The Boat Race will be broadcast on Channel 4 for the first time on Saturday after leaving the BBC and the presenting team has changed dramatically
Three BBC presenters have lost their Boat Race roles as coverage moves to Channel 4. Only one member of the presenting team has made the jump.
History will be made in more ways than one when the 171st annual rowing contest between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on Saturday afternoon.
Not only does this year mark the 80th edition of the women’s race, but for the first time, coverage of the event will be broadcast on Channel 4. The race was initially televised by the BBC in 1938 after the corporation had brought it to the airwaves via radio in 1927. ITV covered it from 2005 until 2009.
But this time around, as Cambridge looks to extend its head-to-head lead in both the men’s and women’s events, fans will have to tune into Channel 4. One familiar face awaits, while the rest of the punditry team has been shaken up.
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Last year, the BBC programme was fronted by Clare Balding and she will return for Channel 4 this weekend. Balding acts as the lead presenter once again.
She was joined by commentator Andrew Cotter 12 months ago, as well as reporters Lee McKenzie and Qasa Alom. However, these three do not feature on Channel 4’s line-up.
Former Paralympics GB wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan joins Balding as co-presenter and Alex Jacques will be on lead commentary duty following the competitors down the Thames.
Olympic gold-medal-winning rower Martin Cross and Olympic silver-medal-winning rower Jess Eddie are also part of the punditry team, as is triple Olympic champion Pete Reed OBE. Broadcaster and mathematician Hannah Fry will also be present, as will Jamie Laing.
Pete Andrews, head of sport at Channel 4, said: “We are very excited to be broadcasting the race on Channel 4 for the first time and, as we get closer to Race Day, it’s a thrill to confirm our team to present this historic race for us.
“I’m delighted Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan will be joining us on the banks of the Thames, along with the brilliant commentating talent of Alex Jacques and a gang of expert pundits, plus we’ll be adding in more Channel 4 faces as we build up to the big day, too.”
Channel 4 won the competitive rights to become the exclusive free-to-air home of the Boat Race for the next five editions, with Times Radio taking the radio rights.
The women’s race will air first, beginning at approximately 2:21pm on Saturday. The men’s race will then take place an hour later at an estimated 3:21pm, with a daunting 4.25-mile stretch from Putney to Mortlake on the Tideway awaiting the rowers.
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