BBC Director defends F1 coverage
Discussion
Not convinced about the complaints TBH.
Pretty much every sport seems to have been snatched up by Sky nowadays and with F1 being so money driven this could easily have happened again. I think the fact that the BBC came to a compromise and can still offer 1/2 the races live + a decent highlights package is not a bad outcome in the current economic climate.
After all F1 isn't like the Olympics/Wimbledon/Football World Cup etc. that have a "protected status".
Don't get me wrong I would have much preferred BBC to have retained exclusive rights as I think their coverage is top notch, but with BE in charge we are probably fortunate to get anything at all for free.
and it's lose, lose by the way.
Pretty much every sport seems to have been snatched up by Sky nowadays and with F1 being so money driven this could easily have happened again. I think the fact that the BBC came to a compromise and can still offer 1/2 the races live + a decent highlights package is not a bad outcome in the current economic climate.
After all F1 isn't like the Olympics/Wimbledon/Football World Cup etc. that have a "protected status".
Don't get me wrong I would have much preferred BBC to have retained exclusive rights as I think their coverage is top notch, but with BE in charge we are probably fortunate to get anything at all for free.
frosted said:
Not gonna bother watching f1 if I have to pay for sky . Loose loose situation
You'll still get 1/2 live and the rest extended highlights, you hardly "have to pay for sky". and it's lose, lose by the way.
Edited by SWoll on Thursday 22 December 12:43
back to ITV? noooo thank you 
I know my initial reaction to the bbc/sky deal was a knee jerk one, how daaare they etc
but thinking about it, being really honest... there have been many races this year where i was wishing for extended highlights as 50 of the 70 laps were booooooring
as long as there are top quality commentators then i'll be happy with an hour long edit of the race
I know my initial reaction to the bbc/sky deal was a knee jerk one, how daaare they etc
but thinking about it, being really honest... there have been many races this year where i was wishing for extended highlights as 50 of the 70 laps were booooooring
as long as there are top quality commentators then i'll be happy with an hour long edit of the race
SWoll said:
Not convinced about the complaints TBH.
Pretty much every sport seems to have been snatched up by Sky nowadays and with F1 being so money driven this could easily have happened again. I think the fact that the BBC came to a compromise and can still offer 1/2 the races live + a decent highlights package is not a bad outcome in the current economic climate.
Don't get me wrong I would have much preferred BBC to have retained exclusive rights as I think their coverage is top notch, but with BE in charge we are probably fortunate to get anything at all for free.
You'll still get 1/2 live and the rest extended highlights, you hardly "have to pay for sky".
and it's lose, lose by the way.
Exactly. Pretty much every sport seems to have been snatched up by Sky nowadays and with F1 being so money driven this could easily have happened again. I think the fact that the BBC came to a compromise and can still offer 1/2 the races live + a decent highlights package is not a bad outcome in the current economic climate.
Don't get me wrong I would have much preferred BBC to have retained exclusive rights as I think their coverage is top notch, but with BE in charge we are probably fortunate to get anything at all for free.
You'll still get 1/2 live and the rest extended highlights, you hardly "have to pay for sky".
and it's lose, lose by the way.
Edited by SWoll on Thursday 22 December 12:43
robinessex said:
After all F1 isn't like the Olympics/Wimbledon/Football World Cup etc. that have a "protected status".
Two of these are only every 4 years, whilst the other lasts 2 weeks, and is then forgotten for the rest of the year.
Your point being?Two of these are only every 4 years, whilst the other lasts 2 weeks, and is then forgotten for the rest of the year.
F1 is a massive commercial venture with a huge worldwide audience. The fact that the BBC have managed to keep hold of a decent chunk of the coverage is a bonus in my eyes.
BBC is not a commercial operation. It is funded by TV license payers money. It should therefore cover sport in proportion to it's popularity in the UK. In all years I've worked, the top 3 sports topics in the office has been football, cricket and F1. When Granstand was the BBC regular Saturday sports coverage, you'd have thought horse racing was the most popular. If it wasn't for betting on the dam things, it would had have very little interest generaly.
robinessex said:
By the time the highlights get screened on BBC, I'll probably have heard the result, so the 'interest' will have seriously deminished, if not evaporated. Probably not watch them I guess.
Yeah, but by the time you've seen the first corner, the interest is seriously dminished! robinessex said:
By the time the highlights get screened on BBC, I'll probably have heard the result, so the 'interest' will have seriously deminished, if not evaporated. Probably not watch them I guess.
Have a similar problem as I am normally out and about on Sundays so often watch later on iPlayer. The wife is a Sky News addict though so avoiding the result can be a serious challenge some weeks. same goes for qualifying....Won't stop me watching them though as the result is only a part of the experience for me. For example imagine if you had heard the result of the canadian GP this year and hadn't watched the race. You would have missed Button chasing down Vettel and taking him last lap after the mistake.
Rich_W said:
I can only assume I'm thick.
As where I'm sitting it seems like saving £150M for F1 yet spending near on £900M to needlessly shift BBC sport to Manchester is a spectacularly stupid idea.
It was a great idea for all the shady people who benefitted their back pockets engineering this move.As where I'm sitting it seems like saving £150M for F1 yet spending near on £900M to needlessly shift BBC sport to Manchester is a spectacularly stupid idea.
Could they have saved the same amount by doing less covereage? How many people watched the forum, the practices, the driver tracker or any of the other things that ITV managed without?
I think they could have cut down the pre-race covereage too, too often it was about the presenters cocking about in a foreign country rather than anything related to F1.
I think they could have cut down the pre-race covereage too, too often it was about the presenters cocking about in a foreign country rather than anything related to F1.
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