Racing TV to produce a fully-dedicated Irish channel on December 26

Racing TV (RTV) will produce a fully-dedicated Irish channel on December 26, which will be available to view on RTV Extra’s digital platforms and also will be simulcasted on the FreeSports channel in Britain and Ireland.

Every race from Leopardstown, Limerick and Down Royal will be shown in full and benefit from detailed previews and analysis on RTV’s dedicated Irish channel.

Gary O’Brien will host the programme, which will air from 11.30am to 4pm. This is in addition the main channel output, which will show the best of the day’s action from Britain and Ireland.

As well as being available on RTV Extra, which is just two clicks or taps away via the website, mobile, RTV Apps and TV Apps, the channel will be available to watch for Sky subscribers in Britain and Ireland on channels 422 and 435 via FreeSports.

British viewers can also watch FreeSports on Freeview, TalkTalkTV, BT (channel 64), Virgin TV (553) and Freesat (252).

Seb Vance, Director of Communications, said: “December 26's eight-fixture session is a one-off on the racing calendar. Despite our best efforts, race times have proved very difficult to move given that terrestrial broadcasters’ transmission times are fixed, which means there are multiple races due to go off at the same time.

“To mitigate against these clashes, we are producing a fully-dedicated Irish channel – one of 10 channels available on Racing TV Extra, while FreeSports will offer that additional distribution on December 26.

"This is a unique scenario and we are grateful to Mickey O'Rourke for enabling us to broadcast the afternoon’s action from Ireland on FreeSports, which should ensure the best possible viewing experience.

“TV viewers are extremely well catered for in both UK and Ireland on December 26. No other sport or region can enjoy as much TV coverage as horseracing does in UK and Ireland, with ITV, RTE and Virgin Media One all showcasing the December 26 action on terrestrial platforms.

"This is in addition to more than 170 other terrestrial days across the year, plus the two dedicated racing channels, which cover every race in UK and Ireland.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the festive period, Vance added: “Close collaboration between the various parties have ensured race times for most of the festive period are looking manageable and we are grateful for everyone’s co-operation on this.

"There are six meetings on New Year’s Day, and like last year, we will provide a dedicated Irish feed to encompass Tramore and Fairyhouse, which will be available on RTV Extra.”

Extra can be cast to television through Airplay (Apple devices) and Chromecast (Android apps), and via an app for Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV. For more and a step-by-step guide, please click here.