Viewing figures for the first six months of the year reveal that Channel 4 Racing "has more work to do in order to reverse the decline in its audience," according to Chris Cook of the London GUARDIAN. The average audience for its afternoon programs fell below the '13 equivalent on 28 days, against 17 "on which it was up." The figures, collected by The Guardian and shared with Channel 4, "are less worrying if the focus is narrowed to Saturday afternoons, for which audiences were up on 12 days and down on 14." Channel 4 "has established a trend of increasing audiences on recent Saturdays and its previously unpublished figure for Ascot’s King George was 482,000, a 13% increase on last year." There has been some praise for the recent additions of Frankie Dettori, "now making regular appearances as an analyst, and Gok Wan, who provided light relief during Royal Ascot and Goodwood." Next in line for a change may be The Morning Line, "the audience for which was down on last year for 24 of the 33 broadcasts in the first half of this year." Sources suggest "ways are being sought of improving the preview show’s appeal by the end of the year" (GUARDIAN, 8/6).
