TV Coverage Announced for Renault Sport UK Championships

05 February 2008

ITV Sport has announced its plans to provide the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship and ELF Renault Clio Cup with comprehensive, prime-time highlights on its fast-growing channel ITV4. Live coverage will also be part of both Championships’ exposure when the season starts at Brands Hatch on 29th/30th March.

The popular Motorsport UK show returns to screens in 2008 moving from late Sunday night to Tuesday tea-time, with a 34-week schedule starting on Tuesday, 22nd April. The first broadcast of each show will be at 17.00 on ITV4 with at least one repeat on the same channel during the following seven days.

With its growing reputation for top quality sport programming such as Formula One highlights, British Superbikes, the Rugby World Cup and Champions League football, ITV4 is currently available to more than 85% of UK households via freeview, cable and satellite platforms.

During 2007, Motorsport UK audience figures for shows featuring the ELF Renault Clio Cup totalled 2,500,000. The corresponding figure for the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship was in excess of 3,000,000, excluding viewing figures for repeats of the show.

In addition to the regular highlights shows, both the Formula Renault UK Championship and ELF Renault Clio Cup are set to receive live coverage during the course of the season. As support races to the British Touring Car Championship, both one-make series will be shown live or same-day as-live on ITV4, subject to TV scheduling and race meeting timetables.

Commenting on the announcement, Championship Manager Simon North said: “We are delighted with the outcome of negotiations with ITV and believe we have a fantastic television package for the season ahead. ITV4 is building a strong reputation for its sports coverage and for Renault Sport UK to be part of that is an exciting prospect. The fact that some races may be shown live is a great added bonus.”

The ELF Renault Clio Cup will continue to benefit from Renault Sport UK’s pioneering move to show complete footage of every race held on Sunday during the season. The videos are uploaded to www.renaultsport.co.uk and are available to view free of charge, 24 hours a day.

Grovewood

See 2008 series calendar for Formula Renault UK

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