F1 TV coverage threadFormula 1

[Stevisiov]

*Missing the point*

It wasn't as serious analysis of the relative merits of races in the calender.

I was trying to convey that lbsf1 had better hope that the BBC races happen to be good ones and on boring ones.

At least someone found it funny.

 

[dhandeh]

Perhaps, but will the teams do anything? Can they do anything? I don't know.

I'm sure when they see the colour of Murdoch's filthy money they will change their tune. Before it was all,fans need to see it on free to air tv, fans have rights to see it,blah blah.
After this meeting they are having today with Bernie, it will be its a good move for the teams as it gives us security for the long term (and loads of cash, thanks fans, you mugs).

 

[Stevisiov]

Breakaway series!

It crossed my mind, but why would FOTA really want to do that over a shared coverage in the UK? I doubt teams like Ferrari care, and when it comes down to it, their opinion carries the most weight.

The only way this deal could possibly break down, is if it violates the Concorde agreement. Which appears to be unclear at the moment.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

They ought to realise that the rear-wing sponsors aren't going to pay their $300M per year fee when only half of the races will have decent exposure.

Two things:

First of all, you're working on the assumption that no-one currently watches Sky Sports, and that no-one will do so in 2012. You're also assuming there will be inferior coverage on Sky. However, it's likely that Sky and the BBC will have identical coverage. We don't have details of the deal just yet, but it's a fair wager that Sky have purchased full broadcast rights, with the BBC paying them the standard syndication fee. So they have joint ownership of the broadcast rights, but Sky controls a larger portion. Hence, it is likely that both stations will have the same coverage.

Secondly, it only costs about five million dollars for space on a rear wing. Hell, Virgin bought the naming rights to an entire team for less than forty millions. The suggestion that someone is paying three hundred million is ridiculous in the extreme.

 

[skylinefx]

The future if in our hands.
Don't watch F1 on Sky.

 

[dhandeh]

He might have meant Jamaican dollars!

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Hopefully we too in Australia will get the practice sessions, we did get them for the 1st GP though for obvious reasons.

Would be nice to score GP2 series aswell, as long as it's tucked away in a quiet pocket of a channel where the hoardes won't find it.

Yes, I'm interested if this will have any effect on the Ten/One broadcasting. I doubt we'll get practice, it would be nice if they showed it on their website though. I'd love for One to give us coverage of the GP2 series but they've recently changed from a sports focused channel to an "action" channel, I'm (pleasantly) surprised they're continuing with the BTCC coverage.

Also I had no idea you were Australian, the avatar led me to assume you were Russian.

 

[Robin]

When are you getting a penned-in "BLOOD AND SAND" tattoo?

When I have enough free time and money to 'run' a 'restaurant' and seduce sexy women who know I'm bad for them (such as police officers and school teachers)

Indeed - I quite like the Sky+ remote. Compare it to something like a TV/VCR/Video+ remote that came with Trinitron TVs in the early 90s which has a thousand buttons, all with cryptic symbols, and a two-sided remote and it stands up to the test. Those things were horrors. The SkyHD remote is much the same but slightly slimmer. Either way, you know that if you see Alan Carr on your screen, you can shatter it with one throw.

Not a fan of chatty man then

TV manufacturers in the 90's like Sony did indeed go through a 'space shuttle control panel' phase with buttons everywhere, on the sides, even in hidden compartments and they loved the round buttons! Now you have things like LG's magic remote (like a Wiimote) with 4.

Robin.

 

[myelement]

So no adverts during the race and qualifying sessions. However before, after and between (Q1,2,3) will be riddled with them. So we'll miss a fair bit of coverage/content all the same, such as the 5 minute interviews in the quali gaps.

I can't see Sky matching the class of BBCF1. I'm leaning towards 5 live at the moment. Hopefully Crofty and Ant Davidson will be retained.

I know some fellow F1 suckers on here stream the coverage form various sites. Can someone post some info about these sites if possible. I'm guessing many will be needing some idea of their options.

 

[skylinefx]

It won't happen.
Every news feed comment and forums are against this. I would predict F1 to lose at least half of its viewers, which will be the end for the sport.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The future if in our hands.
Don't watch F1 on Sky.

Come on, what do you think is going to happen?

The BBC obviously gave up the full broadcast rights for a reason. They're not going to suddenly reverse it because the fans want them to, because those fans are the same people who were watching it before they gave up the rights, which means that to retain them would be as equally unfeasible as it was the day before they made the decision to give them up. The only way you can convince the BBC to hold onto the full rights (if you can - it appears the contract has alread been signed, and it will not be one easily broken) is to bring them something extra on top of what already existed.

Until then, the notion that you can trigger some kind of revolution is utterly moronic. This is not the OK Corral, however much you want it to be.

 

[dhandeh]

I like the mysterious qualities of a remote, with hundreds of buttons. It adds excitement as you may inadvertently hit the wrong one and permanently have Russian subtitles on a black and white screen with the volume on full, with the teletext on that mixed setting where you can see the text as well as the picture.

 

[boiltheocean]

I know some fellow F1 suckers on here stream the coverage form various sites. Can someone post some info about these sites if possible. I'm guessing many will be needing some idea of their options.

Those streams aren't legal therefore cannot be discussed further on GTP.

Come on, what do you think is going to happen?

The BBC obviously gave up the full broadcast rights for a reason. They're not going to suddenly reverse it because the fans want them to

Why not? Those fans are paying the license fee, if more people object to having the F1 cut than other BBC programmes then it's a no brainer to get it back and cut the budget elsewhere.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Why not? Those fans are paying the license fee, if more people object to having the F1 cut than other BBC programmes then it's a no brainer to get it back and cut the budget elsewhere.

There's just one major flaw in your argument: if the BBC felt the current audience figures were not great enough to retain the broadcast rights, how is losing those same figures going to be enough to justify buying them back?

 

[skylinefx]

Come on, what do you think is going to happen?

The BBC obviously gave up the full broadcast rights for a reason. They're not going to suddenly reverse it because the fans want them to, because those fans are the same people who were watching it before they gave up the rights, which means that to retain them would be as equally unfeasible as it was the day before they made the decision to give them up. The only way you can convince the BBC to hold onto the full rights (if you can - it appears the contract has alread been signed, and it will not be one easily broken) is to bring them something extra on top of what already existed.

Until then, the notion that you can trigger some kind of revolution is utterly moronic. This is not the OK Corral, however much you want it to be.

What do you think will happen when the income is significantly lower? Even if BBC doesn't want F1 anymore, Five would have a chance.

 

[Famine]

Why not? Those fans are paying the license fee, if more people object to having the F1 cut than other BBC programmes then it's a no brainer to get it back and cut the budget elsewhere.

There's just one major flaw in your argument: if the BBC felt the current audience figures were not great enough to retain the broadcast rights, how is losing those same figures going to be enough to justify buying them back?

That and the fact that if you want to watch F1 anywhere, you give the BBC £145.50. They can cut it, save all the money it costs to cover it and still get their money. They win, because it's a cartel.

 

[Moot]

Some positive take might be it shows BBC is nearer to collapse, and so a rethink of the way it is funded. BBC had the rights to 2012 exclusively, they had not even expired. But they had to sell it to SKY, that's how weak the BBC is now.
If BBC had adverts (not during event like SKY) and a small subscription fee such as £2/month or £20 a year, that would serve the UK a lot better than what SKY can offer and what the BBC currently offers.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

What do you think will happen when the income is significantly lower?

Um, nothing. The BBC have an operating budget of £4.26 billion. Now, let's say ten million households decided to boycott the BBC. That would mean that they would lose one quarter of their budget, which is not a significant amount. It might be effective, but the only way it would have any impact would be if those ten million households stopped watching television altogether - because as Famine keeps pointing out, you cannot watch television without paying £145.50 to the BBC, and by extension of that, you cannot boycott the BBC and watch television at the same time. I come from a country on the opposite side of the world - so far away that you cannot go much further before you start coming back - with no such regulations in place, and I understand this better than you do because you seem to think you can lead the masses in a Che Guevara-style uprising to protest the sale of the broadcast rights to Sky Sports.

 

[Furinkazen]

Very bad news. Disappointed to say the least. 👎

 

[granturismite]

...I like Home and Away...

You poor English people. That may be the very worst of Australian made TV (and we produce alot of 🤬)

In Australia, this won't make much of a difference. We're probably going to get the SKY feed of F1 for the whole season, blended in with ad-breaks every 7 laps and the worlds dullest presentation team. I'll miss the BBC feed for sure.

As for those in the UK. I really do feel sorry for you guys. Having to pay for a TV licence to begin with seems a bit daft. Aus has about 20 free to air channels at the moment, run by 5 main broadcast groups, with each broadcaster having sub-channels. We do have pay tv, but I know very few people who have it, especially after Australia started to embrace digital TV.

Here's hoping that the BBC will regain coverage after FOM sees the major drop in UK viewership in the non-BBC broadcast races compared to this year.

 

[myelement]

Those streams aren't legal therefore cannot be discussed further on GTP.

Noted; didn't think that through. Always remember to put your brain between your hands and keyboard.

 

[skylinefx]

Um, nothing. The BBC have an operating budget of £4.26 billion. Now, let's say ten million households decided to boycott the BBC. That would mean that they would lose one quarter of their budget, which is not a significant amount. It might be effective, but the only way it would have any impact would be if those ten million households stopped watching television altogether - because as Famine keeps pointing out, you cannot watch television without paying £145.50 to the BBC, and by extension of that, you cannot boycott the BBC and watch television at the same time. I come from a country on the opposite side of the world - so far away that you cannot go much further before you start coming back - with no such regulations in place, and I understand this better than you do because you seem to think you can lead the masses in a Che Guevara-style uprising to protest the sale of the broadcast rights to Sky Sports.

I'm not talking only about BBC. I'm saying how would F1 cope with a significantly lower income.

 

[Moot]

Um, nothing. The BBC have an operating budget of £4.26 billion. Now, let's say ten million households decided to boycott the BBC. That would mean that they would lose one quarter of their budget, which is not a significant amount. It might be effective, but the only way it would have any impact would be if those ten million households stopped watching television altogether - because as Famine keeps pointing out, you cannot watch television without paying £145.50 to the BBC, and by extension of that, you cannot boycott the BBC and watch television at the same time. I come from a country on the opposite side of the world - so far away that you cannot go much further before you start coming back - with no such regulations in place, and I understand this better than you do because you seem to think you can lead the masses in a Che Guevara-style uprising to protest the sale of the broadcast rights to Sky Sports.

Having said that the BBC has a legal responsibility to take each and every complaint seriously (because people can't protest by taking their money elsewhere). Viewers opinions do matter to the BBC.
If it is shown how the BBC could have kept F1 by cutting elsewhere, then BBC have a lot of explaining to do to appease complaints.
I suggest BBC scraps the whole channel BBC3 to save some money.

 

[Touring Mars]

Here's hoping that the BBC will regain coverage after FOM sees the major drop in UK viewership in the non-BBC broadcast races compared to this year.

I don't see it myself... I doubt that shifting from the BBC to Sky (even completely) will significantly dent global F1 viewing figures much.

 

[boiltheocean]

Um, nothing. The BBC have an operating budget of £4.26 billion. Now, let's say ten million households decided to boycott the BBC. That would mean that they would lose one quarter of their budget, which is not a significant amount.

A quarter of the budget for any company is a huge amount.

It might be effective, but the only way it would have any impact would be if those ten million households stopped watching television altogether - because as Famine keeps pointing out, you cannot watch television without paying £145.50 to the BBC, and by extension of that, you cannot boycott the BBC and watch television at the same time.

You can watch TV through the iPlayer or others on the web without a TV license, the only thing you can't do is watch live TV.

 

[Hun200kmh]

In Portugal F1 was moved from free to paid TV three years ago. I don't have numbers, only can speak for what I see. I'd say that the audience has dramatically decreased and many people I knew that watched F1 doesn't anymore. Not the die-hard fans, of course.

I would say, based on the people I know that many more than half the viewers was lost. They were the "casuals". The rest, the diehard fans, split between getting the paid channel or looking for streams.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I'm not talking only about BBC. I'm saying how would F1 cope with a significantly lower income.

Uh, what?

When the teams receive a payment at the end of the year from FOM, the money comes from the broadcast rights. The broadcast rights are made up of two things: the exclusivity rights, which are currently owned by the BBC, and enable them to have direct control over the footage that is shot. There's also the syndication rights, which is the money paid to FOM by individual brodcasters to televise the BBC feed in their respective countries. Those broadcasters also pay the station holding the exclusivity rights a small fee, so that broadcaster - the BBC for now - makes some money back. At the end of the year, all of this money is put together, and then paid out to the teams based on their championship positions.

This money forms a significant proportion of the teams' budgets for the new year. You are right to assume that if there was any loss of money, the teams would suffer for it. However, that money is paid by the broadcasters to FOM at the start of the year. So even if Sky and the BBC have a massive loss in viewership next year, it won't affect the teams because the money is held in escrow by FOM for one year. But Sky have made a deal to go through until 2018, so they will always pay that money up front, unless they can find someone else to buy the rights back. You're obviously hoping the BBC will do this, but because of the way the system works with the money being paid up-front and held in escrow, the teams will never lose a dime.

 

[Famine]

You can watch TV through the iPlayer or others on the web without a TV license, the only thing you can't do is watch live TV.

Just to clarify, it's broadcast TV - you have to pay the licence to watch anything as it is being broadcast. "Live" TV has connotations of an event occurring in real time.

I know F1 is technically covered by both terms, but it needs a distinction - you cannot watch what BBC1 (or ITV, or Five) is showing right now on iPlayer (or ITV Player, or Five On Demand) right now without a Licence, but you can watch what BBC1 is showing right now on iPlayer tomorrow without a Licence.

 

[Lizard]

So Im going to miss half the races because I cant justify a sky subscription for just F1.

 

[chez_white]

I don't care who carries it as long as I can see it at least the same day and in HIGH DEFINITION next year! When Fox shows it on tape delay here on Sundays I have to make sure to stay off the internet since I get McLaren updates on my facebook. Hate finding out the results before I watch!