Wednesday, 14th June - Royal Ascot has once again attracted significant broadcaster interest, with HBA Media delivering widespread coverage on behalf of Ascot Racecourse.

The 2023 Royal Meeting, taking place from Tuesday 20th June to Saturday 24th June, is set to be carried by 25 broadcasters showcasing the event in 176 territories - growing the reach of the Royal Meeting for a fourth consecutive year.

It is set to be a must-watch week as superstar jockey, Frankie Dettori, bids farewell to a place that he has dominated across four decades.

In celebration of Frankie’s close affiliation with the racecourse, Ascot has also commissioned a special 24-minute feature titled Frankie Dettori: A Royal Ascot Love Affair , which will be distributed alongside the enhanced five-day ITV World Feed and a bespoke one-hour Golden Hour programme.

Content Packages:

·Boosted daily five-hour world feed courtesy of ITV Racing’s World Feed will include the full 35-race card taking place across the week.

· The Golden Hour – a bespoke one-hour live production – returns to give international fans the best of the action and lifestyle on show, on Gold Cup Day (Thursday). Presented by Tom Stanley and Michelle Yu, with comedian Kojo Anim providing lifestyle inserts, the programme will celebrate all aspect of this year’s Royal Meeting through a distinctly international lens.

· Frankie Dettori: A Royal Ascot Love Affair is led by former jockey and ITV Racing / Sky Sports Racing pundit, Jason Weaver, a long-time friend of Dettori – their closeness affording Frankie the comfort to open up about his affinity with the Royal Meeting. The pair address his first ride in 1989, through his dominance in the late 90s and the plane crash which saw him miss the meeting in 2000, and onto his recent revival in fortunes – reliving some epic battles on the track along the way. This will be complemented by a suite of promotional material delivered throughout the week.

Distribution:

Host broadcaster ITV Racing will continue to present their award-winning coverage live from Ascot Racecourse in daily five-hour programmes from Tuesday 20th June to Saturday 24th June. Sky Sports Racing and Virgin Media return to bring coverage to a wider UK and Irish audience.

In the US, NBC and Peacock will give dedicated coverage across their linear and digital channels and will be on course for the final day of the meeting. Fans across Latin and South America can watch all the action courtesy of ESPN and Star+. In Canada, TSN will showcase the full meeting on their new OTT platform, as well as The Golden Hour on their linear networks.

FanCode , India’s leading online sports streaming platform, will showcase the full meeting through a new deal as they continue their support for international horse racing. TransVision will also bring coverage to fans in Indonesia for the first time. Sony Pictures Network (SPN) will showcase The Golden Hour across the Indian subcontinent.

European coverage will be complemented by returning broadcasters RAI (Italy), Setanta (Baltics and Eurasia), Polsat (Poland), CYTA (Cyprus), WeDoTV (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) and Silknet (Georgia). Viaplay will give coverage across Scandinavia, as well as incorporating dedicated Dutch commentary for fans in the Netherlands.

Audiences in Australia will be able to watch the Royal Meeting courtesy of Entain, Racing.com and Sky Thoroughbred Central .

SuperSport have renewed their deal to bring the races across 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. DMI will service 19 countries across the MENA region, while in China, Wasu.tv have acquired the rights on a delayed basis.

Israeli pay-television broadcaster, Charlton , has extended its agreement to showcase the Royal Meeting for their third consecutive year.

Newcomers Global Eagle will ensure access across cruise ships, and SportsMax will broadcast across the Caribbean. Once again Reuters and Transworld Sports will distribute the full event to their wide networks of news outlets.

Henry Birtles, Chief Executive of HBA Media, said:

“We are immensely proud to work with the Ascot team on the distribution of the Royal Meeting. Our strong working relationship has helped deliver an audience befitting this most prestigious of events - Ascot’s commission of Frankie Dettori: A Royal Ascot Love Affair is a superb example of the outstanding promotional content we can offer our broadcast partners.

“Every year, all the eyes of the horse racing, lifestyle and news worlds will be upon Royal Ascot and HBA Media looks forward to delivering top quality coverage to our partners and fans around the world.”

Felicity Barnard, Commercial Director of Ascot Racecourse, added:

“We are thrilled that Royal Ascot will once again be broadcast across the world, including some exciting new media outlets for the first time. With international representation on the track expected from four different continents it is vitally important that we are reaching a truly global audience which we will deliver in partnership with HBA.

“Outside of the live action, it is exciting to be able to tell the story of one of the greatest jockeys the sport has ever seen through the prism of Royal Ascot. Frankie Dettori: A Royal Ascot Love Affair beautifully captures some of the highs and lows of Frankie’s magnificent career and we hope that racing fans new and old will enjoy it.”

ENDS