F1 TV

[Deleted member 651465]

Full Q&A just released, which sounds pretty interesting.

Just a shame they're locked in with Sky because I'd snap this up in a heartbeat

https://www.racefans.net/2018/03/19/new-formula-one-sport-f1-tv-full-qa/

F1 TV Pro, which will be the marquee premium product, available in about 40 countries at launch and will include for the first time ever live Formula One races available without a cable subscription or free-to-air. That package will have 24 feeds, so it will have the world feed available in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish. It will have 20 onboard cameras all available on a live bases and then three additional feeds, one of which will likely be a data channel, and the other two are still in development. So actually it’s a bit groundbreaking from a sports perspective in that for the first time ever one individual sport will be streaming 24 different feeds from the same event on a live, simultaneous basis.

The second package will be F1 TV access which is our lower tier service. This will be available on a near-global basis, will include race replays, archive content as well as some of the existing F1 Access products around the data channel and live radio streaming.

The Pro product will be available for between $8-12 per month, or $100 per year. That will be converted into the relevant currencies. The Access product will be $2-3 per month, around $20 per year. And we’re in the process of beta trialling it now with the goal to launch for Australia on March 22nd.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

They’re obviously contractually obligated, so I understand their argument (to a point).

As one of the questions from the FAQ in the article asks; $100 from an Englishman is the same as an American... where’s the problem? Basically the looooooong agreement with Sky.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Rumours going around that the full "F1 TV Pro" launch won't be met for Australia.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Why not just launch a basic service for the start of the season then add all the bells and whistles later on?

I was relying on this as I don't have a cable TV service so can't watch it any other way, legally.

I imagine they don’t want people subscribing only for it to stutter, pause and/or fail. That would kill any hope of the person retaining the subscription.

Now, if they launched it as a free service with a giant “beta” warning at the beginning it may be different but ultimately that would be a double edge sword... more people would subscribe to it, for free and there’s more chance of issues due to the volume of connections.

I’ll use the example but the WWE did the same... they delayed the launch of their platform and ultimately ended up giving users free months of subscription whilst they nailed the technical aspects.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

They're launching an investigation in to why it failed so miserably.

https://www.racefans.net/2018/05/15/f1-begins-urgent-investigation-into-f1-tv-faults/

Fans who tried to watch the Spanish Grand Prix using the new live streaming service experienced buffering problems (pictured) and other faults which rendered the stream unwatchable for some. F1 says it has already offered refunds to customers who were affected.



F1 TV presents a significant technical challenge. It involves broadcasting two dozen live streams in 1080p HD quality from a range of different international locations, while also ensuring the footage can only be accessed in certain regions.

FOM has enlisted the services of several different suppliers to deliver F1 TV. The problems it has experienced are understood to involve making those technologies work together seamlessly to deliver live playback.

F1’s punishing schedule offers little time to implement fixes. The next live session begins in nine days in Monaco. After that the series moves on to Canada, then returns to Europe for five races within six weeks.

According to FOM the problems it encountered last weekend “only affect customers during live playback.”

“All sessions from this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix will be available to enjoy on-demand including all onboard cameras and full team radio,” it added. “Full replays are available to F1 TV Pro customers, or F1 TV Access customers in selected territories.”