FORMER BBC presenter Steve Rider has revealed his plans for a low-key retirement after 48 years on the screen.
The iconic broadcaster, 74, has been on the box for nearly five decades starring alongside fellow greats like Des Lynam and Sue Barker.
Steve Rider has revealed his plans for a low-key retirement[/caption]
He will be leaving screens this summer after 48 years of broadcasting[/caption]
Rider has covered numerous sports and events during his time on screen, ranging from golf and Formula One to the Olympics.
He was particularly loved by fans as the host of legendary programmes Grandstand and Sportsnight.
And now, Rider is preparing for his final job in front of the camera this summer – 18 months after revealing he was being treated for prostate cancer.
The ace will present coverage of the British Touring Car Championship on ITV4 in June.
But he reckons he will enjoy a low-key exit despite all his years on screen.
Rider told the Mail: “I’ll just sidle away. The biggest emotion as you get into the last two minutes of something like that is, ‘For God’s sake, don’t c**k it up’.
“Because you’d be thinking about that for the next 20 years!”
Rider started his career with ITV in 1982, presenting coverage of the Masters before moving to the BBC three years later.
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He spent 20 years with the national broadcaster before returning to ITV in 2006.
But Rider insists he remains a BBC man at heart.
Rider became a household name alongside Sue Barker and Des Lynam[/caption]
He will end his career with ITV this summer[/caption]
He added: “I’m a BBC man. To be invited to join the BBC in 1985 and immediately present Sportsnight and Grandstand and so on, you just thought, ‘Wow’.
“I still felt that on the day I left, which is why you feel a little bit hurt that there is no great legacy surviving from what BBC Sport was.”
Reflecting on all-encompassing sports shows like Grandstand, Rider bemoaned the BBC’s lack of current coverage.
He declared: “Your head was swimming at the end of it, but that was the BBC in its prime. It is a long way short of now being felt to be the pre-eminent sports outlet in this country.
“A bit of that prestige is disappearing and respect is disappearing. It is not the No1 destination anymore for sport.
“The whole landscape has changed hugely, but I do think BBC Sport went with a bit of a whimper, which is a shame.”