F1 on TV - 2019

[cuprabob]

That's good news

[MissChief]

Surprised they would announce this so soon. I'd have thought keeping it quiet until at least the end of the season or even until early next year might have driven sign ups to Sky for eighteen months.

[Nickp82]

Good news that C4 will have some coverage but still a great shame that they won't show Live races (except GB GP).

[cuprabob]

Nickp82 said:

Good news that C4 will have some coverage but still a great shame that they won't show Live races (except GB GP).

Indeed, but I'll be honest I find C4 highlights of the quali and the race more than sufficient.

[Sam993]

cuprabob said:

Nickp82 said:

Good news that C4 will have some coverage but still a great shame that they won't show Live races (except GB GP).

Indeed, but I'll be honest I find C4 highlights of the quali and the race more than sufficient.

It's a good strategy... if you don't mind spoilers before you manage to watch the highlights.

[Hub]

I don't have Sky, don't want to pay for Sky, and enjoy the C4 coverage - This is good news!

I don't mind the highlights, as watching the whole lot is a bit of a commitment these days anyway, and I've got quite good at avoiding the results!

[HTP99]

Interesting development when it seemed it would be Sky only, I wonder why this has come about.

[rdjohn]

I am really hoping that Liberty is looking to sign-up Whisper to provide their OTT commentary / production. Perhaps they can then make SKY the offer they could not refuse for the highlights.

It’s early in the morning, I do like to dream.

[Eric Mc]

A decent solution and would fit my current F1 viewing habits. Nice to have good news on F1 and TV for a change.

[Sa Calobra]

So that's me out.

Wonder what the deal is with other countries?

[rscott]

HTP99 said:

Interesting development when it seemed it would be Sky only, I wonder why this has come about.

The Sky deal has always had a requirement to provide highlights (and the British GP live) on a non subscription channel - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/articl...

The question has always been which channel that would be.

[Teppic]

Sam993 said:

cuprabob said:

Nickp82 said:

Good news that C4 will have some coverage but still a great shame that they won't show Live races (except GB GP).

Indeed, but I'll be honest I find C4 highlights of the quali and the race more than sufficient.

It's a good strategy... if you don't mind spoilers before you manage to watch the highlights.

And that's the thing. It depends when the highlights will be shown, and how long the highlights will be. A 2 hour programme a couple of hours after the race, as they are currently, would be OK. However, a 1 hour programme at 01:00 on a Wednesday morning would not.

The devil will be in the detail.

[Sam993]

rdjohn said:

I am really hoping that Liberty is looking to sign-up Whisper to provide their OTT commentary / production. Perhaps they can then make SKY the offer they could not refuse for the highlights.

It’s early in the morning, I do like to dream.

Whisper being the people behind C4 coverage? That would be awesome if F1 used them instead of SKY.

[parabolica]

Teppic said:

Sam993 said:

cuprabob said:

Nickp82 said:

Good news that C4 will have some coverage but still a great shame that they won't show Live races (except GB GP).

Indeed, but I'll be honest I find C4 highlights of the quali and the race more than sufficient.

It's a good strategy... if you don't mind spoilers before you manage to watch the highlights.

And that's the thing. It depends when the highlights will be shown, and how long the highlights will be. A 2 hour programme a couple of hours after the race, as they are currently, would be OK. However, a 1 hour programme at 01:00 on a Wednesday morning would not.

The devil will be in the detail.

You would think if they are really going to the lengths to secure Whisper/C4 to avoid the inevitable drop-off in viewing figures, that would mean they are going to put the program (no matter how long it is) on at a reasonable time. Burying it in the listings in the dead of night kind of defeats the point of the C4 deal if it really happens.

[Eric Mc]

In ancient times (pre 1980) when the BBC's coverage of F1 was effectively all highlights, they used to put on the highlights programme on Sunday nights at any time between 9.30 pm and 11.30 pm.

I used to hate the 9.30 broadcasts because they clashed with "That's Life" on BBC1.

[CoolHands]

CoolHands said:

I’m not worried. I am absolutely convinced that another deal will be struck most likely with Ch4 and we’ll carry on as it is now. Or maybe less live races but that doesn’t bother me as long as we get highlights.

Knew it

[rscott]

CoolHands said:

CoolHands said:

I’m not worried. I am absolutely convinced that another deal will be struck most likely with Ch4 and we’ll carry on as it is now. Or maybe less live races but that doesn’t bother me as long as we get highlights.

Knew it

When the Sky deal was announced, they also confirmed that highlights would be available on a free to air channel, so surely this deal shouldn't come as any real surprise?

[Eric Mc]

rscott said:

When the Sky deal was announced, they also confirmed that highlights would be available on a free to air channel, so surely this deal shouldn't come as any real surprise?

The surprising aspect is that the free to air aspect doesn't appear to be using a Sky owned platform. That was what most assumed - including me.

[London424]

Eric Mc said:

rscott said:

When the Sky deal was announced, they also confirmed that highlights would be available on a free to air channel, so surely this deal shouldn't come as any real surprise?

The surprising aspect is that the free to air aspect doesn't appear to be using a Sky owned platform. That was what most assumed - including me.

Make more money selling the highlights to CH4.

[Eric Mc]

Who knows.

Maybe pressure was brought to bear by the teams, sponsors and Liberty Media in order to stop the viewing figures from falling off a cliff in the UK - which was always a likely outcome.