'It's a huge opportunity for the sport' - ITV's Champions: Full Gallop to return for second series in new year

The ITV docuseries Champions: Full Gallop will return for a second series next year with filming having already been spotted taking place on course and a formal announcement expected shortly.

The first series, produced by South Shore and supported by Flutter Entertainment and Racecourse Media Group, spanned six episodes and covered the highs and lows of the 2023-24 jumps season. It is understood that alongside Flutter's contribution, the second series will also benefit from Levy Board funding.

Series one aired in a primetime slot on ITV1 at 9pm and averaged 930,000 viewers an episode, including repeat viewing and consolidating viewing across 28 days, while the series had a reach of 4.3 million people and was streamed 1.5m times on ITVX. The first episode centred around the King George VI Chase and the heroics of 12-1 winner Hewick.

The series, which was nominated for the sports documentary series of the year at the Broadcast Sports Awards, gave viewers access to all areas of the industry, from weighing rooms to stable yards. It aims to emulate the success of other programmes that have shone a light on an array of sports, including Formula 1's Drive To Survive on Netflix and football's All Or Nothing on Amazon Prime.

Speaking at the launch of the first series, former RMG chief executive Martin Stevenson said: "It's a huge opportunity for the sport and the question is: how can we build on this?

"I hope everybody will love it and we can talk about the next series. The way these things work best is to build them over a number of series and to really draw people into the stories so it becomes one of the ways they enjoy the sport."

Read more:

Watch out Ryan Reynolds! Champions: Full Gallop nominated for sports documentary series of the year 

Final three episodes of Champions: Full Gallop to be released on ITVX on Friday 

Champions: Full Gallop: first episode of new ITV docuseries on racing attracts 1.1m viewers 

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