Evil Sky to show F1 from next year....

[Critical_Mass 10]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93461

 

Above link states that

 

"The broadcaster has no plans to introduce a 'pay-per-view' scheme for races, meaning that fans will have to purchase a Sky Sports package and pay from £31.95 per month for it.

 

Sky Sports News, which is available on all Sky packages without the need for a Sky Sports subscription, will feature pre and post-race analysis in addition to that broadcast on Sky Sports."

[Album56 0]

Well I cancelled Sky sports & movies a while back to save £40 a month & I'll be doing all my F1 viewing on the BBC, sorry Sky your just too expensive....

[Bullfinch 0]

It's a shame but I think the BBC were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Licence fee frozen and the need to make savings etc. It will be interesting to see what half the races means - ie: I assume it will be all European based GP's with a 1pm race start time with ones such as China, Malaysia etc being on highlights. I'm enjoying/enduring Channel 10/One HD coverage over here in Oz - they have adverts during the race but use BBC commentary feed with a couple of link men in the studio. Make the most of what you have in 2011 and fingers crossed for 2012.

[Ben-B 0]

It's a shame but I think the BBC were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Licence fee frozen and the need to make savings etc. It will be interesting to see what half the races means - ie: I assume it will be all European based GP's with a 1pm race start time with ones such as China, Malaysia etc being on highlights. I'm enjoying/enduring Channel 10/One HD coverage over here in Oz - they have adverts during the race but use BBC commentary feed with a couple of link men in the studio. Make the most of what you have in 2011 and fingers crossed for 2012.

 

I, and I think most other people, appreciate that the BBC had to make massive cost cuts.

 

But this year, race after race, there have been record-high viewing figures.

 

Why not lose BBC 4, or Radio 6, or Radio 1 Xtra, or Radio 4 Extra, Radio 5 Live Sports Extra which I can't imagine many people listen to compared to the F1.

 

Or how about stop showing SO MANY repeats of programmes I watch JUST LAST NIGHT on BBC 3/4.

 

Cut some of Wimbledon, trim down the Olympics, take a FAIR SHARE of the popular stuff, rather than cutting out HALF of the F1 coverage.

 

 

I think the BBC has made a colossal mistake, I just hope its not too late for people who actually have any weight to make some changes, FOTA perhaps forcing Bernie's hand

[ziderapple 0]

I was very disappointed to hear about Sky getting its claws into what should be a free to view service. It is plain wrong, and a sorry state of affairs. However you cannot really attack the Beeb for it. The BBC is always taking flak and people complain about the cost of the license fee but to me for the sheer quantity and quality of output I think it is a bloody bargain. I think it's days in it's current format are numbered and it will be a very, very sad day when it is broken up, sold off and forced to show adverts. I miss the BBC living abroad but still access it's services frequently; news and sports websites, BBC news 24, listen again and live to the radio, some cheeky downloads of shows - mostly Top Gear. Word service broadcasting was recently stopped in Dubai due to risings costs and it was quite a story here I can tell you, one interesting this too was that it wasnt just British expats kicking off about it but pretty much everyone who appreciated the impartial nature and quality content.

 

And sorry Ben-B but I feel that those are pretty misguided and ignorant comments. Your complaints about them showing repeats make little sense in this argument too, showing repeats will save money so they have more to spend on new programming for their flagship channels. The BBC is obligated to provide public service broadcasting so has to produce quality entertainment that appeals to all who pay for a license.

 

BBC 4 may not be to everyone's taste but it is hugely popular with a great deal of people, as visual equivalent of radio 4, covering arts, culture, debate. The cost of BBC 4 per annum is less than the cost of broadcasting an F1 season. BBC 1xtra costs 11 million a year and 5 Live Extra just shy of 5. Dropping these are not really going to make much of a difference at all. 6music is excellent, in fact I believe the Beeb were going to drop it but received such a backlash they had to back down, they didn't realise quite how popular it is. Sacrificing Wimbledon or the Olympics! Seriously?!?

 

It's a damn shame and a sign of things to come. Don't beat the BBC up about it, boycott Sky.

 

License fee works out at about 12 quid a month. The least amount you can pay Sky to get the F1 races is as posted previously £31. Or £145 v's £372 a year. I think I'd rather pay a few quid extra a month towards the license fee, keep F1 and save having a feck ugly expensive dish stuck on the side of my castle.

 

BBC spending for those of you that are interested: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jul/12/bbc-spending

[Yandards 0]

Reading between the lines during the qualy yesterday it would seem the both MB and DC are not currently going to be employed by Sky (comment about which drivers will be in front of them in the job centre queue next year), so I am going to guess the BBC coverage next year will be a direct feed from the Sky team.

 

Problem is finding someone good to do it, the ITV bunch were bloody hopeless - Jim Rosenthal and Tony Jardine!?! as the hosts were terrible, all the charisma of Arnold J Rimmer's little toe, I just hope they don't do what Sky normally do with Sports coverage and provide some rubbish over analysis with those stupid digital crayons they use in the cricket and football all the time. The Beebs F1 coverage strikes a good balance between informative with a spot of humour - you never know what stupid thing is going come out of Eddie Jordans mouth nor who is going to mock his dress sense.

 

24 hours on and I am still pee'd off about the whole thing and I am not adding another £372 / year to Sky's £1 billion profit margin either.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeah i picked up on that too Yan. If they were keeping the same presenters it would make the pill easier to swallow. But you cant beat the current set up they have. Its seriously going to be a step backwards to the ITV days.

[Jim 2]

I just think the most disappointing thing about it all, is how few programs I actually watch on the BBC - this was one of them. I think it would boil down to about 5 or 6 TV or radio shows that I actually watch / listen to:

 

* Today & PM on Radio 4 (yes, I'm boring)

* Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo Film Review on Radio 5 Live

* Top Gear

* Have I Got News For You

* Formula 1

* Wonders of the Solar System / Wonders of the Universe

 

There might be the other odd documentary but.. that's about it! And as we all know, some of those (Top Gear / Wonders) have very short / limited runs and most likely more than pay for themselves through syndication or DVD / blu-ray sales..

[Danny B 0]

..........

 

Why not lose BBC 4, or Radio 6, or Radio 1 Xtra, or Radio 4 Extra, Radio 5 Live Sports Extra which I can't imagine many people listen to compared to the F1.

 

Cut some of Wimbledon, trim down the Olympics, take a FAIR SHARE of the popular stuff, rather than cutting out HALF of the F1 coverage.........

 

Sorry mate but I found these comments really funny :lol:

 

You cannot be serious :bonk: !!

 

Trimming down the olympics would cause public revolution of biblical proportition ....... especially after the ticket fiasco - although I did get 100m final tickets so I thought the system was well thought out and perfectly executed :dance:

[Portent 0]

Well the only things I watch are BBC News 24, Top Gear and occasional F1. There really isn't much BBC stuff I watch now, sadly.

[Ben-B 0]

Sorry mate but I found these comments really funny :lol:

 

You cannot be serious :bonk: !!

 

Trimming down the olympics would cause public revolution of biblical proportition ....... especially after the ticket fiasco - although I did get 100m final tickets so I thought the system was well thought out and perfectly executed :dance:

 

I cannot see the heats of some of the events being anywhere near as popular as the F1. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I overheard someone saying the BBC will show every second of events at the olympics, either live or repeated, on tv/internet, but is that really worth it, surely they could have saved some money by not showing azerbajan v swaziland first heat in the greco-roman wrestling, and other similar examples?

[Danny B 0]

........ surely they could have saved some money by not showing azerbajan v swaziland first heat in the greco-roman wrestling, and other similar examples?

 

oi, I'm half Swazilandish :D

[Wendy 0]

oi, I'm half Swazilandish :D

 

Sorry - just have to correct you there - !!

 

A person from Swaziland is called a Swazi.

 

I am sure I must be more than half Swazi too though - my Mum and Step Dad have lived there the last 30 odd years.

 

Greco -roman wrestling - What !!!

 

I am still struggling to believe that the BBC have let this go and mortified.

 

I think it is a shame that many people will never be able to experience F1 in the flesh but to not be able to see it on TV either.

Surely this will really kill the following ?

[jacko 0]

How come the most popular blog has been closed for more comments? Surely this is going to upset the F1 fans even more than they already are. It seems strange as BBC blogs from over a year ago are still open for comment. Is the BBC afraid of whats being said? are people finally getting to the truth about the Sky deal?

Becaus ethis blog is now closed, Jake is now getting the brunt of the angry fans which he doesnt deserve, he has been treated just as bad as the public.

Can i ask if the BBC are going to cancel 2 episodes of Eastenders a week and show highlights instead? Imagin the anger of the public then, im sure it wouldnt be any way near as big as this.

I subscribe to several unrelated forums, on there are threads with over 1000 posts from people all over the world who cant believe the BBC have sold out to Sky. Its discusting and i think its unaceptable that the licence paying public were not informed about the deal before Ben Gallop signed on the dotted line.

All i can say is i hope the sponsors of F1 pull out as they dont want to be associated with Murdoch's evil money grabbing empire.

[tony_ack 0]

I fear the BBC have their hands tied. A number of powerful people in the commercial tv business, led by Rupert Murdoch, have been criticising the BBC for years. Their case is that the BBC has an unfair market position due to the fact that the UK operations are almost entirely subsidised by the government (licence fee), which they argue is unfair for competition. Because of this income the BBC does not have to rely on commercial breaks or sponsorship, and can instead provide wall-to-wall programming and be free to create shows without interference from shareholders or a board of directors.

 

As much as it pains me to say it, Murdoch has a case here - Sky do not receive the same subsidy, and I suspect have to pay the government for their broadcast licence. While everyone in the country with a TV is forced to pay for the BBC, people have to choose to pay for Sky (on top of the licence fee). All that said, I think the BBC as a whole does far more good than bad for the UK, and you have to question Murdoch's motives when Sky is pulling in substantial profits (clearly they're not at THAT much of a disadvantage in the real world). In addition, BECAUSE everyone has to pay for the BBC, the BBC has to cater for everyone - unlike the big TV networks who commission and drop tv shows at a whim based only on short-term viewing figures, the BBC cater for niches that would otherwise not be commercially viable.

 

Which brings us to where we are now. The critics have been getting louder over the last few years, and even though they are in the minority, they are a powerful minority who hold quite a lot of political sway and are looking to protect profits. Making the system fairer for the likes of Sky will not represent the best result for the public, but this government (and the last) have felt compelled to make changes. The BBC has been forced to reduce its website content and web presence (not sure why - was it too good?), and there have been other announcements of cut backs which are starting to make their way into the programming. There has been a trend towards getting the commercially-funded BBC America to fund some of the higher budget shows (Doctor Who, Torchwood), and other shows have had their series runs reduced or filled with re-runs (Top Gear, Mock the Week).

 

The F1 renegotiation is the latest in the line of budget cuts. Sky knew about the situation and came in with a generous offer. The BBC may have been able to match the offer financially, but would not be able to justify the expenditure to the powers that be when other programmes are being cut. Like it or not, F1 is still a relatively minor sport in the UK, and doesn't appeal to all the licence paying public. Rules were bent to ensure that the F1 'crown jewels' were still technically free-to-air, though much like the England football internationals, fans can only follow about half of the fixtures.

 

It will be interesting to see whether Sky attempts to buy the BBC production team and presenters.

 

Is anyone else worried about the prospect of ad-breaks halfway through races?