"OUT OF CONTROL" GETS ITV4 SLOT
Great news for armchair rally fans without satellite
TV is that the UK's most popular rally programme
- "Out of Control" - is to get a try-out on ITV4 over
the next two weeks, in the slot normally reserved
for World Rally Championship (WRC) events.
The two-hour programmes will be shown at 18.00
on Sunday 25 February and Sunday 4 March, in
the break between Rally Norway and Rally Mexico,
as ITV seek to establish if the programme can
match or even beat the viewing figures already
established by the WRC.
The programme will also have a slightly different
title, "Out of Control - The Rally Show", as the
producers, Acceleration Television, continue to
steer the series away from it's simple accident and
incident format and more into a straightforward,
action-packed magazine show, full of club and
international rallying from around the world.
Included in the last series were the incredibly
popular World's Top Ten Rally Car showdown,
which saw the Escort as the most popular car, but
with Andy Burton's Peugeot Cosworth at number 6.
The two new special shows will continue the trend,
featuring action from F1000, the British Rally
Championship, the Barbados Rally Carnival, the
Roger Albert Clark Rally, The Lombard Revival
Rally, plus a couple of the world's top ten rally
cars and small inserts showing youngsters how to
start rallying, and a feature on safety from
Custom Cages.
Producer and presenter David Winstanley explains:
"Over the past few years, Out of Control has only
been seen on Men & Motors, but viewing figures
show that on satellite television it is the most
popular motorsport programme there is, only
beaten regularly by events such as live Superbike
coverage.
"The show gets a higher average audience even
than satellite coverage of the WRC and last year
totalled 2,610,000 viewers. Its highest audience
was actually only a few thousand less than ITV4
obtained for their recent coverage of Rallye
Monte Carlo.
"Now ITV4, which is a sister channel to Men &
Motors, want to see if we can bring that success
to their channel, so they have put it in the slot
where the WRC would be, but just for a couple of
weeks to see what the response is."
The programme content will not be new, but a
compilation of greatest hits and most popular
features. Winstanley explains: "The go-ahead from
ITV4 came only a few weeks ago. With no time to
produce anything new, we've only had the chance
to re-edit some of the earlier programmes and
add some new features, but this gives us the
chance to prove to those who have their doubts
that the popularity of the programmes aren't just
based on the number of crashes that we show,
but are generally regarded as fast-paced and
entertaining.
"These are programmes which can be watched by
all the family, whatever their age (or gender). This
is great news for rallies like the Malcolm Wilson,
the Roger Albert Clark and others, as they will
have the chance to be seen by an audience
unmatched by any other programme."
Coincidentally, the second of these programmes
will be the 50th "Out of Control" shown on TV.
Although most regard Winstanley as the face of
the programmes, they are all edited and scripted
by Winstanley's partner, Terri Metcalfe, in most
cases with Winstanley merely speaking the words
he is given. "It's the typcial male/female
relationship," explains Winstanley. "I do all the
talking and get all the credit, but she does all the
work."
Apart from rallying, the company is trying to
diversify as much as possible, having just finished
editing a live DVD for pop band Delays. Delays
have just signed for Polydor, who have had great
success recently with Snow Patrol, so great things
are hoped-for for the band.
In addition, Acceleration have signed up to film
the Rotax Mojo Max Euro Challenge for RGMMC
Establishment. This international kart racing
championship will be seen on Motors TV, Sky
Sports and Men & Motors. Winstanley says: "It's
nice to be approached to do something like this.
We do have previous experience of circuit racing,
of course, having filmed the MG Trophy in 2004
and the Le Mans 24 Hour Race from 1988-1993.
"Compared to filming long-distance rallying, which
is where we have really made our name, filming
and editing racing is easy; you just have to make
sure your cameras are in the right position from
the start, and then the race tells its own story."
For further information, please contact:
David Winstanley
Acceleration Television & Video Ltd
PO BOX 2521
Stoke on Trent
ST7 8WZ
Phone / Fax : 01270 820026
Email: davidw@acceleration.co.uk
Website: www.acceleration.co.uk
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i kind of lost where all the rally coverage went when CH4 stopped doing it, i'll be setting the recorder for them, cheers for the headsup
(i have a usb freeview thing) will try and make sure it dosnt happen next week and i can watch/record it 
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