BBC / Sky Sports

[bhall]

I wasnt aware the US payed to view F1.

Out of curiosity how much?

We do pay currently through the licence fee, but this deal means we'll have to pay more for the same service. You'd be annoyed if F1 changed your provider requiring you to pay 2 or 3 times as much for the same coverage?

F1 is shown on Speed here in the states. Speed isn't free-to-air. It's been my experience that for most cable companies Speed is part of a package of sports channels for which you must subscribe. I've not even sure if you can get it a la carte.

As I recall, the sports package is somewhere around $20-30 per month in addition to cable's base price which is, in effect, a license fee.

[A13EX_f]

anyone know how to tune an old sky dish and reciever to RTL so i can watch it for free and listen to the 5 live commentary? I refuse to subscribe to and sky sports for £40 a month when the only sport i watch is motorsport i've no interest in any football / golf / tennis or other crap they put on there!

[i70q7m7ghw]

So the cost to watch F1 in 2012 is going to be £50+ a month... Might as well save up and go to some races!

The BBC has let UK F1 fans down, big time.

I'm torn what to do now. I recently left SKY because the price for their standard TV was just too high, and I rarely watched any of the actual paid channels. Now I have to consider going back buying the sports package and paying extra to get HD?! Some how I don't think so.

Alternatives:-
--finding an online stream for each race, and a proxy.
--downloading the race after.
--following on radio and livetiming.

It's a bullsh!t cost saving for the BBC because they will still be present at all the races to broadcast the other sessions. They would be better off cutting out all the pre-race crap to save money.

[myurr]

I too would rather they cut all the pre-race rubbish and just stuck the Radio 5 live commentary crew on for the race. They take the world feed, so they could happily broadcast all the races for a fraction of the cost.

That leaves the F1 licensing fee that the BBC has to pay, which if memory serves was rumoured to be £50m per annum!

Why not split it with Sky? BBC broadcasts in standard def with a cut price production to keep it free to air. Sky has all the value adds - HD, 3D, pre-show, post-race analysis, etc. Sky should still be able to cash in big time and have the flagship production, but the races themselves would still be free to air for the fans that cannot afford or do not want Sky.

[i70q7m7ghw]

With all due respect, so?

I've had to pay for every Grand Prix I've ever seen. And the coverage for which I've paid leaves a lot to be desired when compared to anything available in the UK.

I'm completely OK with UK fans having to pony up to watch all of the races. Maybe a local outcry will do something to stop Ecclestone's greedy fees.

(I doubt it.)

With all due respect, if you don't live in the UK this doesn't affect you, so hush.

Here's a breakdown of the fees:-

TV Licence cost, this must be paid regardless = approx £120-£140 a year

Base Sky TV cost = £19.50 monthly

Sky Sports Cost = £20.25 monthly

Sky HD (optional) = £10.25 monthly

That would total a monthly cost of £50-60 a month.

For me, that's only for F1.

I can get all other channels I watch for free on FreeSAT currently and that includes HD channels. Sky has nothing additional to offer me, which is why I recently left.

At those prices I could probably save the money over the course of a year and organise a visit to an F1 race.

[tathan]

The whole licence fee thing was utter bollocks and political posturing by the government's "austerity measures". They did nothing about bankers getting million quid bonuses, but capped the licence fee (which saved a couple of quid, literally) and attempted to gut the BBC. Oh look, Rupert Murdoch's benefited from a government policy - who'd a thunk it?

Also, the £18/race isn't correct - half the races are free to air so you're actually paying £36 for each race, plus any subsidy for HD.

All in all, not happy.

[u401768]

i just hope that FOTA has the balls to bugger off and set up there own series. Odds on it's all tied to CVC & Bernie getting their money!!

I'll not pay anything to Sky!!

From what i can see, the BBC will still show all the racers live on iPlayer - so will just watch that instead, until/if FOTA break away!!

Can not see Mec, or Lotus/Renault staying if they loose the exposure. As to VW joining in 2018, why bother? The would have the same exposure at LM!! And for the rest, i think it will be all eyes on Ferrari - if they go, so will McLaren and they will re-appear some where else

[snorri788]

i just hope that FOTA has the balls to bugger off and set up there own series.

+1

[jakeconway]

From what i can see, the BBC will still show all the racers live on iPlayer - so will just watch that instead, until/if FOTA break away!!

Unfortunately that is not how I read it. "Highlights" will be available through all the usual BBC media (iPlayer etc)...but only the BBC Live GPs will feature "any" live content.

E.g. if it is a "BBC too" weekend, it will be coverage as we have now.
If it is a "non-BBC" event...then the BBC will show nothing live at all...just highlights at some point.

My personal view...U-Turns hopefully on their way before the year is out! The Base SD coverage would seem a good compromise for Free To Air users and the full "sexy package" for Sky...but that would upset Sky who are only in it to get people to subscribe that otherwise would not have done so (a reasonable business model...though not good for F1...or me...).

[Oneshortplanck]

i shall only be watching the BBC programs.

I shall therefore have my own league table and shall only recognise the winner of that championship.

May i suggest that we all do the same?

[timd]

Well i just echo everyone else's statement that this is a bloddy disgrace and i will not be paying for sky sports.

F1 is pritty much the only TV i watch.

I really hope FOTA lay the boot into this or i will be loosing my F1.

[A13EX_f]

like i said before I'm sure there is a way to get rtl in the uk we can watch it for free I dont even mind paying out aprox £50 once for the kit to do it, got to be better than paying sky to watch all the channels i can get for free and a few extras i dont want.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

like i said before I'm sure there is a way to get rtl in the uk we can watch it for free I dont even mind paying out aprox £50 once for the kit to do it, got to be better than paying sky to watch all the channels i can get for free and a few extras i dont want.

There is a way. I explained to a couple of posters earlier, Just inbox me for details.

[munudeges]

I will watch what races I can on the BBC and if I can pop round somewhere else to watch them on Sky or watch Sky for free then I might do that. I'm not doing £60+ per month, which is what Sky Sports costs in total. If there's a choice between Sky and the BBC I'll watch the BBC. Christ, they'll probably get Georgie Thompson to present it.

I think the deal will be backtracked fairly quickly once the viewing figures for the BBC and Sky are compared. Sky would have to get the vast majority of their sports subscribers turning out to watch Formula 1 and that's not going to happen. It will make sponsors very jittery, and no amount of overtaking work in making the sport more exciting is going to make any difference.

[horse]

Worst post ever but BOO!