The Grand National remains one of the few truly unifying events in the UK sporting calendar, with millions glued to television screens every year in early April. Here, Telegraph Sport gives you all the information you need about how to make sure you can watch the most famous jumps race of them all.
Plus, find the best Grand National tips and our guide to every horse in the race. You can also download Telegraph Sport’s sweepstake kit for this year’s race.
Grand National on TV: What channel is the race on?
The Grand National will be shown live on free-to-air television by ITV at 4pm on Saturday, April 5 as the showpiece in the channel’s truncated coverage of the three-day meeting at Aintree.
For full, uninterrupted coverage of the Grand National meeting – including the big race itself – you need to sign up for a subscription for Racing TV, which owns the rights to showing all racing from Aintree.
Racing TV costs £29.98 monthly or you can pay an up-front fee of £298 for an annual membership. You can also pay £10 for a day pass.
Grand National streaming
Both ITV and Racing TV have streaming services as part of their offering.
ITVX can be accessed either via the website or by downloading the app directly to your phone. The same is true of Racing TV, which has a dedicated app as well as streaming via web browser.
You can also stream directly from most UK betting sites if you have placed a bet on the race. If you are looking to open a new betting account for the big day, you can take advantage of these Grand National betting offers.
How many people watch the Grand National?
Last year, a peak of 6.1 million people tuned in to watch the Grand National, a fall of 1.4 million from the figure in 2023.
Blame for that drop has been placed on the moving of the race’s start time forward from 5.45pm to 4pm, when fewer people are watching television.
The race still accounted for 60 per cent of the people watching at the time, continuing a year-on-year increase.
ITV’s main presenter Ed Chamberlin said after the 2024 viewing figurs were announced: “That figure is pretty much what we were expecting. The simple fact is less people are watching TV on a Saturday afternoon at 4pm than they are in the early evening. We knew this would be the case.”
“The share is fantastic and is always the most important figure in television,” he added. “I’d have liked to have had more viewers, but it was pretty much what I was expecting and not many programmes or events get six million watching them in the modern day.”
Betting at Aintree? There are Grand National betting offers and Grand National free bets to take advantage of all week, and the Grand National runners and riders guide is here with everything to help you pick your selection.