That seemingly unending supply of footage — invaluable vision of horse flesh thundering down tracks everywhere from Moonee Valley to Muswellbrook — was cut. A planned blackout was in effect, in the biggest racing markets in Australia.

Sky Racing channel was helpless to restore the feed. The television station, owned by wagering giant Tabcorp, could do little more than play audio in pubs and betting parlours throughout Victoria and New South Wales. They had no control over the all-important vision, and could only hope that the auctioneer-like drone of race callers would be enough to keep the punters betting and boozing.

The off switch was flicked elsewhere, in the Racecourse Road offices of the ThoroughbredVision Network, or TVN.

TVN is an entity little-known outside the sport of kings, but it is now near-infamous within horseracing circles. Withholding their footage - of geldings and mares and colts and fillies in full flight - was strategic.

Removing the very lifeblood of the bloodstock industry was a broadside across the bow of Tabcorp, and it was not unexpected. In a way it was provoked. TVN and Tabcorp have been embroiled in a bitter media rights battle for two years.

In the latest round of deteriorating and devolving negotiations, Sky Racing threw up their hands and left the table. In response, there were few tactics left to TVN with the power to shock, but still, the blackout was audacious.

Under the standing arrangement between the two parties, Tabcorp pays rights fees to TVN. TVN knew they would have to forgo those earnings during the blackout, but they believed the manoeuvre would hit Tabcorp harder.

Imagine the scene. TABs throughout the two biggest racing states in the country, with no footage from Ballarat or Royal Randwick – nothing at all from Moe to Moree. The betting behemoth would be hobbled.

Indeed, publicans in both states pleaded for vision of the big meetings at Rosehill and Flemington, and popular little picnic races in Drouin and the Sapphire Coast. Hotel association chiefs cried that the "battling punter in the bush" was copping the brunt of an escalating feud.

This blackout, said one hotelier, was like the equine influenza outbreak all over again: "As soon as you stop giving people the picture and something to bet on, they'll walk away. The knock-on effect is going to be huge."

Yet as an exercise in brinksmanship by TVN — or even an act of retaliation — it was an abject failure. For Tabcorp could ultimately absorb the betting losses far more than the embattled TVN could endure the loss of rights fees.

To understand why, you need to know a little about the convoluted and arcane structure of racing in Victoria, how the ThoroughbredVision Network came into being, how it has since become known as racing's great poisoned chalice — and white elephant — and ultimately why this multi-million-dollar experiment will shutter its doors in less than a month.

The dream was simple. Racing would have its own independent television station and money spinner.

It was 2004, and the four big racing clubs in Victoria — the Victoria Racing Club, Moonee Valley Racing Club, Melbourne Racing Club and Country Racing Victoria — plus their counterparts in NSW, owned the media rights to the thousands of races held in the two states (while Racing Victoria effectively ran the stewards).

If that sounds strange, it should. It would be akin to the AFL media rights being owned and brokered by a motley mix of Collingwood, the MCG, Geelong, and Etihad Stadium – leaving the AFL to manage umpiring and the tribunal.

Yet that was the state of play, and within that environment it was decided that the rights holders would establish their own production network, instead of merely outsourcing the job.

TVN would be built from scratch, create its own content, and on-sell the rights to the biggest local carrier, Sky Racing. The network would report to a board comprising the three main metropolitan clubs and country racing, plus Racing NSW.

Graham Duff, chairman of Racing Victoria at the time, said the result was "momentous", promising a brave new world.

"We think it is about time the Australian racing industry really got together and protected our very substantial investment in this country," he said, "in what is an amazing entertainment product."

The future looked bright. After protracted negotiations, an eight-year deal was signed between TVN and Tabcorp, believed to be worth $40 million a year. In racing parlance, they were off and running, but it didn't take long for the going to get heavy.

"TVN was poor quality, bordering on amateurish," said one former racing executive, disparaging the experiment. "It used to be compared with Channel 31, and they didn't have enough product of their own to make it work. They torched a fortune."

In 2007 the network reportedly paid $12 million for the racing publications Winning Post and Best Bets – a twin acquisition hailed by some for the creation of "synergies", but admonished by others as an "unmitigated disaster". (Within a few years the print products were together valued at perhaps $3 million, and on paper they are worth considerably less today.)

Reports emerged of TVN spending indulgent amounts on and off air – of excessive and unnecessary infrastructure, but also exorbitant wages and consultancy fees. One "adviser" received $10,000 a month over six years for little more than calling in once a month to chat to staff.

"They spared no expense," said a former employee. "You would be shocked if you saw some of these contracts. People earning double and in some cases treble what they're capable of. They spent like it was the most successful channel in the world, but at the end of the day they barely made inroads into the racing psyche."

Fairfax Media revealed this month that while TVN had distributed $140 million to its shareholders over the past decade, Tabcorp had paid TVN more than $350 million in rights fees during that time. Where did the other $200 million go?

One metropolitan club board member told Fairfax Media it was "offensive" what TVN "spent and splurged".

The board recently announced that "contrary to recent media reports, TVN's financial performance was at all times audited and transparent, and was not a factor in the decision to close TVN". (Requests to view any audit have been declined.)

The old rights deal with Tabcorp ended in December 2012, a time when TVN was mired in more than $20 million of debt. The two parties began new negotiations, and rolled over short-term agreements so that vision could be broadcast into venues.

Staggeringly, those negotiations continued for two years, as various TVN bosses departed. Peter Sweeney stepped down as chief executive in 2013. Chairman John Hartigan also left, observing on the way out that a dysfunctional board and restrictive shareholder agreement had rendered the position unworkable.

High-profile CEO replacement targets — including Football Federation Australia chief Ben Buckley and Michael Miller from News Ltd — passed on the chance to take up the reins. In the end, former Washington Redskins administrator Bruce Mann won the role – a short tenure dominated by the bargaining process.

The most recent impasse? TVN wanted just over $40 million a year from Tabcorp on a short-term deal, but Tabcorp executives were only prepared to pay $32 million a year on a long-term deal.

Tabcorp also wanted the deal extended to include digital rights, to enable it to show vision on its websites, on tablet and smart phone apps - and for use in its online-only brand Luxbet.

Mann accused Tabcorp of "unrealistic" expectations: "They want more rights, they want the inclusion of digital and they want to pay less than they're paying today, and they want an eight-year deal."

Amid the chest-beating there were whispers of Channel Seven or Foxtel swooping in as a white knight with a better offer, but these suggestions were wide of the mark. Tabcorp was the only potential suitor, putting TVN in an unenviable position.

The blackout at least brought matters to a head. Plans for a new long-term agreement were shelved by both parties until after the new year. A temporary truce was prioritised and vision was restored. Still, the network was living on borrowed time.

In the new year, TVN executives tried in vain to revive the fortunes of the station. Reports emerged claiming that other racing provinces — Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia — were being lured into joining TVN, to increase viewer interest.

But all were already locked into long-term contracts with Sky Racing, and as one interstate official noted: "Why would we be breaking that contract for something like TVN, that has proven after 10 years to be a decided failure?"

Closer to home, Country Racing Victoria could attest to that failure, with certain insiders revealing a distinct disappointment in the treatment of rural racing by TVN, particularly a glaring lack of exposure.

In 2006, TVN documents promised that it would raise the profile of country racing, with everything from towns being showcased in the lead-up to major races — plus interviews with local trainers, jockeys and sponsors — none of which was realised.

"We are owed an explanation," said a former country racing president.

The hits have kept on coming for TVN in recent weeks. Sky Racing announced plans for the establishment of a brand new state-of-the-art racing channel – one that would promote the best of Australian racing and international racing on one station.

Spring carnival in Melbourne, the Sydney championships at Easter, Magic Millions in the summer – with every state given a slice of air time. It would be the boutique station that TVN were supposed to be, said one producer, "but $200 million later and they are as effective as a test pattern".

The implosion has continued apace. Racing NSW withdrew its support for TVN, and instead opened its own set of separate negotiations with Tabcorp, and secured a rights deal — independent of Victoria — in late January.

TVN boss Bruce Mann stood down on February 13. Less than a week later, Racing Victoria's hired gun strategist and former AFL negotiator Andrew Catterall resigned. Finally, the network announced it would cease transmission on March 15.

The founding chairman of TVN, media buyer Harold Mitchell, said he was "surprised and disappointed" at the news.

"Several years ago the racing industry set about controlling their own future. It wasn't easy having all entities on the eastern seaboard agree, up against the force of Tabcorp, who were only interested in betting. But TVN was built into a very viable entity."

This week the board of TVN announced a separation agreement between TVN and those entities (the Victorian clubs). This was the final divorce settlement – the clubs are now free to negotiate a new rights deal independently with Tabcorp.

Tabcorp is believed to be offering $25 million a year over eight years, for domestic and international rights, and non-exclusive digital rights. Without the TVN drain on finances, the $25 million offer is potentially more for the clubs, not less.

The sticking point is believed to be the international rights. With a growing appetite for racing in Asia and Europe, some believe Victoria could earn more on-selling the international rights themselves, rather than letting Sky Racing enjoy the cream.

Many simply want the deal to be done, and others suggest that the government step in to broker a solution. Racing is important to this state, and the rights crisis could be seen as an opportunity to finally wrest control of the rights from the clubs.

Some government advisers are lobbying for legislation that would establish a new racing commission, to replace Racing Victoria and create a unified body to manage commercial deals on behalf of the industry. Even across all racing codes.

The recent live-baiting greyhound scandal, raids on a prominent trotting family, and thoroughbred trainers facing charges of using the "go fast" drug cobalt — plus the TVN debacle — have ramped up calls for centralised control.

If not intervention, many believe the collapse of TVN should at least be the catalyst for an investigation.

"It's simple," said one metropolitan club board member. "If racing had been more high profile, and a half a billion dollars was diluted into $140 million, we would be howling for a royal commission."