uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

but I will not pay a further £25 per month to support BCE's little empire.

I need to correct that; since I checked the price from my provider last year, the monthly cost has risen to £36.35, which would be approximately $51.

[steve_r]

As soon as Sky launched their F1 channel a couple of years ago, and at a similar time BBC needed to cut it costs, this was always going to happen. C4 stepped in as a stop-gap measure only.

It's a real shame. Viewing figures will go down, but that does not seem to bother anyone these days. What is to stop sky putting their prices up, or **shudder** turning races into Pay per view.

The only hope is that the promised free to view highlights package are comprehensive enough and shown quickly enough after the race to be a worthwhile option. My guess is that sky would be shooting themselves in the foot if they achieved this, so I would expect the free to air highlights to be short and not the same day.

But never-mind, Bernie is happy.

[chunder]

Please be aware, there will be no free to view package available for anyone that isn't a SKY customer.

I think there is some mis-understanding. If you do not have SKY post 2018 you will not get to see F1 anywhere at all.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by chunder

Please be aware, there will be no free to view package available for anyone that isn't a SKY customer.

I think there is some mis-understanding. If you do not have SKY post 2018 you will not get to see F1 anywhere at all.

I think that you are over-dramatising this somewhat; as far as I am aware, all the subscription providers such as Virgin Media, TalkTalk and BT, etc. will be able to offer Sky sports packages at a price. However, it will not be available on terrestrial FTA, unless the British GP is made available.

[Akrapovic]

You can also purchase day passes to NowTV, which will give you a single days viewing for around £7 or something. So you can watch a race for £7.

[Paradise City]

As someone who watches Sky and thinks that Sky do a good job this is a move that is pure spite from the poison dwarf. The money grubbing maniac is just digging his heels in having encountered resistance.

Even to watch highlights you have to shell out? That's pitiful from this guy and absolutely unnecessary.

[Peter Mallett]

Question? How many people watch offshore power boating on TV? It's not on terrestrial. I ask because I can see similarities between, what is now laughably called F1, and the aforementioned water sport.

I don't miss Offshore Power Boats and certainly won't miss Formula 1. As one who has every Autocourse annual from 1980 to 2015 I'm afraid it no longer represents what I want to see. And by making it a "exclusive" show, many will fall by the wayside. I can see the tumbleweed rolling across Monza as I write.

[S griffin]

Bernie has no ethics, he's only concerned about the almighty dollar and makes no effort to connect with us punters. He doesn't seem to realise that sponsors won't be happy if people aren't tuning in to watch F1.

At least the drivers are starting to attack the way F1 is governed, wish someone would do something about this short sighted move

[Peter Mallett]

Oddly enough.....
https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2016...-when-to-stop/

[bjohnsonsmith]

What a short sighted move. All this will do is make those who don't want to subscribe to Sky, look for alternative ways of watching F1.

[chunder]

Saward saying exactly what I and countless others have been saying for donkeys years!

[NICK ALLISON]

I for one will not be paying for Formula 1 on tv. As a marshal I put enough of my own time and money into motorsport without adding to the bank balance of Bernie and Rupert.

[chillibowl]

i agree with the 'how much is enough' aspect of Saward's blog post. the price point being set is ridiculously high even 7quid for a one day pass is high and not enough of an incentive to convince a technologically astute person that paying is easier then looking around on the internet.

i watched The Martian last weekend. fantastic movie and one i would highly recommend, but one distributed by Twentieth Century Fox (a Murdoch property).

a three hour movie that came from with a CAN$5.99 rental fee (so like 2 of your notes).

so i guess my point isnt that this is an issue with paying vs not paying/ paywall vs FTA but rather a question of what a fair price is. for the UK market it seems set at a grossly unfair price but in Canada its set at a very reasonable level.

[Paradise City]

I'd certainly accept a move behind a paywall if it was in the sports interests and it was commercially necessary. But that isn't the case. FTA deals are available to show it. This is brazen short term profiteering we're talking about here.

It doesn't impinge upon me. I get Sky, can watch Setanta Ireland for want of Sky. I can also avail of Chinese broadcasters, should those options fail. I just think it's a dumb damaging move made by a crook from pure spite.

[Pingguest]

As Formula One will increasingly lose its free-to-air broadcasting around the globe, no wonder the television ratings continue to decline. The governance is simply broken and lunacy reigns over the series.

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

so i guess my point isnt that this is an issue with paying vs not paying/ paywall vs FTA but rather a question of what a fair price is. for the UK market it seems set at a grossly unfair price but in Canada its set at a very reasonable level.

only if you use a direct exchange rate without taking into account disposable income levels and whathaveyou. and to be honest, film rentals and live events are two different things.

renting a film through a smart telly/tellybox/laptop is what, about half the cost of an adult cinema ticket. that film has been out for a few months already usually. if you were doing pay per view of btcc for example, that would equate to paying £15 to watch the races say, a couple of hours after they'd happened. or about £50 for a european grand prix, if you don't mind viewing it from behind a salad strainer, a la being sat in the trees at monza or peering between heads at silverstone

essentially, you can buy a day pass to lots of channels to watch a gp that's no longer than a normal film for £7, and it's live rather than prerecorded. plus you have all the talking heads nonsense before and after too.

which is fairly good unless you're a diehard fan wanting to watch every session, in which case you're probably going to make the sacrifices to pay for the full sky box already.

i'm not justifying sky's prices here but the thing that looks a bit overpriced is your movie rental

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bella

only if you use a direct exchange rate without taking into account disposable income levels and whathaveyou. and to be honest, film rentals and live events are two different things.

renting a film through a smart telly/tellybox/laptop is what, about half the cost of an adult cinema ticket. that film has been out for a few months already usually. if you were doing pay per view of btcc for example, that would equate to paying £15 to watch the races say, a couple of hours after they'd happened. or about £50 for a european grand prix, if you don't mind viewing it from behind a salad strainer, a la being sat in the trees at monza or peering between heads at silverstone

essentially, you can buy a day pass to lots of channels to watch a gp that's no longer than a normal film for £7, and it's live rather than prerecorded. plus you have all the talking heads nonsense before and after too.

which is fairly good unless you're a diehard fan wanting to watch every session, in which case you're probably going to make the sacrifices to pay for the full sky box already.

i'm not justifying sky's prices here but the thing that looks a bit overpriced is your movie rental

Don't forget that in the UK you have to pay the TV licence fee as well, which is £145.50 if you have a colour TV and £49.00 for a B&W TV. If you're 75 or over you can get a free TV licence, so that's Bernie sorted.

[BSchneiderFan]

What puzzles me is how many people are surprised that Ecclestone and FOM are chasing the money. Of course they are - this is a commercial enterprise. It's disappointing for me personally that F1 will disappear behind a paywall, and I'll have to get Sky to watch it, but I don't have a God-given right to watch motorsport for free. Formula 1 exists to turn a profit, for the rights holders, for the sponsors (indirectly through increased sales) and, ideally, for the teams (though that isn't always so). I'm afraid mourning the fact that BCE isn't thinking of the good of the sport is a rather romantic and doomed affair.

[S griffin]

In my view it's a shame BT Sport don't own the rights, as not only are they cheaper, but they also let other channels use their shows. Not like the greedy merchants at Sky.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

What puzzles me is how many people are surprised that Ecclestone and FOM are chasing the money. Of course they are - this is a commercial enterprise. It's disappointing for me personally that F1 will disappear behind a paywall, and I'll have to get Sky to watch it, but I don't have a God-given right to watch motorsport for free. Formula 1 exists to turn a profit, for the rights holders, for the sponsors (indirectly through increased sales) and, ideally, for the teams (though that isn't always so). I'm afraid mourning the fact that BCE isn't thinking of the good of the sport is a rather romantic and doomed affair.

The problem with pursuing this model is that in the short term it will bring in the money but in the long term, the casual motorsports fan won't be inclined to pay and that will only leave the die hard fans. I don't know if there are enough die hard fans out there to make this sustainable.

If Sky were smart, they'd include the F1 Channel in all their bundles and reduce the price so that the casual motorsports fan will continue to watch. Otherwise, the TV audience will shrink and F1 will have the same problem IndyCar has.

[S griffin]

What happens if the WEC gets terrestial coverage? Or the World Rallycross? Then F1 is doomed

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

What puzzles me is how many people are surprised that Ecclestone and FOM are chasing the money. Of course they are - this is a commercial enterprise. It's disappointing for me personally that F1 will disappear behind a paywall, and I'll have to get Sky to watch it, but I don't have a God-given right to watch motorsport for free. Formula 1 exists to turn a profit, for the rights holders, for the sponsors (indirectly through increased sales) and, ideally, for the teams (though that isn't always so). I'm afraid mourning the fact that BCE isn't thinking of the good of the sport is a rather romantic and doomed affair.

Whilst I get your point this is still a stupid move by F1.

1. Having sold the idea that sponsorship will feed the teams, BCE then takes away most of the viewers in the UK so the value of the sponsorship falls

2. Most new fans stumble across the racing by chance. They won't be paying to watch something they don't understand or know about so the likelihood of there being a new generation of fans is low.

This is the least sustainable business model you could think of. Smacks of someone who wants to grab as much money as possible in as short a time as possible before leaving the product to whither and die. I think F1 is at the end of its life cycle and look forward to it imploding and a new kid arriving on the block.

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by S griffin

What happens if the WEC gets terrestial coverage? Or the World Rallycross? Then F1 is doomed

If I were one of the terrestrial channels, that's exactly what i'd be doing.

Wouldn't hurt to get a few more F1 drivers on board, either.

Selby

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Whilst I get your point this is still a stupid move by F1.

1. Having sold the idea that sponsorship will feed the teams, BCE then takes away most of the viewers in the UK so the value of the sponsorship falls

2. Most new fans stumble across the racing by chance. They won't be paying to watch something they don't understand or know about so the likelihood of there being a new generation of fans is low.

This is the least sustainable business model you could think of. Smacks of someone who wants to grab as much money as possible in as short a time as possible before leaving the product to whither and die. I think F1 is at the end of its life cycle and look forward to it imploding and a new kid arriving on the block.

I agree with you 100%

It seems Bernie, having built up the sport to what it is, now doesn't even care if it withers and dies as long as he's richer. That's how bad he's become

And like you said how are we gonna get new fans to the sport if it's on a specialist channel that is hard to get

The sooner Bernie goes the better

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by S griffin

What happens if the WEC gets terrestial coverage? Or the World Rallycross? Then F1 is doomed

WEC online package is €15. Thanks to smart TVs and games consoles, this works on your tv too. We watch on the Xbox through the browser. €15 a year for the entire season. F1 channel is about €40 a month. Doesn't take long to work out what's better.

Granted, online isn't terrestrial TV, but it's pretty close with modern tech.