Betfred’s TV Channel to Go Live Soon?

An announcement came this week from the British online and land gambling group Betfred, that it is to launch its own TV channel in time for the top horse racing event, the Cheltenham Festival. The channel will be created by SIS, with whom Betfred inked a deal in mid-December last year, according to which SIS is to distribute all three of Betfred's shop TV channels from its MediaCityUK studios in Salford, providing full production, voice-over booths, gallery with editing suite, and a two-tier studio presentation. The existing channels will be re-branded and repackaged, and exclusive content previewing major events will be added to the production. It has been specified that the initial channel will be aired in Betfred's 1365 shops nationwide, including interviews with trainers Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and David Pipe, all in the run up to the Cheltenham Festival. “Who would have thought that less than a mile from my first-ever shop in 1967 I now have my own TV channel in MediaCity! It's exciting times and the most important part of the channel will be to entertain and inform punters. At the end of the day we are in the entertainment industry and this is a great platform,” said Betfred boss Fred Done, adding: “It's all about how we package the channel and I'm delighted we are launching just before the biggest week of the year.”