BBC to lose F1 coverage from 2016

[Just_a_fan]

It's "official" - from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35149963

[OneAlex]

Hopefully Channel 4 won't treat F1 as the unwanted child the BBC did and constantly change the timing/channel of the broadcast so that it doesn't get in the way of the "more important" sports... tennis, snooker, and darts...

[Shakeman]

I hope as many of the current BBC team front the C4 coverage. It would be a huge loss if Coulthard wasn't involved.

The sooner the license fee is lost to the history books the better. The BBC UK should be a commercial operation like its World counterpart. We should not be taxed for watching TV and I don't like funding neocon propaganda of the News Channel.

What does the BBC contribute other than cooking shows, a dancing show and neocon biased news? Answers on a fag packet.

[hemichromis]

I hope as many of the current BBC team front the C4 coverage. It would be a huge loss if Coulthard wasn't involved.

The sooner the license fee is lost to the history books the better. The BBC UK should be a commercial operation like its World counterpart. We should not be taxed for watching TV and I don't like funding neocon propaganda of the News Channel.

What does the BBC contribute other than cooking shows, a dancing show and neocon biased news? Answers on a fag packet.

I agree the current Combo is very good, as annoying as Eddie is he knows his stuff and is part of the team when he can be bothered to turn up!

Hoping that C4 will eventually get all the races

[adrianjordan]

I hope as many of the current BBC team front the C4 coverage. It would be a huge loss if Coulthard wasn't involved.

The sooner the license fee is lost to the history books the better. The BBC UK should be a commercial operation like its World counterpart. We should not be taxed for watching TV and I don't like funding neocon propaganda of the News Channel.

What does the BBC contribute other than cooking shows, a dancing show and neocon biased news? Answers on a fag packet.

Doctor Who and Sherlock and....possibly Top Gear....just glad I don't watch live so have no licence fee to pay!!

Channel 4 getting it could be a really good thing. No ad breaks is something I doubt itv would do and Channel 4's onlibe offering is almost as good as iplayer.

Just hope they have a good team...

[hemichromis]

I hope as many of the current BBC team front the C4 coverage. It would be a huge loss if Coulthard wasn't involved.

The sooner the license fee is lost to the history books the better. The BBC UK should be a commercial operation like its World counterpart. We should not be taxed for watching TV and I don't like funding neocon propaganda of the News Channel.

What does the BBC contribute other than cooking shows, a dancing show and neocon biased news? Answers on a fag packet.

Doctor Who and Sherlock and....possibly Top Gear....just glad I don't watch live so have no licence fee to pay!!

Channel 4 getting it could be a really good thing. No ad breaks is something I doubt itv would do and Channel 4's onlibe offering is almost as good as iplayer.

Just hope they have a good team...

I also watch a lot of catchup TV. I fully expect C4 to put adverts in the race on catchup .

[hemichromis]

Regarding the team, would'nt the BBC team all be under contract for 2016 and possibly beyond, would it not be possible to transfer the entire team?
C4 doesn't need to find the right people ,
BBC haven't got to pay them for early termination
and the Team are still doing job they like and are good at.

[ScottB]

As loathe as I am to link to the Daily Mail, here's the previous Channel 4 bid stuff I mentioned:

http://duncanblog.dailymail.co.uk/2011/ ... al-tv.html

That was for a bid for the entire rights though, so I guess they may be somewhat limited by the current set up sharing with Sky, but still.

[ESPImperium]

I feel sorry for al at BBCF1, however it was on the cards. When SkyF1 came onto the block i was happy as i got many of my favourite people from BBCF1/ITVF1, with a Sky polish that i like from watching the Premiership and other sports i like on Sky Sports. I am a Sky viewer and i generally like their coverage, its Damon Hill that brings it down a little I think, however i do like Damon for his video packages and historical aspect, he can't be beaten on that side.

As for BBCF1, I have to say David Coulthard makes mistakes, he isn't great in specifics, he is a good general guy, but id keep him as a pit lane pundit and keep him away from the comms box. As for Eddie Jordan, i think he is a pompous self serving loudmouth, always interrupting and I found that annoying. Commentary side Ben Edwards was good from what i have heard and that isn't much to be honest. As for the rest of the team, i love Lee McKenzie, she always found the difficult questions for the drivers in the pen, and she was a good front woman for when Jake Humphries was covering other sports for BBC Sport and also when Suzi Perry was doing other things. Both of which i like as presenters as they don't come across as know it alls.

As for what id like to see Channel 4 offer the Free To Air market, id like to see them offer a lower-cost model with the main presenting done for non-live races in London and for live races them being track-side. Also possibly have long haul races (Races over a 8 hour flight away) being presented from London as well. Have a small lean team that goes to all races with a Commentator, Colour Commentator, Pit Lane Reporter and a Pen Reporter as well, that would be 4 people, and with them having two mobile cameras and a fixed camera in the comms box as well, would be all they need, so that would be another 8 or 9 tops. I think they could easily do it with 15 folk at every track and the rest at home in London. Only sending the full 40-45 strong team to every live race within a 8 hour flight of London. BBC send a sizeable 4.5 tonnes of gear to every race. SkyF1 send 3 tonnes, and that makes their operation slicker as at many races they hire in their gear for what they use in the 'TV paddock' area.

I wish Channel 4 F1 well, or will that be F1 on 4? I will stay loyal to SkyF1 as I'm happy with them and their presenters and overall coverage. The only wish i have for SkyF1 is they get one more woman reporter as sometimes Rachel Brooks and Natalie Pinkham are not available for some races, and id like to see one of the women in Sky Sports HQ being brought into the fold.

[i70q7m7ghw]

If only Channel 4 had been allowed to takeover the full rights... Perhaps if this works out well for Channel 4 they'll get an opportunity to secure all of the races live when the bidding process opens up again?

[i70q7m7ghw]

...

Sorry but I have to disagree 100%. Sky is nothing short of criminal charging the amounts they do for their TV packages, on top of that they play adverts during the coverage (not during the race I know) AND the whole thing is 'sponsored' by the Fair FX Credit Card............ when they are raking in so much cash from paying customers why does it need sponsorship!!!???

F1 should be on free to air TV where possible, and I think if Channel 4 offer to bid for the full rights then they should be granted them and SKY should lose them.

[andylaurence]

It's cheaper to do a whole season of racing than it is to watch F1 on Sky. Had C4 not stepped in, it'd be the first time is not seen an F1 race since the 1980s.

[ESPImperium]

...

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If F1 is your only sport, i agree it is criminal. But as F1 is not my only sport, and that i use Sky for other things i watch on other channels, it is not criminal to me. If F1 is your only sport and don't follow any other sport, and don't watch other channels for other programmes that are close to your interest out of sport, it is criminal.

In this day and age, TV is moving towards a Pay TV model, however i do think there is a need for the fans to be grated access to a 'WWE Network' or 'Formula 1 Network' online, where you pay either £7 a race or £139 for a season pass. However if you get the season pass you have expanded and added value where you can watch every race from the past, even evert FP or Quali session from the past. Id even say, expand it to offer watching a race from your chosen drivers onboard camera and even to watch it with his radio coverage as well.

F1 could do so much more online, and watching it on your PS4/Apple TV/X-Box/Whatever medium its available on would do so much for the sport. All it would need is a simple 1 million people taking the season pass and thats an extra €200m into the FOM budget, and when it comes to watching single races, you could have 10m paying that. Id recon if you were to add an extra €300m into the coffers, it would be excellent news for Formula 1. And if that was seen across each continent, it would be a pretty tidy €1.5b extra. F1 could quite easily become self sufficient and an actual profitable sport. F1 needs to adopt new technologies and sick as it will be left behind in those markets.

It would easily allow F1 hosting fees to be lowered for the tracks. And lowering of ticket fees. I have been to 2 Italian GP now and both have been amazing, however the trackside facilities need to be looked at, and if hosting fees were lower, the facilities could be improved. And dare i say it, for an extra £7/€10 a day, id pay for WiFi access and access to the @F1 app with your season pass to grant access to commentary and old style KangarooTV coverage as well to follow the action on your tablet or phone. Im sure plenty of F1 fans who have been to a race or two in the past 5 years would appreciate that.

I will say this, Music isn't free, and you wouldn't ask Taylor Swift to put her music out for free, or do a concert for free. The music scene you pay to listen on what ever medium you choose to listen to it on, and you have to pay to get in to see them live. You pay to see a movie at the Cinema or on what ever modern format you do so as well. Why should F1 be any different?

The day of free sport is gone, however there is a need for sports rights holders to offer another way of seeing the sport you want to see. If you dislike Sky, I am not going to decry you the right to. However i do think the day of Sports rights being shown on a free to air basis is gone. Pay TV started when the Premiership sold out to BskyB in the early 90s. And this is where other sports will take their key from as to where their value starts and what their value actually is. And most of the time now, the free to air commercial stations can't bid an amount of that figure.

I do agree with certain aspects of your view, but i do think that Pay TV is the way forward. I do more with Sky than i can with Free services, i have more interests than just F1 that Sky covers very well for me.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Yeah... but Taylor Swift isn't walking around covered in sponsor logos trying to get me to sign up to the Fair FX Credit Card...

Let's not forget all the revenues from ticket sales etc. The cost of a Sky Subscription for the year exceeds ticket prices for many grand prix, and considering ticket prices are already very high that's pretty piss poor.

I don't believe pay TV is the future for F1, not at all, it depends on sponsorship too heavily for that to work. F1 will slip in to obscurity if it goes 100% pay TV, especially considering the state of the sport at the moment. This year was definitely the first year I gave up trying to watch races live. When it come to the Sky only weekends, I just couldn't be bothered, and picked up the edited highlights later in the evening.

F1 will probably eventually go the way A1GP, GP Masters, etc. Or worse resort to silly social media gimmicks like Formula E does...

[i70q7m7ghw]

It's cheaper to do a whole season of racing than it is to watch F1 on Sky. Had C4 not stepped in, it'd be the first time is not seen an F1 race since the 1980s.

Totally the way I see it. I would rather put the money for a Sky TV subscription in a jar and use to to either buy actual GP tickets, or go do some track days or driving experience days.