Petition to keep F1 on BBC

[F1 fan]

They don't need to raise £50m to have a £50m F1 budget, they need to raise £32, they already have £18m.

£32? Hell, I'll give them the £32 if they're that short. Cheaper than a sky subscription .

 

[Famine]

They don't need to raise £50m to have a £50m F1 budget, they need to raise £32, they already have £18m per year within the existing budget.
So like I said, it's about a £1.

Because you say so, yes.

The BBC either needed £50m in their budget to show F1 in 2012 or they would renege on their contract - saving £50m and then being sued to death by FOM. That was the sum of their choices - pay £50m and keep broadcasting or save £50m (pay £0) by not broadcasting and risk the wrath of FOM. The choice facing them was either a £50m shortfall - which would have been alleviated by a licence fee increase of nearly £2 - or no shortfall.

The deal with Sky means they have a halfway house - they can pay a bit to split the rights and keep broadcasting, rather than being sued - and by all accounts it was Bernie who brokered the deal.

So could this have been avoided if the tv license hadn't been frozen? Or would they still have given it up?

I suppose, yes. Though the BBC are, as discussed elsewhere, legendarily good at wasting money. With 2012 being the last year of the current Concorde Agreement and the last year of the current BBC deal, I imagine they would have dropped it anyway.

Unusual to see a tax being frozen during a recession though, right?

 

[F1 fan]

I suppose, yes. Though the BBC are, as discussed elsewhere, legendarily good at wasting money. With 2012 being the last year of the current Concorde Agreement and the last year of the current BBC deal, I imagine they would have dropped it anyway.

Unusual to see a tax being frozen during a recession though, right?

From what I have read, it is unusual. Having been brought up in a wealthy family, this is the first recession that has had any impact on me whatsoever. I'm 24, so can recall the recession of the 90's, but it didn't really have any bearing on me at the time. IIRC, the tv licence "freezing" was one of Gordon Brown's "ideas". Had the bbc been more careful with the licence fee money, then it's entirely possible that we wouldn't be having this discussion.

It is too far gone now, but perhaps if the Government actually attempts to do something about it, we'll get full race coverage on the bbc that has been delayed a few hours. It is really a best case scenario though. I don't think they'll do a thing. Like I said previously, they didn't even blink at the prospect of the British Grand Prix disappearing off the calendar. They won't do anything about this.

I don't like the idea of subscribing to sky, but I will. It's a pain, but look at all the other sport that has disappeared off the terrestrial channels. Why should we expect anything different for F1?

 

[Famine]

It's a private sport contested between private companies under the watchful eye of a private corporation. I'm not sure they'd care and I'm not sure I'd want them to.

All the sports which remain on taxed-television are either individual or national team sports that are either rarely contested or specifically annually contested and either commonly or wholly contested in the UK. About the only exception I can think of is the Superbowl, which has been on terrestrial TV since as long as I can remember it being broadcasted in the UK (although Sky also broadcast it simultaneously - and do a better job).

 

[F1 fan]

It's a private sport contested between private companies under the watchful eye of a private corporation. I'm not sure they'd care and I'm not sure I'd want them to.

All the sports which remain on taxed-television are either individual or national team sports that are either rarely contested or specifically annually contested and either commonly or wholly contested in the UK. About the only exception I can think of is the Superbowl, which has been on terrestrial TV since as long as I can remember it being broadcasted in the UK (although Sky also broadcast it simultaneously - and do a better job).

Do they have adverts during their coverage? Incidentally, the 2011 superbowl was 6 months ago today. Same day Gary Moore died. It put a bit of a downer on the evening.

 

[Famine]

Yes to Sky, no to BBC - although the Superbowl is an event seemingly crafted around adverts. They're not necessarily as frequent as they are in the US broadcasts.

 

[F1 fan]

I watched on BBC the past few years. Would like to see the official superbowl adverts, as they seem to be subject of much fanfare in America. I remember the newspaper's tv section said the hardest thing about watching the superbowl is deciding between the BBC and SKY. For me, it is no contest when it comes to averts versus no adverts.

 

[Famine]

The US adverts are too frequent. Sky's adverts for the Superbowl fit their normal advert schedule - quarter hourly - and they fill the gaps where the US feed goes to adverts with a bit of punditry. These are vital in a four hour event, as I know when to go get a beer - whereas on BBC all US feed gaps are plugged with Jake Humphrey filling. Listening to a guy from Cambridgeshire talking about rushing yards is... novel.

 

[F1 fan]

The US adverts are too frequent. Sky's adverts for the Superbowl fit their normal advert schedule - quarter hourly - and they fill the gaps where the US feed goes to adverts with a bit of punditry. These are vital in a four hour event, as I know when to go get a beer - whereas on BBC all US feed gaps are plugged with Jake Humphrey filling. Listening to a guy from Cambridgeshire talking about rushing yards is... novel.

Yeah, but they have that expert... The former player, can't remember his name. He did a good job explaining the tactics.

 

[F1 fan]

BBC to face questioning from mps