BBC possibly to drop F1 coverage...

[ps3ud0]

Been thinking about this whilst watching Qually today.

I don't "mind" the F1 going to Sky if they've got more money to pay Bernie than the BBC.

What annoys me is that the contract was up for renewal at the end of the 2013 season. The BBC have gone and done this early. That annoys me.

What annoys me is that the BBC statement was putting a complete spin on it, saying how they're delighted etc. No. You're halving the coverage. We are not delighted. Stop putting a stupid spin on it. That annoys me.

On the face of it if BBC kept the deal til 2013 as was, and then Sky tried to pick it up then, it would have been more uproar about trying to keep it FTA - this deal just seems to be the perfect Trojan horse for Sky to pick this up and eventually have it as an exclusive - it wont go back to FTA unless Sky decide its not a viable investment in 2018 and by then who will still be watching it if Skys figures are so low for them to drop it?

IMHO I fully blame Ecclestone for the current state of affairs

ps3ud0

 

[oldbag]

The BBC relocation "just to be less london centric" imo is a ridiculous waste of money. Who cares whether the studio/offices are in the North or London?

 

[Kenai]

I thought they were moving because the studio in London was too expensive and outdated?

 

[Westyfield2]

On the face of it if BBC kept the deal until 2013 as was, and then Sky tried to pick it up then, it would have been more uproar about trying to keep it FTA

Then why the **** did the BBC do this new deal early?

The BBC relocation "just to be less London centric" IMO is a ridiculous waste of money. Who cares whether the studio/offices are in the North or London?

London is the capital. The BBC should be in London!

 

[Nexus]

The BBC relocation "just to be less london centric" imo is a ridiculous waste of money. Who cares whether the studio/offices are in the North or London?

Leaving BBC Television Centre is more to down to the fact that it doesn't serve the purpose it was intended for anymore.

A lot of the setup was based around televised audience shows which required big stages, also to fit the large television cameras, which have shrunk considerably these days.

The way shows are created has changed significantly and there isn't the need for these huge stages anymore and a lot of work can be outsourced or worked on by teams in small office spaces or by simply hiring an edit suite. It's an expensive building to keep running when it's not doing the job it was intended for anymore.

I last went to Television Centre about 11 years ago now, and even then it felt dated. Selling the building will get them some money back and obviously they would presumably relocate to elsewhere in London but that's far too expensive to house many departments in one or two large buildings, so that more than anything is the reason why they have decided to relocate elsewhere.

As for some of the BBC's Stars, their salaries are tame in comparison to the cost of producing something like an F1 Season or licencing and running and entire channel and it's contents.

 

[Nexus]

Then why the **** did the BBC do this new deal early?

The BBC already made it aware before this announcement of the deal yesterday that they were struggling with F1 and that they might have to drop it. So likely they were put under pressure from the top to try and negotiate something, otherwise the BBC would likely have to give up, or buy out it's contract.

London is the capital. The BBC should be in London!

It's the capital of Film and Television in this country, despite what some people may and try and convince you otherwise.

 

[ps3ud0]

Then why the **** did the BBC do this new deal early?

They couldnt continue televising it with the current climate of spending cuts, so were forced to find an alternative otherwise no doubt the penalty clauses in the FOM F1 TV rights contracts would have been enforced

ps3ud0

 

[smr]

My first comment in this thread I think; I've been reading with interest, and in the last half of this thread, great sadness. A sadness which is obviously shared with a great many of you.

I too love the BBC's coverage of Formula 1, and will not be buying Sky.

I have a freesat box and have no intention of paying an absurd sum to Sky to watch the other half of the races.

A question or two which have probably be answered already, so forgive me for that, but...

Will the coverage for the other half of the races that the BBC do be the same as it is now in terms of the build up to the Qually and races?

During the BBC's race weekends will the BBC also be covering and airing the practice sessions and the Qualifying ?

With regards to Sky, I just noticed on the autosport website that Bernie says there are 10 million homes in the UK with Sky... so what? Does that mean 10 million homes with just Sky, or 10m with Skysports?

I sincerely hope it's not the latter and nor do I think it is.

I just hope Sky fall flat on their face with this one and the expected viewing figures fall way way way short of what they are anticipating. I can only see people who already have the overpriced Sky sports package watching F1 - that is even if they are interested in F1... because obviously everyone that has it, well in the majority, have bought it for either Football or Cricket.

I guess there may be a few Formula 1 fans who have Sky but no Sports package at the moment buying the Sports package in order to watch the other half of the races during the season.

I just hope they don't subscribe and the viewing figures are appalling. Then the sponsors will get angry (Director at Pirelli has already voiced his concern) and Sky hand over the full season to the BBC again.

Very very disappointed by the news :/

The other thing is - I don't like Sky Sports, or the people on it. Not only that I've always thought the BBC looks far more professional and grown up than Sky Sports, even when it comes down to on screen graphics ( the usage of tacky coloured blues and reds Sky insist on using look cheap, and well, just tacky.

BBC's on the other hand look a lot more refined and grown up with the lovely black and yellow tones featured throughout lots of their sports coverage.

Also the BBC employ likable people - Jake Humphrey, Gary Lineker, Martin Brundle, Coulthard, Jordan etc.

Who do Sky employ? People I want to shoot in the face have been employed by them before, like sexist pig Andy Gray. I just don't like Sky, their evil empire or the way they do things so I would never buy into them no matter how much I love Formula 1.

 

[Tombstone]

Also the BBC employ likable people - Jake Humphrey, Gary Lineker, Martin Brundle, Coulthard, Jordan etc.

Who do Sky employ? People I want to shoot in the face have been employed by them before, like sexist pig Andy Gray. I just don't like Sky, their evil empire or the way they do things so I would never buy into them no matter how much I love Formula 1.

I disagree with this part, Humphrey I like, Coulthard too. Brundle and Jordan I am not particularly fond of and I would take Jeff Stelling over Gary Lineker any second of any minute of any day. Hell, I'd even take Redknapp and Neville over Hansen and Lawrenson, and Martin Tyler is imo one of the best commentators around.

It will be interesting to bookmark this thread though and see how many of the "I'm not getting sky" folks actually do get sky next year. It does have a little deja vu about it, I remember having these same conversations with my friends when Sky first came along regarding the football, today many years later, every one of those particular friends now has Sky and loves it for the football.

 

[Westyfield2]

I just hope Sky fall flat on their face with this one and the expected viewing figures fall way way way short of what they are anticipating.

When discussing this at work the bloke in the office next door said he's going to add Sky Sports onto his BT Vision package, and I saw my Dad pricing up stuff on the Sky website this morning.

Problem is a lot of people are annoyed about this, gonna moan, but just pay up in the end.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

F1 isn't football though, it's hardly on throughout the year...
To pay the comedy price for a Sky and Sky Sports package just wouldn't make sense if, like me, you aren't rich.

Problem is a lot of people are annoyed about this, gonna moan, but just pay up in the end.

And that's a bad thing, in the end Sky'll win by default, people wont just leave it and hope that this hurts the sport enough that they have to go back on the deal. They'll get the wallets out and throw their money at the problem.

 

[Nexus]

A question or two which have probably be answered already, so forgive me for that, but...

Will the coverage for the other half of the races that the BBC do be the same as it is now in terms of the build up to the Qually and races?

During the BBC's race weekends will the BBC also be covering and airing the practice sessions and the Qualifying ?

It all needs to be actually clarified properly, which hasn't been done yet.
What we can gather from what's been said so far though is that:

Sky will show everything for all races.

For the 10 races BBC show live, they will also have a proper pre-show. Whether the ten weekends they have included full practise sessions and qualifying coverage remains unknown.

The 10 races that the BBC don't show live will have minimal build up, highlights and minimal post race analysis. There is pressure surrounding whether it's going to be the whole race or just highlights, but it seems Bernie wants highlights.

 

[Nexus]

Id see how many of the "I'm not getting sky" folks actually do get sky next year. It does have a little deja vu about it, I remember having these same conversations with my friends when Sky first came along regarding the football, today many years later, every one of those particular friends now has Sky and loves it for the football.

If you really love F1 and can afford it, it's likely that you would do it so that you can properly watch the Sport. That's why Sky has bought it, because they know they can get subscriptions.

The people who won't are those who can't afford it or who are casual fans. I know plenty of people who watch F1 with a passing interest, who I can have the odd chat about a race with. Those people, which I'm sure makes up millions of the BBC audience won't buy Sky (or possibly Sports) just to watch F1.

This is where they are making themselves look stupid with the deal announcement more than anything, because however you dress it up, you can't ignore the fact that this means a huge reduction in the F1 audience in this country.

 

[Tombstone]

If you really love F1 and can afford it, it's likely that you would do it so that you can properly watch the Sport. That's why Sky has bought it, because they know they can get subscriptions.

The people who won't are those who can't afford it or who are casual fans. I know plenty of people who watch F1 with a passing interest, who I can have the odd chat about a race with. Those people, which I'm sure makes up millions of the BBC audience won't buy Sky (or possibly Sports) just to watch F1.

This is where they are making themselves look stupid with the deal announcement more than anything, because however you dress it up, you can't ignore the fact that this means a huge reduction in the F1 audience in this country.

You're probably right with that, I dont fit into your first paragraph, I am much more of a 2nd paragraph person there. I'm one of the casual fans, I dont generally watch every race because some of the circuits just bore me senseless (yes Valencia, I'm looking at you !). On the other hand I already have sky sports so I am lucky enough that the change doesnt affect me.

I hope that people dont buy Sky just to watch F1 , as buying a channel just for one particular show seems a bit daft to me....well ok..not always the case, buying Sky Atlantic for Game of Thrones is the exception to that as thats a show worth any channels money

There is stuff that Sky dont do well and stuff they do which I dont like, but equally they do some stuff brilliantly, better than ever before and I like. I recognise both the pluses and the negatives of sky and certainly dont see them as an evil empire led by Dr Evil

 

[scorza]

The 10 races that the BBC don't show live will have minimal build up, highlights and minimal post race analysis. There is pressure surrounding whether it's going to be the whole race or just highlights, but it seems Bernie wants highlights.

I can't believe that it isn't specified exactly in the contract what the BBC will show for the races they don't have live rights to. Put it this way, I can't see the contract saying that the BBC have the rights to show the full race on a deferred broadcast but the BBC agreeing to only doing extended highlights as a favour to Bernie.

 

[Nexus]

You're probably right with that, I dont fit into your first paragraph, I am much more of a 2nd paragraph person there. I'm one of the casual fans, I dont generally watch every race because some of the circuits just bore me senseless (yes Valencia, I'm looking at you !). On the other hand I already have sky sports so I am lucky enough that the change doesnt affect me.

I hope that people dont buy Sky just to watch F1 , as buying a channel just for one particular show seems a bit daft to me....well ok..not always the case, buying Sky Atlantic for Game of Thrones is the exception to that as thats a show worth any channels money

There is stuff that Sky dont do well and stuff they do which I dont like, but equally they do some stuff brilliantly, better than ever before and I like. I recognise both the pluses and the negatives of sky and certainly dont see them as an evil empire led by Dr Evil

Agreed, I have Sky, well I share the cost with my Brother who I live with for the combined phone, tv and broadband package. It's SD with the only package being Sports, which when we took it out was £2 extra a month, which may have gone up. My Brother wanted the package for the football and was originally going to pay that part himself, but he never did, so I've technically paid at least £30 for a channel I've never watched, so I guess at least I will now!

Ideally though, I still want it to remain on free to air for three reasons:

- BBC Coverage is the best it's ever been.
- All my friends can still watch it who don't have Sky and I can see it on something like TV Catchup if I need to.
- I don't want to pay for Sky HD, but had wanted to buy a second hand Sky HD box just so I could watch F1 on BBC HD. I can't do that now.

Sky's biggest problem is for the amount of money they have, they produce such a paltry amount of their own programming. Sports and News Channels aside, Sky One is their main showcase channel for anything they produce and all I can think of is:

- Ross Kemp on Gangs
- An Idiot Abroad
- *Various Police/Border enforcement type shows*
- A League of their Own
- Something or other with David Walliams

Everything else is purchased and everything is repeated constantly.

I don't have every channel, but when I lived with my parents they did and realistically I find I only watch the same stuff.

Sky One, Dave, Gold.... these are all just showing repeats, but that's what I tend to watch when I do. I spend far more time watching the terrestrial BBC, ITV and Channel Four when I do watch television.

The movie channels used to be really good in the 90s, when there wasn't much else, but they've lost their edge these days, when you can have on demand movies and what I feel is better is services like Love Film.

If Sky didn't have all the Sports, then I don't think they could exist. Sure there is a great selection of stuff for kids, I know I watched when I was younger. Music channels have gone to hell these days, as they are nothing but ads and are mostly fake documentary soaps. I'm sure there must be some people watching all those bizarre niche channels, otherwise they wouldn't exist.

 

[Nexus]

I can't believe that it isn't specified exactly in the contract what the BBC will show for the races they don't have live rights to. Put it this way, I can't see the contract saying that the BBC have the rights to show the full race on a deferred broadcast but the BBC agreeing to only doing extended highlights as a favour to Bernie.

Like I said, it's not been made clear.

If you read back through the thread, the comments from Bernie were that it would be Highlights and that's what the director of BBC F1 seemed to agree with. Martin Whitmarsh who is also president of FOTA believed it was going to be full races, so there is a good deal of confusion and as the exact details of the contract are only being discovered in drips and drabs with no official press release as to how the deal fully works, it could mean that it's not fully set it stone.

 

[scorza]

Like I said, it's not been made clear.

If you read back through the thread, the comments from Bernie were that it would be Highlights and that's what the director of BBC F1 seemed to agree with. Martin Whitmarsh who is also president of FOTA believed it was going to be full races, so there is a good deal of confusion and as the exact details of the contract are only being discovered in drips and drabs with no official press release as to how the deal fully works, it could mean that it's not fully set it stone.

Yeah it's not been made clear to us, but I bet if you were to read the contract it would be clear in that. Bernie and Whitmarsh are playing games I think, maybe it will change if FOTA kick up a big enough stink about it, but right now I'm pretty certain that under the current deal we'll be getting extended highlights on the BBC and not the full race.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/content/response/formulaonerights2012

Yet another half baked reply from the BBC.
Thousands of complaints, yet all that justifies is a copy and paste of their existing rubbish.

They would be as well not bother as they clearly aren't interested.

 

[Psymonkee]

Surely writing letters of complaint/query to the advertisers with the threat to never buy their brands again if they remain in F1 will have a more....positive impact?

Companies really don't like loosing customers!