uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Does anyone watch that show anymore? It used to have phenomenal viewing figures.

Regularly gets 6-7m per episode. It's on 4 times a week (although some may be repeats, no idea on the schedule), and it got as high as 20m for the anniversary. Truly mad figures, but it appeals to older generations, and many grew up with it.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Paulaweybridge

True but they have also lost Top Gear's worldwide sales which was a bit daft unless there was more to it than we are being told ...

The way that the BBC does business is a bit daft. The bean-counters only seem to look at programme production costs, and fail to deal with the huge management structure that seems to grow in direct proportions to the cuts in services and programmes. And they build (or lease) white elephants such as the Media City Studios in Manchester that hardly anyone wanted to move to. And in fact, even years after it became operational, the BBC are paying for presenters to commute there on a weekly basis, plus picking up their accomodation costs in some cases.

As you say, the person in charge at the Beeb at that time (he recently left the Corporation himself) didn't think about the consequences of sacking Clarkson. It was fairly obvious the other two would leave with him because it was their production company, not the BBC, that produced the programme even though they also used some BBC personnel in the process. Actually, I don't think that they even sacked him because I don't believe that he was an employee of the Beeb.

[GORDON STREETER]

If people are concerned about adverts on TV then they should try terrestrial TV in Spain where 5-10 min breaks are the norm ! personally I find a way round it on line and plug the laptop into the TV

[S griffin]

The only reason I would like to see BT Sport is because is they seem to be sharing their coverage with others and I applaud them for it

[Paradise City]

If they abandon live free-to-air, it'll just be Sky that'll broadcast it. Don't see it going to be BT Sport unless Sky renounce their rights.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Regularly gets 6-7m per episode. It's on 4 times a week (although some may be repeats, no idea on the schedule), and it got as high as 20m for the anniversary. Truly mad figures, but it appeals to older generations, and many grew up with it.

Generally 4 individual episodes a week, plus repeats on BBC3 and IIRC an omnibus edition on Sunday - milady watches it......I guess its an "institution", like Coronation St......of course as a Northerner I wouldn't watch Corrie, whereas I can believe that Eastenders is a true to life documentary

C4 taking on the coverage that BBC are relinquishing is the least-worst option, I reckon.

As to your earlier comment, if you genuinely, hand-on-heart NEVER watch any live off-air TV, then you can legitimately dispense with a licence......however if you then watch any BBC programmes on time-shift I reckon that classes you as a hypocrite

[Adam43]

If that is the case then you are missing out too

Not that this is the point. For me the fact that the TV licence pays for the BBC gives the wrong impression. Somehow money needs to be raised to make programming that can't be made without the funding, make popular programming in a non commercial manner and build the BBC brand to make the aforementioned programming noticeable and accessible to many. Especially now that it is technically possible to not need one. They should get rid of the licence fee and increase income tax, perhaps by just changing the thresholds to keep the funding in place.

And, of course, woo Channel 4 not ITV! Hurrah!

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

The way that the BBC does business is a bit daft. The bean-counters only seem to look at programme production costs, and fail to deal with the huge management structure that seems to grow in direct proportions to the cuts in services and programmes. And they build (or lease) white elephants such as the Media City Studios in Manchester that hardly anyone wanted to move to. And in fact, even years after it became operational, the BBC are paying for presenters to commute there on a weekly basis, plus picking up their accomodation costs in some cases.

As you say, the person in charge at the Beeb at that time (he recently left the Corporation himself) didn't think about the consequences of sacking Clarkson. It was fairly obvious the other two would leave with him because it was their production company, not the BBC, that produced the programme even though they also used some BBC personnel in the process. Actually, I don't think that they even sacked him because I don't believe that he was an employee of the Beeb.

The BBC seem to enjoy wasting money. The less well publicized move of BBC Pebble Mill to the Birmingham Mailbox back in 2004 I believe cost in the region of £115M when they could have simply upgraded Pebble Mill for around £20M (which was a purpose built broadcasting house). Pebble Mill enjoyed some kind of ridiculous "ye olde" rental agreement/lease of something like 200 years and they paid a token amount of rent per year, in the region of £100, yes, £100.

They said that the move would "take the bbc to the people", yep, a white elephant of a shopping centre where only the elite shop to get their Harvey Nichols, Armani, Hugo Boss and other designer wares, yes, totally "the people".

The rents are now massive in the Mailbox, eye watering. I hope the BBC bosses are happy with that one.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

If people are concerned about adverts on TV then they should try terrestrial TV in Spain where 5-10 min breaks are the norm ! personally I find a way round it on line and plug the laptop into the TV

This is actually illegal in the UK. Our broadcasting governing body Ofcom doesn't allow excessive advert breaks. Often when TV shows from the US are shown in the UK, it's obvious where the ad breaks fall as there are weird cuts where the US version would go to breaks but the UK one continues on.

[Jordan 199]

Channel 4 is a much better home for free F1 than ITV, so I'm glad they dodged a bullet there. Of course they just need to make sure we don't have another dullfest like this year so that people like me who have drifted away, feel like watching again.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

The way that the BBC does business is a bit daft. The bean-counters only seem to look at programme production costs, and fail to deal with the huge management structure that seems to grow in direct proportions to the cuts in services and programmes. And they build (or lease) white elephants such as the Media City Studios in Manchester that hardly anyone wanted to move to. And in fact, even years after it became operational, the BBC are paying for presenters to commute there on a weekly basis, plus picking up their accomodation costs in some cases.

As you say, the person in charge at the Beeb at that time (he recently left the Corporation himself) didn't think about the consequences of sacking Clarkson. It was fairly obvious the other two would leave with him because it was their production company, not the BBC, that produced the programme even though they also used some BBC personnel in the process. Actually, I don't think that they even sacked him because I don't believe that he was an employee of the Beeb.

I did a bit of reading up on Channel 4 and it has quite an interesting setup. It's a public-service television broadcaster, mainly commercially self-funded but is ultimately publicly owned. Originally it was a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) but is now owned and run by Channel Four Television Corporation. Channel 4 is also a publisher-broadcaster, in that it commissions or buys all of its programming from independent production companies and was the first broadcaster in the UK to do so on a significant scale. Its licence requires it to obtain all content externally.

Also, Channel 4 started the trend of owning the copyright and distribution rights of the programmes it broadcast. So although Channel 4 does not produce programmes, many are regarded as belonging to it. This is similar to the major Hollywood studios' ownership of television programmes that they do not directly produce. Therefore buying the BBC's terrestrial TV rights fits right in with its remit.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Jordan 199

Channel 4 is a much better home for free F1 than ITV, so I'm glad they dodged a bullet there. Of course they just need to make sure we don't have another dullfest like this year so that people like me who have drifted away, feel like watching again.

Whether the next season's a dullfest is going to be down to F1 itself. Maybe that's one reason why the BBC dropped F1, viewing figures were falling?

[pole2pole]

I must say I was jumping with joy when I heard the new F1 deal with C4 Television, but then was slightly deflated when I heard the old ten race live package. For a brief moment I thought we where getting the lot. Let's hope C4 bring in new fresh presenters, no harm to the BBC but watching there coverage was like attending a funeral. This last few years I have been watching F1 via Sky, which I think is light years ahead of the BBC. Occasionally I would check the pre show out on the BBC and my goodness it's dull. The only complaint I would have about Sky is, I contacted them recently concerning my subscription package and discovered that it's not possible to subscribe to Skysports only, you must take one of the base packages. That ****ed me off.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by pole2pole

I must say I was jumping with joy when I heard the new F1 deal with C4 Television, but then was slightly deflated when I heard the old ten race live package. For a brief moment I thought we where getting the lot. Let's hope C4 bring in new fresh presenters, no harm to the BBC but watching there coverage was like attending a funeral. This last few years I have been watching F1 via Sky, which I think is light years ahead of the BBC. Occasionally I would check the pre show out on the BBC and my goodness it's dull. The only complaint I would have about Sky is, I contacted them recently concerning my subscription package and discovered that it's not possible to subscribe to Skysports only, you must take one of the base packages. That ****ed me off.

All C4 have succeeded in doing is buy up the remainder of the BBC's existing terrestrial TV rights contract, which was always going to expire in 2018. It would be interesting to know how much they paid the BBC.

[GT6]

i agree that C4 is a slightly better option but they will have to attract a huge increase in advertising to make it pay and the way F1 is at the moment i think they will struggle to make it pay, but let us hope they put a good package together and get a good to to present the show

[pole2pole]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

All C4 have succeeded in doing is buy up the remainder of the BBC's existing terrestrial TV rights contract, which was always going to expire in 2018. It would be interesting to know how much they paid the BBC.

That's interesting about Channel 4 buying the remainder of the BBC contract and not a brand new deal. Like yourself, it would be interesting to find out how much money exchanged hands. Could Channel 4 got its hands on F1 at a bargain price, like let's face it, someone has to broadcast it on the terrestrial platform.

[pole2pole]

Originally Posted by GT6

i agree that C4 is a slightly better option but they will have to attract a huge increase in advertising to make it pay and the way F1 is at the moment i think they will struggle to make it pay, but let us hope they put a good package together and get a good to to present the show

Totally agree. F1 needs to improve big time in order for companies to pay a fortune for advertising. Not only for Channel Fours new venture, but also Sky TV. There has to be folks out there considering cancelling there sky Sports subscription. People are getting fed up watching this engineering championship. 95% of motor racing I watch is on BT Sports which I get free with BT broadband. The longer this dull F1 continues, it makes harder to justify the subscription fee.

[Jordan 199]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Whether the next season's a dullfest is going to be down to F1 itself. Maybe that's one reason why the BBC dropped F1, viewing figures were falling?

Oh I worded my post poorly sorry. I originally meant that F1 needs to up its game and be less dull. The BBC coverage was always top notch, it's just a shame that they needed to save money at the same time the sport is suffering an identity crisis. If it had been more exciting it would have been a tougher choice.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Whether the next season's a dullfest is going to be down to F1 itself. Maybe that's one reason why the BBC dropped F1, viewing figures were falling?

I may speak for myself only here, but part of the reason I stopped watching was the TV Coverage was going down hill. I only got a selection of races live and some badly edited highlights. So it became harder to follow the sport properly. At that point why should I give them my time (and potentially money), when other series are making it easier to watch?

[pole2pole]

I am sure those in the boardroom who are running SKY Tv aren't to happy with the current state of F1. They need a product that sells subscriptions, a product that provides value for money. As far as iam concerned they are failing miserably. Maybe we will see change sooner rather than later. You never know, this could be perfect timing for Channel 4 to join the party.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by pole2pole

I am sure those in the boardroom who are running SKY Tv aren't to happy with the current state of F1. They need a product that sells subscriptions, a product that provides value for money. As far as iam concerned they are failing miserably. Maybe we will see change sooner rather than later. You never know, this could be perfect timing for Channel 4 to join the party.

Are Sky subscriptions to the F1 Channel falling?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

The F1 channel is part of the full sports package and not available on its own.

[JABWOA]

Will be curious to see the changes this brings to Australian Free to Air coverage.
Following the sudden drop by Network 10 here to only show the races per the BBC package with no qualifying at all (we never had practise sessions except for the Aust GP.)

The Australian GP is protected by parliament in that it must be on free to air but I can see 10 dumping the coverage totally, especially since they are now entwined with Foxtel (pay tv who now provide every session using ITV feed).

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

The F1 channel is part of the full sports package and not available on its own.

I thought it was an add on to the sports bundle.

[VIVA GT]

Slightly off at a tangent here but do I remember correctly that Channel 4 were involved in negotiating for the terrestrial coverage but lost to the BBC late time?
If so surely this shows that they have a genuine interest which should hopefully translate into good coverage?