Great TV Sport but.....

I have to admit to a new addiction this summer – the Tour de France.

Never having been particularly interested in cycling until 2012 when the Olympic's Road Race and Time Trial passed by my daughter's home near Hampton Court – watching world class cyclists with a glass of bubbly in one's hand from the front garden is highly recommended – I have surprised myself by switching on the TV on many afternoons to watch this year's Tour.

The scenery is breathtaking and it's fascinating to see towns and villages one's visited over the years as the Tour flashes by. The cycling too, as one learns more about team tactics, is mesmerising with the various races going on – General Classification, King of the Mountains, Sprinters etc etc – giving each stage and its varying challenges an excitement all of its own.

The coverage on ITV4 (Channel 24) is superb with informative and really knowledgeable commentary and comment by Ned Boulting and Tour veteran David Millar which satisfies, I would guess, both cycling enthusiasts and relative newcomers to the sport like me.

So where does the 'but....' of the title come in. Well, it's the advertisements. Now I am not knocking ads, after all I worked in the industry most of my life, and I understand that is how ITV finances its very existence. No, it's the content of the ads that make up the vast bulk of each afternoon's coverage.

It's a sad and depressing succession, made worse by endless repetition, of boring and completely uncreative plugs for:

• PPI insurance companies (can there be a single person in the land who has taken out PPI insurance and doesn't know it's easier to claim yourself rather than handing possible vast sums of compensation to these companies)
• solicitors with posh names urging you to claim for any accident or hurt that may have occurred in your life
• companies offering loans at 1,500% or so when Bank Rate is 0.5%
• funeral payment plans from insurance companies
• betting companies (albeit we are spared the casino ads that come later in the evening)
• bingo on-line
• over the shelf pharmaceuticals for ailments most people have never heard of.

Indeed, it's almost a relief when the occasional ad for something wholesome and relevant to most viewers' lives comes along, such as a Big Whopper from Burger King!

Not having watched any day-time TV – except for sport – over the years, is this the normal diet that's served up during the day on commercial TV. Hopefully not because, if so, it's surprising the one product that hasn't appeared on my viewing days – anti-depressants – isn't dominating the airwaves.

The staggering thing is this load of sad ads is being aimed at viewers who are interested in a sporting event that demands greater fitness than anything else on earth? Whatever happened to directing ads at an appropriate target audience?

Also, whatever happened to creativity. Remember the great beer advertisements of yesteryear – the Carlings, Heinekens etc. Aren't these the products a keen cyclist is likely to crave after a ride rather than constant reminders that he or she hasn't a funeral plan.

Despite the ads, I shall be cheering the participants on this afternoon as they reach Paris. It's looking certain we will have a British winner, which is great – and we already have seven out of nineteen stage wins this year. But I will be cheering them all on as anybody that can get through, or even compete for part of the Tour, has to be a hero.

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