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Boat Race

BBC

Every spring, for over 180 years, Oxford and Cambridge vie to be crowned rulers of the Thames.

This iconic moment in the British sporting calendar comes after 12 months of intense training by the two university crews, with victory decided in over four miles of gruelling rowing. It’s a huge family event with over a quarter of a million spectators lining the Thames and millions more watching on television.

For Red Bee Media, every Boat Race brings a new challenge. Finding an approachable entry point to a sport that doesn’t get year round coverage can be a challenge. In eights rowing we found our insight in 2010 with the empathy we can all have for “the small guy” who gets to call the shots. The promotional trail was filmed on small agile rigs so as to be in amongst the crew while training and it helped provide a big ratings uplift as the race returned to BBC in 2010.