BBC and ITV Sport Over The Years

Wasn't the early C4 Racing a "3 on 4 Production" - which ISTR was Yorkshire, Thames and Anglia? (May be wrong - those three companies also merged their OB departments to form Global, now part of NEP Visions)

That wouldn't surprise me at all, indeed it was all of ITV's horse Racing coverage that moved to Channel 4. The midweek races switched in 1984 to clear ITV's daytime line-up and then what we know as the 'ITV 7' switched channels in 1985, about 6 weeks before World Of Sport was axed altogether.

There's a clip on YouTube (that's favourited on my channel) of ITV covering the Derby from 1991, using the Channel 4 Racing music, gathering by the clip ITV was only showing the main race whilst Channel 4 was showing the rest.

But it wasn't uncommon for ITV Sport to be producing for Channel 4 in the early years, Football, Snooker and Olympics 1988 come to mind.

Well - ITV and C4 were much more closely linked until 1992. ITV paid for C4, in return for selling C4's commercials ISTR? If ITV made shows for C4, they were effectively paying themselves in some ways!

Correct on both counts, although virtually all of the Global scanners have now moved on / been scrapped by Visions. I think it's only Unit 8, which was built by Global specifically for the racing is still going. Most of the production team, and several of the crew from the 3 on 4 days (and before) are still working on the racing today. Even some of the kit on the trucks still has Anglia asset stickers!

Back in the early 60s, before "World of Sport" began, ITV grouped together its Saturday afternoon programming under the banner "Let's Go!"

This was generally hosted by Tim Brinton, and always began with a menu for the afternoon. Or rather menus - most weeks, Tim would carefully explain that viewers to stations A,B,C and D would get this schedule, while viewers to E, F and G would get the other one. Complicated or what? The cause of this piece of televisual nonsense was the networking arrangements: ATV and its affiliates would go one way while ABC and its affiliates would go another. Why they didn't each do their own 'packaging', I don't know.

Tim, nonplussed by the choices, would introduce each item with a jolly "Let's Go Racing" or "Let's Go Motorcycle Scrambling". (One of ITV's favourite sports, directed IIRC by Andy Gunnell) Some of the content was bizarre. There would be visits to a London ballroom where Joe Loss and his boys were playing to a bunch of pensioners who'd come in for a heat and a cup of tea. This would afford Tim the opportunity to say "Let's Go Dancing".......

The relationship between ITV and 4 1982-92, was very similar to that of BBC 1 and 2. Sports coverage (notably athletics) would often switch mid way between the two channels.

The commercial arrangement between the two worked brilliantly, and in my opinion that decade was certainly C4's best period programming-wise. Personally I found ITV's coverage of major sports events in the late 70s/80s, more 'friendly and accessible' than the Beeb's offerings at that time.

Also notably ITV raised the bar from the way F1 coverage was presented. Their decade of holding the F1 rights will only be remembered for the ad break interruptions, which is a shame, because everything else was a positive innovation, not least Brundle's grid-walk, which is a superbly entertaining feature on several levels !

That's right, because the Derby's status as a listed event meant that it couldn't be shown on Channel Four alone as at that point it wasn't available to the entire population, so ITV had to simulcast it. This was also the reason why, up until 1980, the BBC showed it as well because no channel was allowed to have it exclusively even though ITV had the rights to races from Epsom, so they just showed the Derby and ITV showed all the other races on the card.

Up until 1988, ITV's football was absolutely of the same standard of the BBC, because they always faithfully split everything up between them, they tossed a coin at the start of the season to see who'd get first pick for August and then alternated their pick every month. The only disadvantage was that ITV's football was on Sunday afternoons rather than Saturday nights. Then from 1988, of course, they had the Football League exclusively, so they were the principal football broadcaster on British telly until 1992.

ITV nabbed the exclusive rights to British athletics in 1985, and would usually show meetings on Friday nights on ITV from 8-9pm and Channel Four 9-10pm. This was a big coup at the time, as athletics was big business (it was the height of Coe vs Ovett) but it became less valuable because, really, for most people they're happy enough with the Olympics and World Championships - on the Beeb, natch - and less bothered about the other meets.

One of the other ITV on Channel Four things was the Australia vs Scotland World Cup qualifier in 1985 which couldn't be shown on ITV as it was a 9am kick-off, when TVam were broadcasting.

Although World of Sport's mix seems bizarre, it did mean that some afternoons the alternatives would be a rugby league match played in the pouring rain in Widnes or some people jumping off a cliff in Acapulco - and the latter was sometimes way more attractive.

I can imagine how the cliff jumping in Acapulco was more attractive! With how the BBC had the right to a number of sports back then, it seems that World of Sport had to rely on these overseas events to fill the programme.

Of course, the wrestling was always a big highlight on World of Sport and I heard that for a few years after WOS was axed wrestling continued to be shown on ITV on Saturday lunchtimes.

That is right, as said after WoS was axed they kept On The Ball/Saint & Greasvie, they also kept the Wrestling and the Results Service, the ITV 7 effecitvely became Channel 4 Racing, it was all the stuff in between they axed. A bit like the axing of Grandstand really, except that most weekends of the year the BBC does have some stuff to fill the slot with.