'd been disturbances in Cheltenham...
Yay for showjumping back on the beeb!
I didn't twig it was on until late, so missed most of it - but the atmosphere was truly electric!
Thanks for putting it back on primetime where it belongs.
Off to hunt for a red button so I can watch more....
Well done on this move. I followed the debate on Zara Phillips winning the Sports Personality award quite keenly on the sport website.
I have to commend the even-handed way her win was covered, with a variety of views represented.
Good luck
George
Please do not forget horse racing in all this.
I'm watching Ascot on ´óÏó´«Ã½ One as I write, and Clare Balding and Norman Williamson stand out as brilliant broadcasters.
Please please try to get the Cheltenham Festival back on the ´óÏó´«Ã½.
Yes to the show jumping and the agility. It would be great to have more of it than the tanalising glimpses. Thank you
It was absolutely fantastic to see the Puissance back live on the Beeb!
Took me back to when I was a kid and being allowed to stay up late especially to watch it.
Hope the 2m+ viewers was enough to secure a return next year!