Re:Tweaks that will improve Ch240/4Racing TV

Let's try keep this thread as a positive/constructive one.... We have lots of comments on other threads

But if we can try listing some stuff below that we think will help the team at 4Racing TV

For me i can only watch the Clean Feed stream and the picture quality is poorer compared to the old TT stream

The options to keep streaming in the highest quality range don't seem to make any difference..

This would be an improvement that could definitely be implemented

Reading through some of the comments on the threads a studio presenter or producer seems to be needed. Someone that can get the switches to switch

I saw Shaheen Shaw ( he's moved on) mention a guy with a Welsh name on his Facebook... Llewellyn ?

Sure he was a producer at TT, maybe a part time role for him if he's available?

Split the screen with the priority to the main venue.

Stop having the runners and riders and tote movement on a massive display when horses are going to the start behind this display

I know they are fighting for tote increase but I certainly miss the fixed odds, come to an arrangement with the bookies on a fixed percentage not to hold the open bets

Get rid of the DJ

As Bob says there are pages of negative comments but read through them and consider as constructive criticism for YOUR customers or potential customers.

More to follow....

Hi Bob

I sent the below reply from an email thread I started with 4Racing Support (which began early Feb). This constructive criticism relates to the archives section IE racing replays.

Hi Jabulile

See comments in red below:

Please kindly note at the present moment we are not showing any of the natal races as we do not have licensing rights - I understand that fully, thanks, hence the replays for the 23rd of Feb 2022 are not uploaded - I was not saying that the 23 Feb was missing. I was saying that there are race meetings missing between those dates. Should this change, we will keep you updated. We have confirmed with our content ops team that the archives will commence from 24 December 2021 and going forward. REALLY!!! Come on guys ☺, you can do better than that. If you take the time to pay attention, you will find some results as illustrated below.

Missing meetings in the archives from - as you have said above, the 24th of Dec 2021. 13 missing meetings in total.

24 Dec - Fairview
28 Dec - Turffontein
30 Dec - Vaal
31 Dec - Fairview
01 Jan - Turffontein
02 Jan - Fairview
04 Jan - Vaal
06 Jan - Vaal
10 Jan - Fairview
11 Jan - Vaal
14 Jan - Fairview
15 Jan - Turffontein
17 Jan - Kenilworth
Might be worth mentioning that there are races missing from the current meetings that are uploaded - but maybe someone from your team can take the time to go through it and do the check
We note your feedback with regards to the archives, it would be great if we could get clarity on how we can improve the archives section. Clarity:

Current experience:

1. A paying customer clicks on archives

2. The page loads with a whole bunch of historical meetings - no labels, no headings, no filters to refine the search for the replay you need to watch.

3. The customer has to scroll up and down to try and find the necessary date of the replay they want to watch.

4. Once the date is located, he then needs to hover over the screenshot to determine which race from the meeting it was.

5. Imagine 6 months from now, a customer would have to scroll down for about 10 minutes just to find a replay date.

Proposal to fix/improve:

Create filters to refine the search process: Example: have 3 filters that allows the following to be selected:
1. The venue the replay was at
2. The second filter must be able to select what date the race meeting took place at that venue
3. And after that has loaded, filter 3 must be able to select the race number from that meeting
With regards to the features, which features are not working to your satisfaction so that it can be addressed with the technical team. The search feature. Take for example a runner today called Dean Street. Type it into the search feature and check what loads. You tell me, how is that a pleasant result for someone trying to find the replay of Dean Street? Must I now hover over all 15 screenshots to try and find Dean Street? ☺ Come on guys - be a little more proactive in your responses by ACTUALLY going through all the features yourself and ask the 1 question that is relevant - would you recommend this website to someone else? I could write a 10 page detailed document of how the other features could be addressed just to work normally, let alone be improved. The Tellytrack streaming experience was average - but it worked and was a lot more user-friendly than this experience.



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As the support team we will test if the search feature is not functioning as per business requirements. I have tested it at length - and the above is just 1 example. There are loads more like it. The current advanced search feature allows for you to search by horse, jockey, and race. Yes, it does, but the outcome is far too broad! I think it is safe to say that my example illustrated above proves this.

Hoping for some positive feedback.

The reviews after a race DO NOTHING for turnover - keep them for after the last race - Instead show the final 600m of the first 4 or so in the betting's last run(or best last run) which can aid punters in having a bet - These repays should be done before racing also and played as a form guide an hour before the first race so that punters have time to process. Stop concentrating on the big trainers like De Kock and Tarry - Interview trainers of all stature who have winning chances on the day(Where was the interviews of the Werners trainers and Houdalakis etc) , More time should be spent on future bets than graveyard analysis which can only help punters in weeks to come- Presenters should share all info regardless if it is good or bad(The Van Zyl horse that was off colour is a perfect example..much more to think about but start with Hanging The DJ as that noise could be filled with turnover generating words and visuals rather than Friday night club jams.

Music is infuriating. I still cant get full screen.

98% of the current production and the presenters’ content are improvised and 2% is planned and properly researched. The same can be said of Gold Circle. The lack of preparedness, structure, planning and appropriate human resourcing requires immediate remedial action.

SUGGESTIONS:

1 – Divide your 24hr broadcasting into three slots – Premium, Non-premium and Graveyard slot.
2 – Allocate your resourcing appropriately to each slot. Better performers get the Premium slot and they have to put in the time to prepare and deliver a quality product. If not, they move down the food chain to Non-premium and Graveyard and into the wilderness.
3 – Stop issuing Press Releases telling us how brilliant you are when you have stuffed up, rather spend the time fixing the broken product than trying to rival Shakespeare.
4 – Implement a split screen or incorporate an insert into the main picture.
5 – Your Daily Production Schedule for your Premium slot should have a minute-by-minute breakdown:
- Identifying each and every race that will be covered live throughout the slot in full screen / split (or insert)
- Identifying each and every race that will be delayed coverage
- which presenters will be on air before and after each race
- what advert will be flighted and its allocated timeslot
- what other inserts will be flighted and its allocated timeslot
- a PROPER pre-race analysis should replace the post-mortem.
5 – Presenters who do not deliver any value-add to the viewers should be dropped. Stating the obvious or reading off a screen does not constitute value-add.
6 – A live race from any centre should take precedent over any other content. At the very least, it should be a split screen/insert into the main picture, if it is not the main picture.
7 – Every employee involved in the above production must attend a planning meeting at least 2-3 hours before the commencement of the Premium slot to be briefed and to be involved in finalising the Daily Schedule. The first hour of the planning meeting is to address the stuff-up from yesterday’s production and to address feedback from viewers.
8 – Non-premium slots are the 2-3 hours before and after the Premium slot. The Graveyard slot would be prefect for Cecil as this slot will involve no talking but just making sure that the correct switches are pressed in-between live races, re-runs and other inserts.

PS: DJ must be scrapped immediately together with a colour scheme that is not easy on the eye.

For me most have been discussed by Bob and Dave.
1. Improve the quality of the picture - this for me is priority #1
2. Remove the tote time trends
3. Review prority policy - do we really want Hong Kong prioritised over Cheltenham? Mary can help you with this answer.

I understand the pop music is the feed supplied by Sky. Grrrr


Sent from my Ferrari using Tapatalk

I think many will have their own preference on what to watch, but I do agree that venues need to be prioritized to suit most viewers - for instance the Cheltenham vs Hong Kong pictures - you won't please all of the people all of the time (unless we can have Channel 241 as an additional channel :dry: ) - but at least try to please most of the people most of the time. For me personally, local racing should take priority, so find a way to broadcast KZN racing.

I'm not that hard to please; the most important issue imo is showing live racing thereby increasing Tote turnover; all the other issues like picture quality, the irritating music, lack of fixed-odds scrolling etc is also important to address, but the priority should be showing as many races as possible - together with a proper live pre-race analysis (not sure how useful it is to have a pre-recorded slot) - I know this sounds contradicting, but a balance needs to be found - and if you get it wrong (like last Friday) at least give some explanation of what went wrong (and of course put in measures to not have a re-occurrence) in stead of meaningless press releases

I use Gallop and ch240. I wont pay 400 rand for the second channel so cant comment on the extra channel.

Gallop is great for punters. All three channels are top draw and serve the purpose for international punting and GC races.

240 is fine if u just a connoisseur of racing. We always bitched and moaned about to many races on Tellytrack. Now we have the reverse on 240. The problem is channel 240 is just a poor broadcast and badly put together product. If they improve 240 to Tellytrack standards but stick to the minimal races they will have a lot of fans. The extra streaming channel if it picks up more races then worth paying for but Gallop has that covered for me.

My personal gripe is the presenters on course and and in studio not great on balance.

Split screen eg can you show Hong Kong racing at ĺeast 5 minutes before the start so that we can see the tips and put the bets in.