BBC to end Formula 1 television contract early

Kevin Clark · 18 Jan 2016 at 14:42

Channel 4 have announced the races they'll do live

Australia (Sky only)
Bahrain (Sky and Channel 4)
China (Sky only)
Russia (Sky only)
Spain (Sky and Channel 4)
Monaco (Sky only)
Canada (Sky only)
Europe (Sky and Channel 4)
Austria (Sky only)
Britain (Sky and Channel 4)
Hungary (Sky and Channel 4)
Germany (Sky only)
Belgium (Sky and Channel 4)
Italy (Sky and Channel 4)
Singapore (Sky only)
Malaysia (Sky and Channel 4)
Japan (Sky only)
USA (Sky only)
Mexico (Sky and Channel 4)
Brazil (Sky only)
Abu Dhabi (Sky and Channel 4)

Skeeter · 18 Jan 2016 at 14:50

Wow, some crap choices there. BBC always went for Britain, Canada, Monaco and Brazil, but it seems Channel 4 weren't interested in any of those other than Britain.

JRS · 18 Jan 2016 at 14:53

So...

Bahrain - Middle Eastern craphole with a dull track.
Spain - meh.
Europe - wait and see what the track races like.
Britain - best country in the world with a dull track.
Hungary - actually one of the better tracks on the calendar these days, which should say something.
Belgium -

Italy -

Malaysia - meh.
Mexico - Southern American craphole with a dull track.
Abu Dhabi - Middle Eastern craphole with a dull track.

Not exactly a sparkling line-up, but at least they got Spa and Monza.

V F · 18 Jan 2016 at 15:04

JRS said:
So...

Britain - best country in the world with a dull track.

LoL!

JRS · 18 Jan 2016 at 15:06

Can't think of anywhere I'd rather live, in spite of it all!

~Mike~ · 19 Jan 2016 at 19:06

Not a great selection, not a great start for CH4.

Duke · 19 Jan 2016 at 19:14

I'd take Malaysia over Hungary.

koolpc · 19 Jan 2016 at 19:23

Will be searching for a live stream! (No fish in it though!)

andicole0 · 19 Jan 2016 at 19:29

~Mike~ said:
Good to see DC confirmed.

He signed a new 4 year deal last year.

Jake co owns the production comany that ch4 are using with DC. I suspect both will be presenting. Do we know if Ch4 picked the races the Fia or DC & JH?
Andi.

Duke · 19 Jan 2016 at 20:08

I doubt JH will be allowed unless released from BT Sport.

MooMoo444 · 19 Jan 2016 at 21:14

I guess they are not allowed the first race on C4? Most interesting one of the season tbh.

this_is_gav · 19 Jan 2016 at 21:49

MooMoo444 said:
I guess they are not allowed the first race on C4? Most interesting one of the season tbh.

I'd imagine it's either the first or the last, and that one's a fairly obvious choice!

As said though it's hardly a prime time slot, meaning less money from adverts.

Skeeter · 19 Jan 2016 at 22:39

When it was BBC and Sky, they followed a set of rules when picking tracks. BBC chose 3 it wanted first, then Sky chose 3 they wanted exclusively, and then they picked one each alternately until they were all done, with the caveat that there could not be 3 races or more in a row that were exclusive to Sky.

I'd imagine the same applies to Channel 4.

The_Abyss · 20 Jan 2016 at 00:57

Yep, exactly this.

So glad they dropped Moncao. If only it would be dropped from the calendar.

MooMoo444 · 20 Jan 2016 at 11:01

The_Abyss said:
Yep, exactly this.

So glad they dropped Moncao. If only it would be dropped from the calendar.

Amen to that, brother. It's too much of a schmooze fest that just so happens to have a race going on in the background.

MissChief · 20 Jan 2016 at 12:25

I doubt it will ever leave the calendar unless the Monagasque decide to overthrow the royal family and institute a republic. It's the only race that doesn't pay a hosting fee. That alone shows you its place on the calendar.

leaskovski · 20 Jan 2016 at 13:23

Skeeter said:
Wow, some crap choices there. BBC always went for Britain, Canada, Monaco and Brazil, but it seems Channel 4 weren't interested in any of those other than Britain.

Look at it from a cost side. Monaco, expensive! Canada and Brasil, long haul. C$ doing it on the cheap.

andicole0 · 20 Jan 2016 at 13:26

Monaco is truly boring but having said that the most entertaining part of F1 is the gossip especially with Ted and Crofty. I love the practice shows :-)

Andi.

PS Who else thinks Lewis has become too much of a Diva? I suspect 2016 may be Nico's year.

~Mike~ · 20 Jan 2016 at 13:38

andicole0 said:
Jake co owns the production comany that ch4 are using with DC. I suspect both will be presenting. Do we know if Ch4 picked the races the Fia or DC & JH?
Andi.

I don't think you will see Jake presenting the shows, he's too busy presenting football on BT and spending time with his family, he doesn't have time to be jetting off around the world. He might do some sort of studio based program or F1 specials.

Skeeter · 20 Jan 2016 at 13:43

leaskovski said:
Look at it from a cost side. Monaco, expensive! Canada and Brasil, long haul. C$ doing it on the cheap.

Are Channel 4 not going to do an 'at the track' broadcast for those races they don't have live, like BBC did? The BBC also broadcast their race coverage (excluding the wrap around show) to other countries live, so even though thy weren't on TV here, they still produced a full show at the track, so there was no savings in cost there.

Will the Channel 4 coverage be studio based?