BBC to end Formula 1 television contract early

JoeF1 · 21 Dec 2015 at 12:42

Sky F1 for life. The subscription is worth it just for Ted.

Crippled Potato · 21 Dec 2015 at 12:50

oldbag said:
Surprise surprise. We need some more cheap quiz/reality shows. So will sky just take the remaining contract?

I'm certain for most countries, there is a clause In the contract that F1 is not allowed to be entirely subscription based. At least a highlights program must be available for freeview.

Duke · 21 Dec 2015 at 12:52

koolpc said:
Gutted really as i liked it on the BBC. I honestly didnt see this coming so soon!

No adverts? I believe it when i see it. Hated F1 on ITV. Was a joke to have ads during the race!

I wont pay for Sky just to watch F1 though. We have Freeview only.

Will be looking for a way to watch now online!

If you know someone with Sky Sports then can use Sky Go streaming. It's not perfect but does the job.

Kelt · 21 Dec 2015 at 13:00

Terminal_Boy said:
Unless F1 becomes way more interesting next season, I'm not too fused.

This.

F1 has lost its spark as far as I'm concerned.

Kelt · 21 Dec 2015 at 13:01

MooMoo444 said:
Be interested to see what C4 do with it. Thankfully they are committing to no adverts during the race. I still have a sour taste when ITV used to do that.

I still remember that!

Bloody awful.

Twirlywoos · 21 Dec 2015 at 13:02

Meh, don't care who hosts it as the sport is too predictable where only the best cars win. Edit if Sussie Perry doesn't host the show then It's brilliant news, Lee Mckenzie deserves it more. Make the right choice C4

DAIR · 21 Dec 2015 at 13:02

Edit... Just seen details of now adverts.

Skeeter · 21 Dec 2015 at 13:12

DAIR said:
Edit... Just seen details of now adverts.

Source?

Psycho Ned · 21 Dec 2015 at 13:44

The Beebs heart hasn't been in F1 for a long time. When it first started with Jake, Brundle and Ted it was a class apart from what we'd had with ITV. Then they flogged most of the rights to Sky and Jake, Brundle and Ted left and since then it's been just limping to todays announcement.

deuse · 21 Dec 2015 at 14:48

Psycho Ned said:
The Beebs heart hasn't been in F1 for a long time. When it first started with Jake, Brundle and Ted it was a class apart from what we'd had with ITV. Then they flogged most of the rights to Sky and Jake, Brundle and Ted left and since then it's been just limping to todays announcement.

Jake\brundle\ted left for the money. Can't stand sky pundits and ted is a buffoon.

Skeeter · 21 Dec 2015 at 15:22

The BBC wanted out of the F1 contract totally at the end of 2011. The Sky deal was brokered as a compromise because Bernie wouldn't let the BBC out of their contract easily. They have been trying to flog their 'half' deal off ever since, and its now come down to a price that Channel 4 are happy with.

If you want someone to blame, blame the Government. The freeze on the License Fee is ultimately the root cause of this.

Lunatic Dreyfus · 21 Dec 2015 at 15:49

Initially I was interested in the headline, then I remembered I haven't watched a race since Silverstone. After more than 25 years, F1, in its current state is dead to me.

As for channel 4 getting coverage... Holy ****!

Hopefully they'll continue to be all "challenging and alternative" and get some completely clueless moron to present the coverage. Maybe they could bring back Ortis Deley!

Channel 4's (thankfully) one off coverage of the athletics world championship in 2011 with him at the helm was the stuff of legend!

The_Abyss · 21 Dec 2015 at 16:20

I've hardly watched it on the BBC since Jake left. Whenever I have it has been poor. I much prefer Sky's coverage.

I'm quite looking forward to seeing what Channel 4 can do with it.

philip2009 · 21 Dec 2015 at 16:27

Skeeter said:
If you want someone to blame, blame the Government. The freeze on the License Fee is ultimately the root cause of this.

Blame? If other terrestrial broadcasters want to show it why is a supposedly public service, publicly funded, broadcaster bidding for it in the first place?

Third Opinion · 21 Dec 2015 at 16:36

philip2009 said:
Blame? If other terrestrial broadcasters want to show it why is a supposedly public service, publicly funded, broadcaster bidding for it in the first place?

You also have the choice of not subscribing or watching the advertising on the channel.

BBC is pay like it or not, watch it or not.

About time this Dinosaur is placed in a museum where it belongs. I pay less a month for my subscriptions to NowTV and Plus.net Youview than the BBC licence costs me. 99% of my viewing are done on these services with nothing being BBC related.

mmj_uk · 21 Dec 2015 at 16:43

Hodders said:
After being a big F1 fan in the 90/00s I have found myself missing quite a few races and just looking at the results.

I wonder if in 5 years this will be seen as the beginning of the end.

Same here but I think too much manipulation from the top to try and improve entertainment for the masses (no doubt chasing revenue) and the move over to Sky was already the beginning of the end.

Skeeter · 21 Dec 2015 at 16:58

It's not a "BBC License Fee".

You will have to pay the license fee to watch the races on Channel 4 too.

GravyMonster · 21 Dec 2015 at 17:16

I've been an F1 fan since I was a kid in the early 90s. I've watched every season since then, but honestly it bores the living **** out of me these days.

I'm now at the point where I honestly don't care about this news. Blancpain/WEC/IMSA on MotorsTV is far more entertaining, it's just a shame the schedules are all over the place and the production quality is complete crap by comparison.

El_Watcher · 21 Dec 2015 at 17:19

One question, I don't know if anyone here will know, but does the licence fee cover the maintenance and upgrades to the transmitter equipment used to broadcast terrestrial TV? Or is this paid for by some other tax?

And who actually owns and runs these transmitters?

philip2009 · 21 Dec 2015 at 17:38

I presume broadcasters simply pay Arqiva to use the transmitters?