BBC possibly to drop F1 coverage...

[DBT85]

Orginally sourced from http://twitpic.com/5ditbp

The image with its slightly OTT headline is of the Sunday Times story about the BBC possibly dropping the F1 coverage because it costs so much for such a small audience. There are no sources or quotes though.

Apparently it costs about £1 for every viewer that it gets compared to the average of 7p for the rest of the BBC 1 and BBC 2 content per hour.

I for one would like to say that

a) I would GLADLY pay the Beeb an extra £20 a year JUST for the F1 coverage.
b) Why don't they sell their coverage to other nations to help bring in more revenue. It's almost certainly the best in the world.
C) Also start allowing non UK IP addresses to buy a license for the iPlayer. I think they were talking about it but it hasn't happened yet.

I've just finished a night shift so once I've woken up form my days sleep I shall be emailing the BBC. I couldn't bear the thought of it going back to ITV.

 

[ins0mn1ac]

F1 is possibly the only thing I watch on the BBC which makes paying my TV license "worth it" please don't take it away

 

[Shimmy]

I'd pay a premium to watch the current BBC coverage of F1 too, especially with the F1 Forum content afterwards as well.

They could cut costs in certain areas though, the over dramatic intro they do at every round isn't necessary. Could also cut down the pre race amble.

 

[Vampire]

F1 is possibly the only thing I watch on the BBC which makes paying my TV license "worth it" please don't take it away

This exactly. Though for me there isn't really much else I watch on TV, maybe just the news and Top Gear.

 

[Dunks]

They could cut costs in certain areas though, the over dramatic intro they do at every round isn't necessary. Could also cut down the pre race amble.

The pre race amble is awesome, sometimes it's more exciting to watch than the actual race!

 

[FreeStream]

I'd pay a premium to watch the current BBC coverage of F1 too, especially with the F1 Forum content afterwards as well.

They could cut costs in certain areas though, the over dramatic intro they do at every round isn't necessary. Could also cut down the pre race amble.

I think the £3 million per race is the contract with the FIA or whoever own the rights.


And I echo the comments on watching it on the BBC. ITV were poor!

 

[Joe T]

The pre race amble is awesome, sometimes it's more exciting to watch than the actual race!

Agreed! And the pit walk is the best bit!

 

[Psycho Ned]

Yeah the 300 million is how much they're paying Bernie so god knows how much it costs with the production values on top!

Aside from Sky I doubt anyone will pay the same money this time round for the contract so maybe Bernie will negotiate a lower one with the beeb.........then again who am I kidding he'll go with whoever pays him most money like the races!!

 

[realscot]

With the racing like it is now, we just can't afford to have adverts during a race!!
This is probably the BBC's way of trying to get Bernie to make things cheaper, clearly they have no idea who they are dealing with.

 

[MrChops]

the beebs coverage is frankly the slickest, best made piece of TV there is anywhere. I'd be totally gutted if they stopped. ITV were poor.

 

[4T5]

If the Beeb lose it I bet it goes Pay per view per race.

BBC1's coverage on F1 this year is the best it has Ever been, Figures for the last race topped any previous showing of F1 & was up around 7-8 million. I'll be praying for a compromise & it staying on BBC1.

Also worth mentioning Much respect for Jake I think he's a Brilliant F1 presenter.

 

[JRS]

.........then again who am I kidding he'll go with whoever pays him most money like the races!!

This is probably the BBC's way of trying to get Bernie to make things cheaper, clearly they have no idea who they are dealing with.

*sigh*

Emphasis is my own:

As [Williams Chairman Adam Parr] knows all too well, F1 doesn't chase the highest buck when it comes to the sale of television rights. It is a rare case of Ecclestone having a driving force other than money and it is in the best interest of teams like Parr's. We are talking of course about the fact that Ecclestone deliberately sells F1's TV rights to free to air broadcasters in order to ensure that the teams get the maximum exposure to TV viewers so that they can command high sponsorship values.

Free to air stations may not pay the most to broadcast F1 but they tend to have the highest viewing figures. This is why F1 can claim to be the worlds most watched annual sport with 572m viewers last year and this is a huge carrot for team sponsors. So in essence, Ecclestone forgoes higher prices for TV rights to benefit teams like Williams whose chairman is now attacking him for not making more money from them. Very clever.

Damn that evil Bernie Ecclestone! Damn him to hell!



On a less sarcastic note, I'm sure it'll all come right in the wash. Hell, just selling Top Gear to yet another country will pay for F1 in five seconds flat....

 

[Psycho Ned]

The last time they did PPV it bombed (F1 Digital+ in the early 2000's) but was actually a really good product I remember buying the season ticket they did towards the end for it. Took until the Beeb took it over to get anwhere near that level of coverage again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F1_Digital_+

Didn't help 2002 was a complete Ferrari walkover and had the infamous Rubens pull over to let Schui win in Austria!

 

[snowball1]

Looks like we will be back to adverts during the race, which is bloody annoying!

 

[Glaucus]

Agree with the selling, was with a load of Americans following a live streamathon on twitter when lemans was on and they didn't even have any choice of any live f1 coverage that weekend and the coverage they get is rubbish.

Why don't BBC make their site pay per view, rather than can only been seen in the uk. Could even update inlayer, pay per view or a monthly sub for everything, including vid on their website. I don't understand, why they aren't doing these things.

Who else will pay for it? I can't see itv picking it back up and bernie won't allow it to go to a pay channel as that will massively dent his other revenue.

 

[Rybo89]

There is a BBC4?

Only things worth turning the tv on for is F1 and Topgear and odd police interceptors/traffic cops.

 

[Wicksta]

Why don't BBC make their site pay per view, rather than can only been seen in the uk. Could even update inlayer, pay per view or a monthly sub for everything, including vid on their website. I don't understand, why they aren't doing these things.

Simple. Because it would take viewers away from the host broadcaster.

 

[Glaucus]

Simple. Because it would take viewers away from the host broadcaster.

What do you mean?

 

[Wicksta]

What do you mean?

If the BBC internet stream is available worldwide then why would ORF in Austria pay Bernie millions to show it when people will watch the better coverage online? Bernie has to protect the interests of all host broadcasters worldwide.

 

[ViZioN8]

Hope it doesn't get dropped. The BBC coverage is fantastic.