It's a case of back to the future - and forward to the future - for the Trackside television channels with the return to the screens of a thoroughbred review show and a greyhound show next week. Matt Smith has a look around the new Stanley St set-up in Auckland and asks what viewers can expect from the shows and the revamped Trackside channels.
After more than five years, a thoroughbred racing review show is back on New Zealand television screens.
And its creators promise the issues of the day will not be shirked or avoided.
The new show - called Weigh In - makes its debut on Trackside 1 on Monday at 7pm after an absence of post-weekend analysis of more than five years.
Its predecessor, NZ Retro, was cancelled in late 2008 - along with harness review show The Box Seat Retro and greyhound show Lures and Leads - after Trackside was forced to make budget cuts as part of a cost-cutting drive by the New Zealand Racing Board.
NZ Retro clung on until mid-2009 in a watered-down format before disappearing off the air. But it is back with a new panel consisting of a broadcaster, a commentator, a trainer and a club official.
Andrew ''Butch'' Castles will be familiar to many from his work for the Auckland Racing Club, as well as occasional radio and television stints, while Mark McNamara and Darryl Anderson are Trackside regulars.
Paul Shailer is the most interesting addition to the team, offering a unique perspective of both sides of the Tasman, having worked for leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller before returning to New Zealand four years ago to train with brother Kris.
''I don't really want people to think of me as a trainer on the show,'' Shailer said.
''What I say is only an opinion and everyone's entitled to one. I certainly don't want to come across as though I'm telling another trainer they're doing a poor job or something like that. I'll be critical when I need to be though, for sure.''
It's the criticism angle which frustrated some racing fans in the latter years of NZ Retro, when they complained there was a lack of genuine debate and critical analysis of industry leaders.
Trackside executive producer Paul Moor certainly is not advocating a free-for-all but expects discussions to be robust at times - albeit with balance.
''If somebody gives this side of the argument, you need to balance it out with that [other] side of the argument,'' he said.
''Whether we've got interviews on stuff and we have the guys reacting off that, it's all about balance and just knowing fairness but not being afraid of the big issues.''
Moor cited the popular rugby league show The Footy Show as a comparative show - not only in terms of its editorial licence but in the ownership structure.
''They make good telly and they have fun but if there's a major issue in rugby league they will deal with it,'' Moor said.
''That's on Channel 9, which is the biggest stakeholder of the NRL. If something bad happens, that gets thrashed out on the Thursday night [on the show]. It gets dealt with and moved on. It's a really mature approach and that's where we need to be that with our show - not putting your head in the sand and not pretending that something didn't happen, but by the same token, dealing with it in the correct manner.''
Moor maintains the sheer volume of live television produced by Trackside crews is the ''best-kept secret in New Zealand television''.
''You work anywhere else except here and your mouth drops open when you see how much live TV we're making over the next six months. And now we're adding the programming in as well.
''I compare it to the men and women who work on the cricket tours at Sky and they're on the road for three months at a go. But for Trackside, it's like that for nine months a year. And even those quiet months, you're still pumping out two channels of TV.''
The live racing makes up the vast majority of Trackside's brief, and Moor admits they are still fine-tuning some aspects of the two-channel split.
Several southern racing enthusiasts approached the Otago Daily Times over the weekend concerned about Saturday's Wingatui meeting being split between the two channels, with some early races on Trackside 1 before the rest of the meeting was broadcast on the busier Trackside 2 channel.
Moor said split coverage might still happen, but it was a matter of informing viewers as early as possible. Sky TV's electronic programming guide displays which meetings and races each channel is showing.
''Those are always case-by-case and I think we've got another one coming up this weekend,'' he said.
''From a TV point of view, I understand the frustration of the TV viewer saying `I've set my MySky for Wingatui this week and it changed'. We've encountered that as well, so when we have to do things like that - which we will have to do from time to time - it's just a matter of making people aware of it as early on.
''So if we are going to do that, you know that the last three races from Wingatui are going to be on Trackside 2 and why.''
The New Zealand Racing Board had also attracted flak from the industry for the expense of setting up the studios in Parnell, after broadcasting from Avalon for the last 22 years.
''It had to happen because the contract was up at Avalon and whatever happened, we had to upgrade,'' Moor said.
''I've only been on board for four weeks, but this is the most cost-effective way of doing that and I think it's the way we give the viewer as much back as we possibly can for what we're putting in to it.''
The Parnell studios are kitted out with high-definition equipment and a roll-out of HD-capable outside broadcast trucks is the next major expense.
Not too much has changed with The Box Seat, although all three presenters - Greg O'Connor, Michael Guerin and Craig Thompson - will be sitting together in Auckland.
The harness show was the first show to be broadcast from the new studio last night.
The First Call on Saturday mornings will now feature Aidan Rodley alongside regular panelists Karyn Fenton-Ellis and Stu Laing.
Moor said the return of a greyhound programme on Monday nights will be augmented by a special guest each week, a retired greyhound looking for a new home through the Greyhounds As Pets scheme.
