Saturday’s Virtual Grand National, which ran on ITV, has raised £2.6 million for NHS Charities.
The race, which was produced by Rob McLoughlin’s Carm Productions, attracted 4.3 million viewers, a 28% audience share. The bookmakers are set to donate £2.6 million to NHS Charities Together, the umbrella organisation which represents more than 140 NHS charities.
Read more on the Prolific North website.
This year’s Virtual Grand National replaced the real thing and was broadcast on ITV on Saturday, 4 April.
The result was a win for Potters Corner, which bookies had given odds of 18-1. The race was a huge success, with major coverage on national media and even some of the jockies – who would have taken part in the real thing – commenting on social media as the race was run.
The Virtual Grand National was produced by Carm Productions, run by Rob McLoughlin.
For more on the race results, visit the BBC Sports website.
With this year’s Aintree Grand National cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Virtual Grand National has galloped to the rescue to replace it.
This computer-version of the famous race is produced by Carm Productions and is created using advanced computer graphics and sophisticated algorithms to predict the outcome based on data about the runners.
The Virtual Grand National has been run each year since 2017 alongside the real thing and has a consistently good record of predicting the winners. This year’s virtual race features Aintree legends Red Rum and Tiger Roll against the other competitors.
Carm executive producer Rob McLoughlin grew up in Maghull, near Aintree. This is a project close to his heart. “We use the latest CGI technology and algorithms and were ready to go ahead as a forerunner to the big race, but now we want to cheer the nation up and ask the computer if history could have been made.”
The Virtual Grand National will be broadcast by ITV at 5.00pm on April 4, 2020. More details and how to watch the race, visit the ITV website here.
The Masood Enterprise Centre (MEC) at The University of Manchester has become the first higher education institution to join up as a patron of the Educate North Awards, which take place in April 2020.
Hosted by Carm Productions, the event takes place on 23 April 2020 at Manchester’s Hilton Deansgate.
For more details, visit the Prolific North website.
Heart Yorkshire, Smooth North West and Smooth North East have signed up to promote the Educate North Awards.
In partnership with Prolific North and Don’t Panic Events, the Educate North Awards were launched by Rob McLoughlin, celebrating and recognising best practice and excellence in the education sector in the North.