The Boat Race confirms further broadcasting shake-up ahead of 2026 varsity clash

The Boat Race continues its broadcasting shake-up for 2026 by confirming a partnership with Times Radio on a three-year agreement from this year.

Organisers of the prestigious varsity clash had already confirmed that Channel 4 had taken television rights from the BBC ahead of the 2026 race. That was head-turning news with the BBC broadcasting the event since 2009.

The BBC first broadcast the event on radio in 1927 and on television in 1938. The broadcaster briefly lost the rights to ITV between 2005 and 2009 but has historically dominated coverage of the competition.

Times Radio will broadcast live from The Boat Race on Saturday, April 4 with presenter Jane Mulkerrins hosting a special edition of her Saturday afternoon programme from the riverside in Putney from 1-4 pm.

The Boat Race confirms further broadcasting shake-up ahead of 2026 clash

Mulkerrins is set to be joined ‘by a line-up of rowing royalty and local celebrity guests’ as Oxford look to end a long run of Cambridge dominance. The Men’s Race has been won by Cambridge in six of the last seven years with the margin of victory increasing each event since 2023. Meanwhile, Oxford have not won the Women’s Race since 2016.

The move comes as The Boat Race looks to modernise and keep rowing fans engaged, 187 years after the first event. Siobhan Cassidy, Chair of The Boat Race Company, commented: “We’re delighted to announce Times Radio as our new radio partner on a multi-year deal commencing with this year’s Boat Race on Saturday 4 April.

“The Boat Race prides itself on heritage, tradition, precision and quality and these are values shared by the Times Radio team and their listeners, to whom we are incredibly excited to deliver live coverage and supporting content of this year’s and future events.”

Oxford and Cambridge will unveil their crews for The Boat Race at Somerset House on Thursday, with a first look at what the crews could be provided at the Trial VIIIs event last year.

It was the ‘Baby’ and ‘Beans’ rowers who triumphed for Cambridge University that day but rower Simon Nunayon explained to LondonWorld that a lot could still change. He said: “One of the things I love about Trial VIIIs, you know every single guy in that crew, their habits and how good they are. Walking into that, we knew it would be a tough race. We thought we had a great chance at winning, there’s always tactics at play in The Boat Race, but there was never a moment when we thought we couldn’t win.

“The big goal is beating Oxford and, even just in our crew, we’ve learnt a lesson that those guys haven’t learnt - which is how painful it is to lose on the Championship course.

“Last year, I think there were five people in the losing trial VIII ended up in the Blue Boat [for The Boat Race]. This year, the squad is even deeper. Either trial VIII could be a Blue Boat and every man who raced today knows they have a chance to be in that boat on race day. The squad is deep and internal competition is high. It’s very far from over.”

In other news, Channel 4 takes Boat Race rights from BBC as Oxford challenge Cambridge in 2026 varsity showdown.