BBC drops half of F1 coverage

If Sky set up a Sky Motorsports channel with loads of other racing disciplines then I'd stump up the cash and even pay extra for HD, however as it stands it's simply a football/cricket/whatever channel - not interested. Although in a perverse way that means I do hope for F1 to be a success on Sky in order for it to pave the way for a separate channel.
 
matty said:
Some people really can't afford that sort of increase. My pension just went up £50 a month, that was hard to swallow, another £20 on sports is out of the question at the moment, my wife is off sick and has been since march, I have 2 teenage kids and need to be very careful. If you have money to have takeaways and nights out then it's easy, if you don't, it isn't. I hate avoiding the results as it's very hard to do that if you are in the house when it's on, if you are out all day it's easy to avoid, if you turn on the Internet it's not, likewise tv and radio. I don't like it, and sympathies with a lot of people who can't afford it and want to watch ALL the race, I remember highlights shows, it's not the same.
Click to expand...

Although I'm not in exactly the same situation I also need to be very careful with finances and as someone who doesn't drink, smoke, buy takeaways etc. I simply do not have anything to cut back on to find the £40 a month to afford Sky.

I also remember the BBC highlights shows from the '80s and '90s and my memory is of a dull program, which lacked the sense of the race developing.

I have no problem waiting a few hours to see the race though I find it interesting that in the UK the free-to-air broadcast will be highlights whereas in Finland the whole race is broadcast several hours later. A more cynical person may wonder if Bernie is banking on those that can afford it eventually get fed up of highlights and stumping up the extra cash for the full races.
 
shall I remind you the current government decided to freeze license fee for 6 years and later PM have a slip of tongue an called it a 'juicy victory'.
Beeb has a huge funding gap to fill and some more important program has been cut short - Egypt report, Syria report, canine red carpet etc etc.
Something has to give to balance the book, including a massive loss of workforce that already happened and will still happen next few years.
I cant speculate what happened behind the closed door between Rebecca Brooks, Murdoch and David Cameron. But at a few occasions James the junior complained Beeb is too big.
What a 'victory' to topped Beeb up and have the audience to blame herself for the failure.
To save a few pennies on license fee, you have to pay £10 or more a month for sky. Isn't it great?
It is a shame that Beeb didn't drop the F1 entirely.
 
I'm pretty gutted, I'm a big fan, usually watch all of the practice sessions, qualifying, and am happy to get up at silly o'clock to watch the races in the far east.

However, I've just graduated from uni, we don't have sky at home, and while I'd love to have £500 to blow on it and the sports packages, I just don't! Does that mean I'm not a 'real fan' as has been suggested previously :shrug:

It's a real shame, as I do like how the BBC are doing things (even Eddie Jordan's revolting shirt choices, and Jake's indiscriminate waving around of the ipad), but for the future I'll have to stick to half a season live and the extended highlights.
 
jonneymendoza said:
yet u have over 1k to blow on as 7d lol
Click to expand...

So he should sell the camera, possibly for a loss, and then blow all that money on being able to watch a couple of seasons of F1 races in full on Sky? I think not. Being a fan of something isn't simply down to how much money you're able to spend on it. :)
 
Life is all about choices.

You decide what you want to spend your money on.

Is about supply and demand, the fact that so many people are getting upset about having to pay for the F1 shows that there is a great demand for it. On the other side of the coin there are plenty of people out there who will happily pay for it- I am one of them

There will be some people who cannot afford it, or who choose not to pay for it. That is life - I want a Ferrari but cannot afford one, is it unfair that the guy at the end of the street has one; no it is just life.

End of story.
 
Last edited:
jonneymendoza said:
yet u have over 1k to blow on as 7d lol
Click to expand...

right up until my wife took ill, money wasnt a worry.

now it is, so - respectfully - you're being a cock.

ive already sold a lot of stuff ive bought and not used much, and cut back on things that are not 'luxury', very occasionally i get a little bit of money - that nearly always goes on bills, but mostly im selling stuff i have to do what i want. next out the door is a 10-20 to fund a CSC, something that i will get lots of use from. if i get all the sky channels, and with the phone package i already have with them, it would be somewhere around £80 per month - i cant afford that.
 
Ziggy said:
Life is all about choices.

You decide what you want to spend your money on.

Is about supply and demand, the fact that so many people are getting upset about having to pay for the F1 shows that there is a great demand for it. On the other side of the coin there are plenty of people out there who will happily pay for it- I am one of them

There will be some people who cannot afford it, or who choose not to pay for it. That is life - I want a Ferrari but cannot afford one, is it unfair that the guy at the end of the street has one; no it is just life.

End of story.
Click to expand...

i dont entirely agree - F1 is supposed to be free to air, yes we can see highlights, but id rather watch the whole race like I have done for the last few years, Sky tried F1 with BernieVision and it failed miserably, is that not a sign that people dont want to pay for it?
 
Sky made £1 billion profit last week, in the current climate that shows they are doing something right. People will often find the money for something they really want.
 
often, but not always. there isnt any money to find currently. maybe by next season it will improve, but currently there is no money
 
If the F1 supremo's want F1 back on the Beeb the answer is simple... all they'd have to do is make sure that a few of the drivers were gay home counties stage school luvvies and a few more we're ethnic orphans and F1 would be on the Beeb every day.
 
woof woof said:
If the F1 supremo's want F1 back on the Beeb the answer is simple... all they'd have to do is make sure that a few of the drivers were gay home counties stage school luvvies and a few more we're ethnic orphans and F1 would be on the Beeb every day.
Click to expand...

"We interupt the Belgian GP to bring you a sensitive documentary about a man who looks like a freekin' tree, only on BBC3....."
 
matty said:
i dont entirely agree - F1 is supposed to be free to air, yes we can see highlights, but id rather watch the whole race like I have done for the last few years, Sky tried F1 with BernieVision and it failed miserably, is that not a sign that people dont want to pay for it?
Click to expand...

My mate uses that argument about cricket, and I guess fans of other sports could argue the same for football, tennis etc...

Why is F1 so special?
 
Ziggy said:
Sky made £1 billion profit last week, in the current climate that shows they are doing something right. People will often find the money for something they really want.
Click to expand...

That might have been 1bn last year, not last week.

If they did make 1bn a week I'm sure governments worldwide would want to know how...
 
cambsno said:
My mate uses that argument about cricket, and I guess fans of other sports could argue the same for football, tennis etc...

Why is F1 so special?
Click to expand...

cos its in the sports agreement that it should be free to air...so why shouldnt it be
 
You know, I think those people that are saying "well you can afford a £1000+ camera, you can afford sky" are being somewhat disingenuous and unsympathetic.

When I lived in the UK - about 5 years ago, I remember it as a constant battle with my overdraft even then. Photography was out as even a singular purchase of £100 had to be carefully thought about and prepared for, which was all the more disheartening as I worked full time in a skilled occupation. The only thing that I had that was worth over £1000 was a modestly expensive HiFi system, and the only reason I had that was due to a small inheritance.

This was what it was like for me back then, I dread to think how it would be for me in UK now. I assume that you would only need to look through the classifieds section to find out how many people are selling their gear as a result of a "change of circumstances"

I can totally understand those people who bought their kit in better times, those people who scrimped and saved for their kit, and those who took the never never route, not having the money for sky subscription. I also know how much it stings for somebody to suddenly have to pay a considerable sum for something that they enjoyed that was previously free.

Things are a lot better for me here, and I can now afford things that wouldn't have even been on the radar for me in the UK, but I haven't forgotten where I was, and totally understand where people are coming from on this.
 
Slightly off topic, but its cheaper to live in Switzerland?? Really?
 
Lower taxes. Hence why Lewis Hamilton moved there.
 
Yeah but thats only the story for the super rich, and I assume that someone saying about being careful with every penny in the UK isn't that person.

Switzerland is an expensive place to live, the cost of living is very high.
 
desantnik said:
Slightly off topic, but its cheaper to live in Switzerland?? Really?
Click to expand...

No, not at all, it's about 1.5 - 2 times more expensive on average than the UK for the day to day essential living stuff, but this is more than compensated for by approx 3-4 times the salary for doing the same job in Switzerland as in the UK. Going by the current exchange rate I'm paid about 3.5 times the amount that I would be paid in the UK for my job. I'm also only paying around one quarter of the tax that I would be in the UK.

Put it this way, what a minimum wage job in the UK would pay, pays around £2600 per month here - at current exchange rates, and the tax on that would be around £100.
 
matty said:
cos its in the sports agreement that it should be free to air...so why shouldnt it be
Click to expand...

Slaphead said:
You know, I think those people that are saying "well you can afford a £1000+ camera, you can afford sky" are being somewhat disingenuous and unsympathetic.

When I lived in the UK - about 5 years ago, I remember it as a constant battle with my overdraft even then. Photography was out as even a singular purchase of £100 had to be carefully thought about and prepared for, which was all the more disheartening as I worked full time in a skilled occupation. The only thing that I had that was worth over £1000 was a modestly expensive HiFi system, and the only reason I had that was due to a small inheritance.

This was what it was like for me back then, I dread to think how it would be for me in UK now. I assume that you would only need to look through the classifieds section to find out how many people are selling their gear as a result of a "change of circumstances"

I can totally understand those people who bought their kit in better times, those people who scrimped and saved for their kit, and those who took the never never route, not having the money for sky subscription. I also know how much it stings for somebody to suddenly have to pay a considerable sum for something that they enjoyed that was previously free.

Things are a lot better for me here, and I can now afford things that wouldn't have even been on the radar for me in the UK, but I haven't forgotten where I was, and totally understand where people are coming from on this.
Click to expand...

:clap: :agree:
 
Slaphead said:
No, not at all, it's about 1.5 - 2 times more expensive on average than the UK for the day to day essential living stuff, but this is more than compensated for by approx 3-4 times the salary for doing the same job in Switzerland as in the UK. Going by the current exchange rate I'm paid about 3.5 times the amount that I would be paid in the UK for my job. I'm also only paying around one quarter of the tax that I would be in the UK.
Click to expand...

Yes, I suppose if you look at it like that... I was just thinking earlier how expensive it is when I go there!

You do know that that won't last though don't you... globalisation will hit Switzerland soon...
 
cambsno said:
My mate uses that argument about cricket, and I guess fans of other sports could argue the same for football, tennis etc...

Why is F1 so special?
Click to expand...

International cricket matches are free to air, intentional tennis tournaments are free to air. What was his point exactly?
 
odd jim said:
International cricket matches are free to air, intentional tennis tournaments are free to air. What was his point exactly?
Click to expand...

Only the ashes I believe is free to air, and Wimbledon to?
 
odd jim said:
International cricket matches are free to air, intentional tennis tournaments are free to air. What was his point exactly?
Click to expand...


His point is F1 is not the only sport that is not available free to air, there are lots of sports that used to be free to air and are no longer with other sports that have never been on TV.

Why should F1 have special treatment over Football, Rugby League and other sports.

Half of F1 will be free to air, just a pity that a lot of sports I'd like to watch are NEVER free to air or not even broadcast at all.
 
cambsno said:
Only the ashes I believe is free to air, and Wimbledon to?
Click to expand...

I dint know about the cricket, but pretty much all the major tennis tournaments are free to air on eurosport.
 
matty said:
cos its in the sports agreement that it should be free to air...so why shouldnt it be
Click to expand...

Sadly its not in the concorde agreement, hence why the teams aren't kicking up a fuss, infact Adam parr from Williams is shouting about how we should be greatful.... And is doing his best to make me lose my Williams fan status, why should we be greatful!
 
Sky says the channel will be provided at no extra cost to existing Sky Sports 1 and 2 or Sky HD subscribers
Click to expand...

Hang on does that mean as I have the HD package but no sports I should get it?
 
It comes down to people don't want to increase the amount of money they spend on bills.

The government and companies need (want in some companies case) more.

F1 wanted more money, the BBC couldn't afford it as they have had the license fee frozen as people were complaining about the TV license. The result is Sky can offer more, so they got it and now only those who pay can watch it.

If everyone paid a £10p a year more on their TV license for F1, everyone has F1. People complained, people didn't pay, people lose out and Sky gets F1 with the extra price associated.

This isn't happening just with F1, it is happening all over the country with different things. I don't care about F1 or football, so should I pay for it as part of my TV license? The answer is no, if the BBC had kept the football, the TV license would be £10 more a year or so.

Things are being split up to keep costs down, you don't want something, then you don't have to pay for it, if you do want it you have to pay. The problem is there are less people paying for football/F1/Tennis etc. that the cost per viewer goes up.

Is F1 the only motorsport? Can I not watch motorsport at other times? There is a free motorsport channel on sky.
 
Sky Sports F1 HD?

So I can't watch the channel unless I have HD presumably... nice hook Sky but I'm still not paying you for a HD box upgrade and then an increased subscription.

The BBC are promising much more from their coverage, albeit not live. I'd hope that "package" also includes not giving out the damned results on their TV/radio news progs until the "delayed" coverage is shown... too clever for them?
 
desantnik said:
Sky Sports F1 HD?

So I can't watch the channel unless I have HD presumably... nice hook Sky but I'm still not paying you for a HD box upgrade and then an increased subscription.

The BBC are promising much more from their coverage, albeit not live. I'd hope that "package" also includes not giving out the damned results on their TV/radio news progs until the "delayed" coverage is shown... too clever for them?
Click to expand...

If you have sky sport 1 and 2 but no HD I think you get a none HD F1 channel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top