TVN (Thoroughbred Vision) was an Australian thoroughbred horse-racing TV channel. It was carried on
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
,
Austar
Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Telev ...
and
Optus TV
Optus Television is the cable television division (organisation), division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.
History
Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with sma ...
, as well as other subscription TV services. The channel was set up by the Victorian thoroughbred racing industry and Sydney metropolitan racing clubs as an alternative to
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 ...
and as an attempt by the racing clubs concerned "to capture the valuable assets of racing media rights and leverage them to the benefit of racing".
Sydney Turf Club. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
TVN was 50% owned by Victorian racings organisations
Melbourne Racing Club
The Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) is one of three metropolitan horse racing clubs in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It began life as the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, in 1875 with Mr. E.C. Moore as the club's first Secretary. The Dowling Forest Racec ...
,
Victoria Racing Club
The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual "race that stops a nation", the Melbourne Cup, ...
,
Moonee Valley Racing Club
The Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) was founded by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox), in 1883 is located at The Valley Racecourse on McPherson Street, Moonee Ponds (a suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'' ...
and
Country Racing Victoria
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while t ...
; and 50% by the Sydney-based, Australian Turf Club. It launched in May 2005
and ceased almost 10 years later in March 2015.
History
Prior to the launch of TVN, Sky Channel purchased the rights to broadcast race meetings from almost all racing clubs across the country and then resold the rights to pubs and clubs, back to the racing venues and also to DTH subscribers.
TVN was formed after
TabCorp
Tabcorp is Australia's largest gambling company, employing more than 5,000 people. It is the largest provider of wagering and gaming products and services in Australia. Tabcorp is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
History
In ...
, the owner of
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 ...
, pulled out of plans it was developing with
Racing Victoria Limited
Racing Victoria Limited, as the governing principal racing authority, has responsibilities to develop, encourage, promote and manage the conduct of Thoroughbred horse racing in the State of Victoria, Australia. It assumed this responsibility, from ...
in February 2005 to launch a dedicated thoroughbred racing channel apart from Sky Channel's other broadcasts, which included
harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...
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 ...
, with Sky Channel chief executive Peter Caillard stating that "the fledgling TVN model is a risky proposition to all the racing codes and is not in a position to showcase thoroughbred racing to its full potential".
Victorian racing clubs planned to continue launching the service and won the support of the
Australian Jockey Club
Australian Turf Club (ATC) owns and operates thoroughbred racing, events and hospitality venues across Sydney, Australia. The ATC came into being on 7 February 2011 when the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) and the Sydney Turf Club (STC) merged. The ...
and
Sydney Turf Club
Australian Turf Club (ATC) owns and operates thoroughbred racing, events and hospitality venues across Sydney, Australia. The ATC came into being on 7 February 2011 when the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) and the Sydney Turf Club (STC) merged. The ...
when they announced their intention not to re-sign with Sky Channel when their contracts came up for renewal in March 2005. Both the AJC and STC supported TVN and a partnership was formed with
Racing Victoria Limited
Racing Victoria Limited, as the governing principal racing authority, has responsibilities to develop, encourage, promote and manage the conduct of Thoroughbred horse racing in the State of Victoria, Australia. It assumed this responsibility, from ...
. In May 2005, existing contracts between Victorian raceclubs and Sky Channel ended and these were then signed over to TVN.
The service was initially only available on the Foxtel platform, but Sky Channel had exclusivity agreements with some race meetings through Sky Racing. In August 2005, Sky successfully obtained an injunction against TVN and pay TV carrier Austar, stopping Austar from broadcasting TVN.
However, broadcast agreements were eventually extended to Austar and
Optus
Singtel Optus Pty Limited (commonly referred to as Optus) is an Australian Telecommunications in Australia, telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore, Si ...
.
On 21 January 2015, after years of stalled broadcast rights negotiations with Tabcorp, Racing NSW withdrew its support for TVN and brokered a new deal which would see its race meetings broadcast exclusively on Sky Racing. This new deal left TVN with the broadcast rights to only Victorian-based meetings. In February 2015, TVN announced their closure and ceased broadcasting on 15 March 2015.
Sky Racing launched a brand new channel on 21 March 2015. Sky Throughbred Central - which replaces Sky Racing World, showcases race meetings from New South Wales, as well as extended international coverage. General Manager of Sky Racing Gerard Patane said "The decision to rebrand our thoroughbred-only channel reflects the recently announced 10-year deal with Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club."
TVN was replaced with
Racing.com
Racing.com (stylised as RACING.COM) is an Australian free-to-air standard-definition digital television channel, owned and operated by the Seven Network and Racing Victoria. The channel broadcasts live Victorian and South Australian horse racing ...
on
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
on the 29th of August 2015.
Programming
Main programs were ''Raceday Live'' and ''Racenight Live''. ''Raceday Live'' provided extensive coverage of the three main thoroughbred meetings of the day, mostly from Victoria and New South Wales. ''Racenight Live'' provided coverage of Singapore and Hong Kong thoroughbred meetings and also coverage of Canterbury (Sydney) and Moonee Valley (Melbourne) night meetings in spring and summer. It also provided coverage of
Royal Ascot
Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...
meetings in June.
References
{{Authority control
Defunct Australian television channels
Television channels and stations established in 2008
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2015
Sports television networks in Australia
2008 establishments in Australia
2015 disestablishments in Australia
English-language television stations in Australia