TAB Trackside is a New Zealand horse racing and sports broadcast network, incorporating two

pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

channels. The TV channels are available on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

channels and the

Spark Sport Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company providing fixed-line telephone services, a mobile phone network, internet access services, and (through its Spark Digital division) ICT services to businesses. It was know ...

streaming service. The radio station broadcasts on 14

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

and 16

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

frequencies from

Kaitaia Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1. Ahipara ...

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

were suspended on 12 April 2020. Together, the outlets provide full coordinated coverage of all

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

, harness horse racing and

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

in New Zealand, most racing from Australia, and many races from Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries. The channels provides tickers and commentary with up-to-the-minute odds, field and dividend information. Between races, they feature on-track interviews, in-studio analysis, live footage of horses warming up for races, replays of previous races, and recaps of betting odds. The live broadcasting of horse racing in the New Zealand dates back to the launch of a racing radio network in 1978. The station, originally known as Radio Pacific and later as bSport and LiveSport, became TAB Trackside Radio. A racing television station launched in 1992, initially known as Action TV and later as Trackside, is now TAB Trackside 1. A second racing television station launched in 2007, known initially as TAB TV, is now TAB Trackside 2.

History

Radio Pacific

Racing network Radio Pacific began in Auckland in 1978, and became one of the first stations to be networked across the country in the early 1990s. The network combined news, news talkback, sports talkback and live racing commentaries. Radio Pacific became a listed company on the

New Zealand Stock Exchange New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. On 30 August 2020, the NZX had a total of 1 ...

and the

Totalisator Agency Board The Totalisator Agency Board, universally shortened to TAB or T.A.B., is the name given to monopoly totalisator organisations in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They operate betting shops and online betting. They were originally governm ...

became its major shareholder. Radio Pacific's Waikato station began as Radio Waikato, New Zealand's third privately owned station. It originally broadcast in 930AM in 1971, before moving 954AM in 1978. In 1986 Radio Waikato changed to a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format and was renamed Country Gold - Waikato 954. In 1988 it was sold to Radio Pacific and transitioned into a local talk radio format with national racing commentary. It changed its name to Radio Pacific and eventually replaced local programmes with Auckland networked programmes. A new station of the same name also operated in Hamilton between 1993 and 1994.

Other radio stations

The company also owned the North Island music station group Energy Enterprises and merged with the South Island radio company

Radio Otago Radio Otago was a radio company that operated a group of local radio stations in radio markets around New Zealand from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Radio Otago was started in 1971 when Dunedin station 4XO was started, 4XO was originally branded a ...

in 1999. Between May 2000 and January 2001 it was purchased by

CanWest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...

, becoming part of

RadioWorks MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine n ...

and later part of

MediaWorks New Zealand MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine n ...

. Part of the company was purchased in July 2004, and the entire company was sold off in June 2007. Before 2005 live races and betting odds had been broadcast on Radio Pacific in pre-determined, limited periods during the race day under a contract with the

New Zealand Racing Board TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ), formerly the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) and the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA), now the TAB again, is a statutory monopoly for New Zealand sports betting, including betting on horse racing and greyhound ...

. Between 2001 and 2005, this was also complemented by a trial Radio Trackside station in the Southland market dedicated to racing coverage. In 2005 MediaWorks launched new talkback network

Radio Live Radio Live (stylised as Radio LIVE) was a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. It was formed by the 2005 split of talk and racing network Radio Pacific i ...

and moved many of Radio Pacific's talkback personalities across to the new network.

John Banks John Banks or Bankes may refer to: Politics and law *Sir John Banks, 1st Baronet (1627–1699), English merchant and Member of Parliament * John Banks (American politician) (1793–1864), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania *John Gray Banks (188 ...

continued to host Radio Pacific's breakfast programme, and Alice Worsley and Martin Crump co-hosted a new morning talkback programme. A Trackside TV simulcast, branded as Radio Trackside, was broadcast in the afternoon. On 29 October 2007 Radio Pacific became BSport and its tagline became "BSport, the station you can bet on". The general talkback format was replaced with a sports talkback format.

and Trackside shared the network's

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

studios, with live sports talk and betting odds in the morning, and live races and betting odds in the afternoon. In January 2010 BSport was renamed LiveSport, the sister network to

. It became TAB Trackside Radio on 13 April 2015, when it came under the full ownership of the New Zealand Racing Board. The radio simulcast on the AM and FM frequencies was suspended on 12 April 2020 due to the impact of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The simulcast of racing continues on the TAB website, TAB app and via third party apps. The AM and FM broadcast licences have since been transferred to

Sports Entertainment Network Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), formerly Crocmedia, is an Australian radio and television distribution company established in 2006 by journalists James Swanwick and Craig Hutchison. SEN's parent company is Sports Entertainment Group (SE ...

Pty Ltd.

Television

TAB Trackside began television broadcasting in 1992 as Action TV - a free-to-air UHF station that only broadcast during live racing events. In 1993, it changed its name to Trackside. From 1994, Sky Television began using broadcasting

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

to subscribers when Trackside was in closedown. The station received a dedicated channel on the new Sky Digital platform in 1999, which began broadcasting 18 hours a day from 2004 and 24 hours a day from 2007. In addition to live New Zealand racing, the channel introduced racing replay, preview and review shows, and live racing and racing shows from Australia. The channel began broadcasting in widescreen from 15 December 2008. In October 2009, TAB introduced a second channel - TAB TV - to accommodate live racing from Hong Kong and Singapore. In December 2010, Trackside became available on the

Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...

terrestrial service. In October 2013 it changed the TVNZ metadata on the Freeview satellite service to unlock access to Trackside TV, keeping TAB TV as a pay-TV channel. On 14 April 2014, it ceased operations on Freeview, becoming only available to Sky subscribers. In August 2014, Trackside TV and TAB TV were relaunched as TAB Trackside 1 and TAB Trackside 2, extending racing coverage from all codes and enabling up to 5000 additional races to be broadcast each year that were previously not scheduled.

Programmes

Weekdays

* The Kick Off, the weekday breakfast show on Trackside Radio and Trackside 2, is hosted by Glen Larmer, a former

Newstalk ZB Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio, talk-radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, NZME Radio. It is available in almost every media market, radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in m ...

Radio Sport Radio Sport (previously Sports Roundup) was a New Zealand sports radio radio network, network and the talk radio, talkback sister network of Newstalk ZB. It held commentary rights for most cricket matches, international and domestic rugby uni ...

, TVNZ7 and

RadioLive Radio Live (stylised as Radio LIVE) was a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. It was formed by the 2005 split of talk and racing network Radio Pacific into a ...

presenter. Former hosts of the show include broadcaster Nathan Rarere (2007-2015), cricket commentator

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

(2007-2015), rugby commentator Jeff Wilson (2013), former boxer

Monty Betham La’auli Montgomery Junior "Monty" Betham (born 12 March 1978) is a professional boxer, and former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative and , he played club football for the New Zealand Warriors i ...

(2014), and broadcasters

Martin Devlin Martin Devlin (born 1964) is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster. In July 2012, The Radio Network announced that Devlin would take over the morning show for NZ's first private station, Radio Hauraki. Devlin later anchored a show on ...

(2010-2012) and Brendan Telfer (2014-2015). * The Best of the Kick Off, the mid-morning show on Trackside Radio and Trackside 2, features highlights of the breakfast show. Former hosts of the show include James McOnie (2006-2007) and farmer and former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Richard Loe (2006-2015). * DogZone, a weekly

show hosted by Elizabeth Whelan and greyhound commentator Peter Earley, airs on Tuesdays at 7pm on Trackside 1. It is. The Box Seat, a racing panel show hosted by Greg O'Connor with Craig "The Whale" Thompson and Michael Guerin, airs on Trackside 1 on Wednesdays at 8.30pm. Australian

Sky Racing Sky Racing (previously Sky Channel) is an Australian broadcaster primarily telecasting live thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing. It is owned by Tabcorp and operates a number of television channels and a radio service. The broadcaster ...

shows Inside Running, Formline, The Catching Pen, Bred To Win, In The Gig, Autumn Live and Australian Racing Retro are broadcast every week at various times. * Live and repeated racing airs from 11am.

Saturdays

* The Two Halves is the Saturday breakfast show on Trackside Radio and Trackside 2. It is hosted by

Jenny-May Coffin Jenny-May Clarkson (born Jenny-May Coffin; 9 April 1974) is a New Zealand netball player, sports commentator and television presenter. Clarkson previously played for the Silver Ferns, New Zealand's national netball team, for which she was the ...

and focuses on

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

. She replaced The Fishing Show with Grant Blair, Terry Williams-King, John Eichlsheim and Bruce 'Swish' Duncan, which broadcast on the slot from 2005 to 2015. The Starting Gates, a Saturday morning scratching programme, is hosted by Alby Gain and Peter Earley. * On the Sideline, a Saturday morning show on Trackside Radio and Trackside 2, is hosted by TAB bookmakers Grant Nisbett and Mark Stafford. * The First Call, a racing panel preview show, airs on Trackside 1 from 10am. It is hosted by Darryl Anderson and features Stu Laing and Aiden Rodley. * Live and repeated racing airs from 11am.

Sundays

* Sunday Breakfast airs on Trackside Radio and Trackside 2. Dale Budge hosts the first two hours, the All American Sports Show covering American sports and While You Were Sleeping focusing on world sport. Ryan Bradley hosts the third hour of Sunday morning scratchings. Stephen McIvor previously hosted Sunday breakfast, including a one-hour trans-Tasman simulcast with 1116 SEN. * The World of Football is broadcast 9am Sunday mornings on Trackside Radio. It is hosted by Riccardo Ball and former Football Fern

Rebecca Sowden Rebecca Sowden (born 14 September 1981) is an association football player who represented New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North ...

, and was previously hosted by coach and former All White

Wynton Rufer Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werd ...

. Racing Talkback, a Sunday morning

talkback radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

programme hosted by Des Coppins, is broadcast from 10am Sunday mornings on Trackside Radio. * Weigh In, a Sunday morning racing programme, airs on Trackside 2 and is hosted by Karen-Fenton Ellis. * Live and repeated racing coverage airs from 11am.

Stations

Radio frequencies

These were the frequencies at the time of the April 2020 service suspension: *

- *

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...

- *

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about 260 km from Auckland. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a population of over ...

- * Whangarei - *

- *

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

- *

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

- *

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

- * Whakatane - * Taupo - * Gisborne - *

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

- *

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

- *

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

/ Manawatu - *

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

- *

Kapiti Coast The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore. The pop ...

- *

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

- *

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

- * Westport - *

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

- *

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

- *

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

- * Ashburton - *

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

- *

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

- *

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

- *

Central Otago Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...

- * Wanaka - * Queenstown - *

- Licences except

LPFM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...

have since been transferred to

Pty Ltd

Television channels

TAB Trackside 1 broadcasts racing from all codes, both domestic and international, alongside specialist shows. TAB Trackside 2 broadcasts racing from all codes, alongside simulcasts of TAB Trackside Radio weekday mornings from 6am. In 2011, it live simulcast Fill the Basin, a February

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

fundraiser

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

match, with

Canterbury Television Canterbury Television was an independent television station broadcasting in Canterbury, New Zealand. The name is synonymous with regional television in New Zealand as it was the name of the first regional broadcaster to operate in New Zealand ...

. The channels area available on the Sky Television DHS encrypted satellite services (062 Trackside 1, 063 Trackside 2) and Vodafone InHome TV service in Wellington and Christchurch (062 Trackside 1, 063 Trackside 2).

References

External links

*
Trackside at LyngSat Address
{{MediaWorks (New Zealand) Gambling in New Zealand New Zealand television channels Radio stations in New Zealand Television channels and stations established in 1992 English-language television stations in New Zealand