BBC / Sky Sports

[munudeges]

Oh, and if they put adverts in the middle of races on Sky I won't even watch it for free.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Apparently Martin Brundle is also out of the job?!

[Simonm]

Not happy at all!
I have followed F1 since childhood its the only sport I watch.
I have sky but not sky sports and refuse to buy that to watch f1 so I will not follow F1 anymore and cancel Sky on princible and I suggest everyone who feels the same does so to to send a very clear message that if you dont get your Phone hacked hey!

Any petitions started we could sign?

[N12ck]

Disgusted.

Cannot believe I have to subscribe to sky sports to see 1 program every 2-3 weeks, its ridiculous,

also I ask, how can this be beneficial to the sponsors as their audience has been shrunk by this deal, this is all wrong and I hope it gets reconsidered soon. Talk about stabbing the British fans in the back.

[munudeges]

Apparently Martin Brundle is also out of the job?!

So Brundle and Kravitz not being taken on anywhere then? I'll be amused to see the train wreck coverage that transpires.

It really sounds like this deal was cobbled together around the back of the bike sheds in a hurry and it's surprised everyone else.

[N12ck]

Petitions:

http://www.thef1times.com/community/display/00277

http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petitio ... o-air/3291

http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/keepf1onthebbc

Keep F1 free to air!!

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Thanks nick, I signed all 3.

[Richard]

Its simple politics. The BBC have to be seen to be making cost cutting otherwise the Daily Mail has a rant.

Unfortunately, the people who rant against the BBC don't seem to realise the consequence is that viewers end up paying more money, and that money goes to off shore tax havens via News Corp, Mr E, and wealthy drivers living in Monaco.

So the BBC saving taxpayers money costs you more money in the long run.

[i70q7m7ghw]

They had options.

They could have opted to broadcast all commentary and coverage from the UK, with a much shorter pre/post race. Saves money on travel etc.

They could have ditched everything but 5Live and the live qualifying and race feed. That way Sky could still have the "full broadcast" but the BBC still broadcast the race for free with basic commentary.

[i70q7m7ghw]

£600 a year to view F1 on sky, and that's only half the races.

Just a quick check, Spa tickets are about £350 for the weekend.

Personally, I think i'm going to just buy tickets to 2 GPs next year and try to make do with streams/downloads for the Sky races.

On another note, I understand as well as team radio Sky intend to broadcast driver voicemail.

[wesley123]

Seriously how stupid they are, this isnt going to save them money at all, i already see @jakehumphreyf1 tweeting already how disappointing the viewing numbers are. I have a dutch broadcasting here, really crappy commentary and adverts, just like Sky, apart from that it is FREE. Viewers from all countries watch bbcf1 because of the commentary and quality they deliver, I have no doubt in that 90% will not pay at all for a Sky subscription and rahter watch it in their nativa language.

@Diesel; and $600 per year? OMG that is ridiculous, the ones even paying for that must be really stupid.

[Richard]

We do need to bear in mind that Bernie has a track record of saying he is awarding and/or cancelling contracts only to find out that it is all posturing and hot air.

Interesting point wesley - I wonder if the BBC could have done more with franchising their commentary to bring in external revenue and hence reduce the need for internal funding.

[timd]

Personally i think the BBC should be used to syndicate the english language coverage to other countries. That would do it. Not that it would happen.

[N12ck]

I would rather it went back to Itv or went to Channel 5 than going to Sky sports,

But BBC has the rights until the end of 2013 which was agreed in the concorde agreement, am I right that the concorde agreement is fixed until 2013?

[wesley123]

We do need to bear in mind that Bernie has a track record of saying he is awarding and/or cancelling contracts only to find out that it is all posturing and hot air.

Interesting point wesley - I wonder if the BBC could have done more with franchising their commentary to bring in external revenue and hence reduce the need for internal funding.

Seriously, if the BBC would do commercials directly before and after the race I wouldnt mind it at all, it's commentary is really the best around and it is one of the very few that doesnt do commercials at all in the coverage, let alone in the race. If they would do commercials before and after the race I wouldnt mind it at all and it would be easy money for them, there are a lot of companies that want to pay big to get a slot in these commercial breaks, you keep the fans happy and you get the income you need, works better than paying $600 a year for Sky only to watch F1.