RTV promises Ireland its own digital channel in a bid to deliver festive cheer

Under-fire Racing TV is hoping to assuage criticism of its crowded output on December 26 by revealing the afternoon's three Irish meetings will have their own separate digital platform in addition to featuring on the main channel.

In outlining plans for televising what is expected to be 55 races across eight meetings in the space of around four hours, which equates to a race roughly every four-and-a-half minutes, RTV also apologised for problems with its output last Sunday, which led to leading trainer Noel Meade branding the channel "a disaster".

Meade's comments came after events outside of RTV's control resulted in both the Peterborough Chase and John Durkan Memorial Chase being shown at the same time in split-screen format. To make matters worse, the organisation's Extra service proved unreliable.