BBC drops F1, ITV steps in

[rubystone]

Vaud said:

Gary A is a great bloke, I always liked his analysis, he had to dumb it down a little for TV. Really nice to chat to as well in real life - he stopped and talked with a bunch of British fans at Monza a few years back for quite a while.

Given you need someone who is no longer designing, but needs many contacts up and down the pitman... he would have mentored / employed / managed many current designers and engineers?

Yes, he's a great bloke and in person is shameless about his opinions and paddock gossip. I believe he's as up to date as anyone in the paddock too.

[carinaman]

I've heard The Chain on the radio a couple of times recently.

It would be good if there was a cover of The Chain that C4 could use, but I doubt there's any that beat the original. Taking Dawn and the Delta Raes didn't do it for me.

Like the original but turned up to 11.

Edited by carinaman on Saturday 9th January 00:45

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Have they announced which races are live on Channel 4?

[BarbaricAvatar]

carinaman said:

I've heard The Chain on the radio a couple of times recently.

It would be good if there was a cover of The Chain that C4 could use, but I doubt there's any that beat the original. Taking Dawn and the Delta Raes didn't do it for me.

Like the original but turned up to 11.

Edited by carinaman on Saturday 9th January 00:45

Nah, 'The Chain' should stay for BBC F1 broadcasts. I thought Moby's 'Lift Me Up' was good on ITV's coverage, C4 should use something new. It wouldn't be completely out of place to use some portion of the most overused song in recent history; AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck'.

[MartG]

Coulthard has signed for Channel 4

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/coulthard-joins-...

[Swervin_Mervin]

Interesting that DC's company are awarded the production contract, and C4 took a stake in that company last year...

• Although I suppose "last year" could have still been after the BBC announcement.

[andyps]

Swervin_Mervin said:

Interesting that DC's company are awarded the production contract, and C4 took a stake in that company last year...

• Although I suppose "last year" could have still been after the BBC announcement.

It was well before the announcement, but who knows what was going on in the background. I'm happy that DC will be involved, he worked well with Ben Edwards so hopefully he will also be signed up.

[BarbaricAvatar]

YES! The best bit of the BBC coverage is in place! Fingers crossed for a Lee McKenzie announcement soon, though maybe Sky will have their eyes on her too.

[Tyre Tread]

I'd rather Ben Edwards didn't follow to Ch4 unless the choice is between him and Legard!

Lee Mackenzie should get a higher profile role though.

[Dal3D]

Channel 4 announced which races they're showing live:

http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-...

"British Grand Prix one of ten Formula1® races shown live in by broadcaster, with highlights of all 21 races

Live races to be broadcast without advertising breaks

Channel 4 has confirmed the ten Formula 1® Grands Prix it will broadcast live in 2016, which will include the 2016 Formula 1 British Grand Prix on July 10th.

As part of a new three-year deal from 2016-2018 with Formula One World Championship Limited, announced last month, Channel 4 will broadcast live coverage of ten Grands Prix, including practice sessions and qualifying over each season. Channel 4 will broadcast comprehensive highlights of all 21 races, including those broadcast by Sky Sports.

Channel 4 coverage will begin over the weekend of March 18th-20th with build up to, and comprehensive highlights coverage of the 2016 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix weekend. Channel 4’s first live race will be the 2016 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, broadcast over the weekend of 1st-3rd April.

Following a picks process with Sky Sports, the full list of races broadcast live by Channel 4 is:

(Provisional Grand Prix start times – which are subject to confirmation – are indicated in brackets.)

Bahrain– 1st-3rdApril (4.00pm)

Spain– 13th-15th May (1.00pm)

Europe (Azerbaijan) – 17th-19th June (TBC)

Britain– 8th-10th July (1.00pm)

Hungary– 22nd-24th July (1.00pm)

Belgium– 26th-28th August (1.00pm)

Italy– 2nd-4th September (1.00pm)

Malaysia– 30th September-2nd October (8.00am)

Mexico – 28th-30th October (7.00pm)

Abu Dhabi– 25th-27th November (1.00pm)

All of the live coverage and highlights will be broadcast free-to-air and in high definition."

[Swervin_Mervin]

Not too bad I suppose. Surprised they haven't gone for Monaco though, even if having full coverage is no great loss to the viewer.

[robinessex]

I like the Monaco GP. Short changed again ! I like the Monaco GP. Short changed again ! But I've never watched F1 since the Beeb dumped, so it don't matter really.

Edited by robinessex on Monday 18th January 18:52

[BarbaricAvatar]

Only 2 errors in the proposed C4 coverage IMO: Should've chosen Brazil instead of UAE and Canada instead of Spain.

[MartG]

BarbaricAvatar said:

Only 2 errors in the proposed C4 coverage IMO: Should've chosen Brazil instead of UAE and Canada instead of Spain.

Isn't there something in the contract that stops them showing two in a row in full ?

[Mr_Thyroid]

MartG said:

Isn't there something in the contract that stops them showing two in a row in full ?

I think it's no more than 3 in a row. Final race and British GP are always live.

[BarbaricAvatar]

Mr_Thyroid said:

MartG said:

Isn't there something in the contract that stops them showing two in a row in full ?

I think it's no more than 3 in a row. Final race and British GP are always live.

First i've heard of any such restriction. Two pairs of races shown, no trios. Brazil is usually a decent race while UAE is usually terrible, i'd rather watch the 2nd-last race live than the last. Championship will be decided by then anyway and if not it will be between teammates.

[Teppic]

Mr_Thyroid said:

I think it's no more than 3 in a row. Final race and British GP are always live.

It's no more than two in a row. However, there was an anomaly last year when Germany was dropped, resulting in the BBC having three races in a row, as the bidding process had already been completed before the race was dropped.

[RoadRunner220]

BarbaricAvatar said:

Should've chosen Brazil instead of UAE and Canada instead of Spain.

I agree with both of those proposed swaps. Canada is more often than not a very good race, so had I been picking that would have been near the top of my list.

[andyps]

I suspect they choose some of the live races based around start time to try and maximise the audience. I would like to see Australia live, partly as a sense of impatience as after all the hype and waiting over the winter I want to see the first proper action as soon as possible. Also because I like the early start to the day to get my F1 fix and still have the day to do other things.

[robinessex]

Can anybody remember when the Beeb said darts wasn't a sport? And now they treat it second only to football !!