BBC possibly to drop F1 coverage...

Concrete · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:00

I'll miss the commentary but my PC is setup to output to my TV so I'll be happy enough with an international stream on the net for the races the BBC aren't showing. LOL at paying for Sky.

Skeeter · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:05

Sukh said:
Lol to the person saying F1 fans are being forced.

You are not being forced to do anything, the highlights will still be on BBC.

For the next year or too prehaps. After that it will be Sky only except for news coverage.

feedtheram · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:17

BTW i'm pretty sure Sky have confirmed there will be NO ADVERTS DURING THE RACE.

Not that it makes massive difference but at least it wont be quite as bad as ITV!

End Creditz · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:17

Lunatic Dreyfus said:
It's terrible news. I lost track of cricket when it went completely over to the dark side, I just hope the same doesn't happen with F1.

I have no interest in all the other 'great' stuff Sky shovels out and I'm simply not going to pay whatever the subscription charge is per month for Sky, just for F1. One wonders if they'd go pay per view if there was a suitably juicy title decider?

Regardless, Sky, Bernie and the rest. can go take a running jump.

Deep breaths...

Ditto. Although for me it was top flight football. I haven't seen a premier match since Sky first stuck their oar in. No interest in 100's of channels of ####. When there's naff all on terrestrial there's very nearly always naff all on satellite/cable, it just takes you longer to surf on the wave of #### to discover.

Gutted

dannyjo22 · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:28

It's the timing that is so far off. 3 or 4 years ago Bernie might have got away with this. 2011 no chance, peoples utilities have risen so much in the last 2 or so years that Sky is fast becoming a thing people I know have cut out of their bills or atleast any premium packages.

So many people I know are now freeview only in one form or another.

I'm still hoping this might fall through, I can't see the viewing figures on sky being worth bothering about.

Darryn · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:52

I dropped Sky in favour of Freeview HD and FreeSat HD, there isn't a chance in hell i will pay Sky to watch F1. I'm unsure at the moment about even watching the BBC broadcast races if I'm not going to be able to watch the entire season Live, if they offered delayed "Full replay" rather than highlights i may continue or if the highlights show is comprehensive enough and keeps all the current buildup and after-race analyse I might carry on.

Truly gutted that its going to Sky, i kinda hope the teams/sponsors protest and the idea gets canned... failing that when it does switch to Sky it will/would be funny if it fails and sponsors back out left, right and centre. Such a shame to see the only sport i enjoy ending up in this position.

Emlyn_Dewar · 29 Jul 2011 at 15:58

Absolutely gutted by this news, it's almost a slap in the face with the BBC saying how amazing it is that they'll still show half the races.
I guess F1 just didn't appeal to the crowd of morons the BBC are after, the kind who'd rather have Eastenders streamed into their faces 24hrs a day.

I can't afford Sky Sports really, I certainly can't justify a sports package being added to basic Virgin Media for the 19 race weekends we get in a year.

So, so disappointing.

As for the suggestions of watching the highlights... Woo...
I'll just look at the race result and be done with it. Most of the excitement/tension goes out the window once it's not live.

Terrible news and I really hope it has a large negative impact on the sport.

Darryn said:
i kinda hope the teams/sponsors protest and the idea gets canned... failing that when it does switch to Sky it will/would be funny if it fails and sponsors back out left, right and centre. Such a shame to see the only sport i enjoy ending up in this position.

Absolutely. It's the only way we'd ever see a push to get it back on "the poor mans channels"...

Memphis · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:00

If this does go ahead and F1 ends up half on Sky, I can say with absolute certainty that at least 50% of you who are "outraged" and "adamant I will never get Sky" end up with a subscription and watch the races. It's so funny when the hypocrites come out to play.

Emlyn_Dewar · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:01

I can guarantee I wont be going down that road, the very idea of paying for a sports package subscription is laughable.

Indy500 · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:01

No ITV\Eurosport bids?

Sagalout · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:05

To be fair, I think there's a lot of flouncing and empty threats in this thread. Its not the end of the world!

This time next year you'll all still be watching the BBC races. You don't just lose an interest in something. Plus, we have no details of the highlights as yet, but if its extended, say a one hour program with 45 mins of race coverage, that will actually be quite watchable.

This has happened in most other sports already. I love Superbikes and Cycling, which I have to pay for on Eurosport. I like football, but wont pay for Sky so make do with the highlights on Match of the Day. Not sure what I'll do about F1 - I rarely watch them live anyway. Usually record on my V+ box and watch later, so I'll probably watch the BBC races in full then either the highlights or just download a few hours after the race.

koolpc · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:08

Memphis said:
If this does go ahead and F1 ends up half on Sky, I can say with absolute certainty that at least 50% of you who are "outraged" and "adamant I will never get Sky" end up with a subscription and watch the races. It's so funny when the hypocrites come out to play.

Load of rubbish. I can't afford Sky and wouldn't buy it anyway.

dannyjo22 · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:11

sr4470 said:
No ITV\Eurosport bids?

ITV wanted shot of F1 in the first place. They did the figures and the sponsors weren't happy with the costs either.

I'd like to know the cost of these deals from BBC then the ITV deals and then back to BBC.

I imagine this deal is cheaper than BBC paid last time and much cheaper than what ITV paid.

BBC have done such a great job this time around I'd have given them it for next to nothing and take the positives from bringing people back to the sport and regenerating interest in a sport that was in decline in this country.

If Sky did a package that I could buy the minimum set up sky plus and say £100-120 a year for all the races I'd be interested because the PVR alone when I had it was far better than Freeview ones I've used.

I won't though be one of the 50% memphis is talking about that gets it. If I was interested in other sports it might represent value for money but I'm not so Sky sports sub is far too much for 20 races.

I will go down the pub and watch a few of the races on sky and download the rest.

jaybee · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:15

Memphis said:
If this does go ahead and F1 ends up half on Sky, I can say with absolute certainty that at least 50% of you who are "outraged" and "adamant I will never get Sky" end up with a subscription and watch the races. It's so funny when the hypocrites come out to play.

No no. That's the problem. People aren't joking. People have enough issues paying money to sky as it is, let alone when it has been forced upon them to continue watching something they have done for X years for "free".

Skeeter · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:20

Memphis said:
If this does go ahead and F1 ends up half on Sky, I can say with absolute certainty that at least 50% of you who are "outraged" and "adamant I will never get Sky" end up with a subscription and watch the races. It's so funny when the hypocrites come out to play.

Oh of course. If I wasn't in a ground floor flat I would already have Sky. Probubly not Sky Sports, but I would be planning to add it to the package for next year.

Doesn't get around the fact that F1 is going to go from up to 6m UK viewers to nearer 1m. This is the issue.

Emlyn_Dewar · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:23

Does F1 even need Britain? Will they really care about the loss of some viewers? There's always plenty more in some other place to make up the deficit.

I'd genuinely love this to come back and bite them in the ass. Lots of money to be lost by the sport, and laughter to be had by us. It wont happen though.

koolpc · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:25

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Does F1 even need Britain? Will they really care about the loss of some viewers? There's always plenty more in some other place to make up the deficit.

I'd genuinely love this to come back and bite them in the ass. Lots of money to be lost by the sport, and laughter to be had by us. It wont happen though.

Lots of the teams, etc etc are based in the UK

reefoid · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:25

dannyjo22 said:
ITV wanted shot of F1 in the first place. They did the figures and the sponsors weren't happy with the costs either.

I'd like to know the cost of these deals from BBC then the ITV deals and then back to BBC.

I imagine this deal is cheaper than BBC paid last time and much cheaper than what ITV paid.

BBC have done such a great job this time around I'd have given them it for next to nothing and take the positives from bringing people back to the sport and regenerating interest in a sport that was in decline in this country.

If Sky did a package that I could buy the minimum set up sky plus and say £100-120 a year for all the races I'd be interested because the PVR alone when I had it was far better than Freeview ones I've used.

I won't though be one of the 50% memphis is talking about that gets it. If I was interested in other sports it might represent value for money but I'm not so Sky sports sub is far too much for 20 races.

I will go down the pub and watch a few of the races on sky and download the rest.

Good luck down the pub watching it. Some Asia races will be on when the pubs aren't open. European races will clash with Premier League games, seeing as the football will draw in more punters I can't see too many pubs showing the races.

Skeeter · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:26

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Does F1 even need Britain? Will they really care about the loss of some viewers? There's always plenty more in some other place to make up the deficit.

I'd genuinely love this to come back and bite them in the ass. Lots of money to be lost by the sport, and laughter to be had by us. It wont happen though.

You what? Aren't all but a few of the teams based in the UK, with most of the support industry here?

Remember reading something a while back that said when you look at where the skills and physical components of F1 come from, something like 85% of the F1 grid is from the UK.

The UK also have one of the largest audience figures as a percentage of population.

And we are a massive market in terms of advertising for companies.

The UK is hugely important to F1.

Emlyn_Dewar · 29 Jul 2011 at 16:27

The teams are based here, that doesn't mean the sport needs British viewers though.
Just have to push different marketing campaigns to places round the world.

As I say, I really hope this bites them in the ass and A LOT of money is lost. It would do them good.