NEW Racing Channel Coming to Foxtel & Austar

[LT Smash]

Taken from the Herald Sun website:

RACING'S television wars, simmering for the past nine months, are about to boil over as Sky Channel prepares to announce its own premium thoroughbred channel.
Sky's 24-hour thoroughbred station will cover the best three meetings in Australia - as well as New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore - from either 9am or 10am to 9pm or 10pm. The coverage would then swing to At The Races for the next 12 hours.

Included in this bracket would be races from Britain, Ireland, other European countries, United Arab Emirates and the US.

Sky remains coy on a launch date, but the Herald Sun understands the premium racing channel, Sky 1 as it will be known, will operate from February-March next year.

The introduction of Sky 1 will help avoid the current log jam of thoroughbred races, greyhound racing and harness racing.

Sky will cover the other two codes on a channel to be known as Sky 2, which will also increase coverage and the ability to showcase their major meetings. Sky 1 and Sky 2 would screen on Foxtel and Austar.

TVN last month rejected Sky's offer for a 50-50 partnership that embraced Australian and international racing.

Tabcorp, which owns Sky, says the merger deal is still on the table, but its move to launch its own premium channel will progress regardless.