If you would like to see more cycle racing on ITV then you may wish to do what Brock, second claim member of PPYCC, has done and write to them at viewerservices@itv.com see his message below.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am emailing in reference to Cycling Weekly’s campaign for ITV to show more cycling on its digital channels. As Cycling Weekly stated on their website you have the rights to broadcat Criterium International, Paris-Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne and Paris-Tours as part of your contract to show the Tour De France as they are all races run by the Tour organisers ASO.
I think it would be fantastic if you could show, if not live coverage, then at least highlights in the evening on the same day. Unlike the highlights you are showing of Paris-Nice on 26th March almost 2 weeks after the race has finished. By showing the races on the day, ideally live, I’m sure you will boost your ratings as people will be much more interested in watching the races on the day when the atmosphere of the race is still in the air. I also believe that people will much rather tune into ITV to watch the cycling rather than Eurosport, the only other channel currently showing cycling on tv, as the ITV programmes for the Tour are produced so much more professionally and have very good commentary, compared to the dire commentary of David Harmon and Carlton Kirby.
Also, the fact that the sport of cycling in Britain is becoming ever popular will also boost your ratings because as more people get into the sport, more people will want top quality coverage of World Tour road races. Finally, by producing more coverage of pro races you could also be helping more people get into cycling as programmes with the top quality coverage like yours of the tour, as I mentioned before, is much more likely to get people into the sport than that of other broadcasters such as Eurosport.
I hope take into consideration my opinion and that of many others supporting Cycling Weekly’s campaign.
Kind regards
Brock Duncumb Rogers