MY CALL: A STOP GAP MEASURE OR THE NEW NORM?

By David Fowler | Tuesday, September 1, 2020

David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.

An intriguing offshoot from the spectre of Covid-19 has been the concept which can be loosely described as “remote calling”.

Remote calling is where a race meeting is not broadcast from the track but instead from a television or radio studio.

This is not uncommon in international jurisdictions but, interestingly, had its Australian genesis at the inconspicuous greyhound track at Mt Gambier in South Australia.

This was a few years ago and was primarily based on a saving in expenditure.

But the real catalyst came when Covid-19 struck in March and through a series of events, Harness Racing New South Wales decided the race broadcast would not emanate from the track.

The end result is that all NSW harness meets are either broadcast from Sky’s French’s Forest studio in Sydney’s north or from the Brisbane CBD studio which houses Radio TAB.

The responsibilities are shared between race callers in both states which may solve your confusion hearing Anthony Collins calling, say, Newcastle trots.

The operation has been judged as a success which has seen its extension to some thoroughbred meetings in New South Wales and even greyhound racing in Tasmania.

It’s important to point out that remote calling is first and foremost a solution to any number of current issues and not a rolled gold alternative to the traditional operation of the caller at the track.

A good example is Terry Spargo calling Northern Rivers thoroughbred meetings from the Brisbane studio because he can’t cross the New South Wales border.
But the set-up is simply not turning up and plonking yourself in front of a television in a studio.

The key to its success is a link between the facilities at the studio and the facilities from the broadcast van at the designated track.

This allows the race caller the necessary TV screens to study jockeys’ or drivers’ colours pre-race and ensures a “live” feed is at their disposal for the race broadcast.

Such is modern technology, the race caller even has a public address switch so those attending the track might not even know they are actually sitting thousands of miles away giving this and that announcement.

Yet, the remote calling concept raises broader questions. Is this a stop-gap measure or the “new norm”?

I can’t answer that but would say with some confidence it’s not an operation that will be sidelined post Covid-19.

Does it increase or lessen the quality of the race broadcast?

I’m not involved in this side of the business but I wouldn’t think my Stradbroke call would be more animated inside four walls of a city studio compared to being at Eagle Farm.

And it could be argued that the personality of the racecaller is somewhat diminished by not being part and parcel of the raceday theatre.

But I’m afraid that’s small bikkies in the bigger picture.

David Fowler