Sky Sports to remain home of Formula 1 until 2029 after deal extended in all Sky markets
- Thread starter MissChief
- Start date
I’m confused. Can you sign up for Sky via satellite any more? It says there is an F1 deal for £15 extra per month but no indication what that is in addition to. I can’t even seem to clearly put a deal together on their website. I’m not calling them, from previous experience I know how traumatic that can be.
I had the Now TV F1 deals before and they messed me about, and last few years I just watched C4 highlights until my Freesat DVR stopped working, and then C4 highlights which usually meant staying up super late and waiting around for it to appear on the app.
This season I want to watch it without fuss and ideally in reasonable quality. I assume the minimum sky package is a fortune, the Now TV will add up quick. Maybe I can just get a new Freesat DVR but even with that I have to wait for highlights, no live races or full replay. Looks like VPN and F1 app isn’t a reliable approach.
What are other F1 fans doing this season?
I had the Now TV F1 deals before and they messed me about, and last few years I just watched C4 highlights until my Freesat DVR stopped working, and then C4 highlights which usually meant staying up super late and waiting around for it to appear on the app.
This season I want to watch it without fuss and ideally in reasonable quality. I assume the minimum sky package is a fortune, the Now TV will add up quick. Maybe I can just get a new Freesat DVR but even with that I have to wait for highlights, no live races or full replay. Looks like VPN and F1 app isn’t a reliable approach.
What are other F1 fans doing this season?
Sky is pushing Stream and Glass in a big way and Stream will be the option they push on you by default. You can still get Q though but not sure if you can do it via the website.
Commissario
Paying Sky for the F1 channel on top of my basic package.
I called them last year and booked an update from my Sky+ box to Sky Q. It was painless and didn't cost me a penny. The guy even told me the date my contract was due for renewal and gave me a number to call a week before to negotiate a new package. That was also painless.
Soldato
Can you get the Sky F1 pack if you have Sky Stream? I paid for Sky Sports on the rolling 30 day contract last year just for F1 as I don’t watch any other sport on Sky.
I can see it on the website but it only mentions SkyQ. I’d rather pay £15 than the £27 I was paying before!
I can see it on the website but it only mentions SkyQ. I’d rather pay £15 than the £27 I was paying before!
Soldato
Turns out the Sky F1 option is only available to Sky Q customers. So if you have Sky Stream, then you have to either pay for the full F1 sports package or get your F1 fix somewhere else.
Commissario
I just did a search to see if Sky have announced their F1 team for this year and it appears that it's pretty much the same as last year except there's one new person who they're not naming yet.
I hope it's Seb.
I hope it's Seb.
Commissario
There's not a single advert during qualifying or the race. If you don't care about the build up or the after-race chat, you don't need to see a single advert.
Soldato
Quite, anyone recall itv's horrendous ad breaks in the middle of races?
I guess that's something but I still think you should either charge a subscription or fund with ads. I know the streaming services are starting this too but they charge chump change compared to sky.
An Adless service would be many times more expensive though? Like £60-£80 for sports along and no one would buy it.
You're thinking of it backwards. F1 televised has no intrinsic value, just like football. It's cost is based on what people are willing to pay which creates the bidding war for the rights. If Sky price out customers they lose their investment. The willingness to accept the price and the ads sets the price and the ads.
To an extent, yes, but Sky clearly feels what they bid is worth it and the price they charge is also worth it.
The price they charge is to maximise profit; it’s not about value.
Exclusive rights are terrible, and it’s almost a self-resolving problem. If all sports charged their own subscription, people who watch more than 1 sport would still pay Sky for a bundle, but you’d also have competition in the market. I only watch F1 so Sky can go jump.
The issue without a single supplier, or close to it as Sky will have next season means you don't need to jump around with different subs to different services to watch your team. Personally I'm still surprised the PL haven't gone for their own Streaming service, but I suspect the setup and running costs scare them, especially to begin with. Setup costs would be huge but it would work out better for the league eventually.
Yea, streaming infrastructure isn’t a small effort but there are enterprise-level companies who can do the setup. It probably is financially better for them, but not significant enough to commit.
Like I said though, Sky could still get a bulk license for various sports and offer bundles, with no major cash outlay. Easier said than implemented.
Man of Honour
Thing is; the EPL already broadcast a lot of games outside the UK (for example all those 3PM games we don't see) and its likely they wouldn't set it up themselves but contract in production companies to do it for them (which I suspect is what they do currently) - its probably just easier for them to keep milking Sky, TNT and Amazon for as much as they can!
Yes ultimately it's the sports themselves that attempt to maximise profits even if it alienates their poorer fans
Soldato
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I watched the Daytona 500 last night. The video was uninterupted but the audio feed was from Fox. I think the feed went quiet every 8 laps (47 second laps) as they had adverts. That's a paid for channel as well in the states.