Ted Kravitz has gone..........apparently!

Ted Kravitz has gone..........apparently!

Author
Discussion

Kinky

39,574 posts

269 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
Was nice to Ted back last night thumbup

Big Robbo

319 posts

146 months

Friday 12th April 2019
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Interestingly in this month's Motor Sport magazine there is s transcript of an interview conducted by Alan Henry with Luca Di Montezemolo from 2001.
Quote" I will never accept that you are obliged to pay a television rate to watch a Formula One race - that's against the future of F1"

Says it all really

TheDeuce

21,586 posts

66 months

Friday 12th April 2019
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Ted on today too. Only half gone then.

K50 DEL

9,237 posts

228 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
paulw123 said:
Except it wouldn’t be, would it. Why does every thread in the F1 forum seem descend into people crying about paying a few quid to watch F1?
Because those that want something for free are also those most likely bleat in public if they don't get it?

As if being invited to watch a multi billion pound global racing spectacle for free is a birth right.. I get that people don't like SKY, and why. I understand it's frustrating that it used to be on the BBC and now it is behind a paywall. But we all live in a capitalist society, anyone that doesn't like that is free to emigrate. And in that society it's possible for a company like SKY to grow to the point they can afford the rights, while the BBC cannot. It's not unfair, it's just the way it is.
From my personal perspective, I'm not crying about paying to watch F1, I actually rate the Sky coverage pretty highly and would happily pay a reasonable amount for it....

What I do think is wrong, and will happily complain about is the fact that there is no way of paying a reasonable amount for it...
As far as I can see, the minimum cost is somewhere in the region of £30 a month, and that's not reasonable.
If their (much advertised) £10 offer was actually genuine then I would have signed up at the start of the year, sadly it isn't £10 - it's £10 extra... fine if you already have Sky, but I don't watch enough TV to make that worthwhile so I don't.

rscott

14,762 posts

191 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
Ted on today too. Only half gone then.
He's back for 13 races this year. - https://twitter.com/SkyHelpTeam/status/11162959840...

Interesting follow up from Sky - "Hi, 13 is how many Ted has confirmed that he can do. ^DW" . That could be speculation or simply be that Ted only wants to do 13 races...

TheDeuce

21,586 posts

66 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
K50 DEL said:
TheDeuce said:
paulw123 said:
Except it wouldn’t be, would it. Why does every thread in the F1 forum seem descend into people crying about paying a few quid to watch F1?
Because those that want something for free are also those most likely bleat in public if they don't get it?

As if being invited to watch a multi billion pound global racing spectacle for free is a birth right.. I get that people don't like SKY, and why. I understand it's frustrating that it used to be on the BBC and now it is behind a paywall. But we all live in a capitalist society, anyone that doesn't like that is free to emigrate. And in that society it's possible for a company like SKY to grow to the point they can afford the rights, while the BBC cannot. It's not unfair, it's just the way it is.
From my personal perspective, I'm not crying about paying to watch F1, I actually rate the Sky coverage pretty highly and would happily pay a reasonable amount for it....

What I do think is wrong, and will happily complain about is the fact that there is no way of paying a reasonable amount for it...
As far as I can see, the minimum cost is somewhere in the region of £30 a month, and that's not reasonable.
If their (much advertised) £10 offer was actually genuine then I would have signed up at the start of the year, sadly it isn't £10 - it's £10 extra... fine if you already have Sky, but I don't watch enough TV to make that worthwhile so I don't.
I think the £195 NowTV offer is still on. It's received some criticism as so far each race has also been shown on the far cheaper Sky one channel, but of course on the official F1 channel you get 100% coverage and the pre/post shows too.

£195 for a full season of, as you say, pretty good coverage - I think that's just about reasonable. It's about £2 an hour if you just watched P3+quali+race through the year.

rscott

14,762 posts

191 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
K50 DEL said:
TheDeuce said:
paulw123 said:
Except it wouldn’t be, would it. Why does every thread in the F1 forum seem descend into people crying about paying a few quid to watch F1?
Because those that want something for free are also those most likely bleat in public if they don't get it?

As if being invited to watch a multi billion pound global racing spectacle for free is a birth right.. I get that people don't like SKY, and why. I understand it's frustrating that it used to be on the BBC and now it is behind a paywall. But we all live in a capitalist society, anyone that doesn't like that is free to emigrate. And in that society it's possible for a company like SKY to grow to the point they can afford the rights, while the BBC cannot. It's not unfair, it's just the way it is.
From my personal perspective, I'm not crying about paying to watch F1, I actually rate the Sky coverage pretty highly and would happily pay a reasonable amount for it....

What I do think is wrong, and will happily complain about is the fact that there is no way of paying a reasonable amount for it...
As far as I can see, the minimum cost is somewhere in the region of £30 a month, and that's not reasonable.
If their (much advertised) £10 offer was actually genuine then I would have signed up at the start of the year, sadly it isn't £10 - it's £10 extra... fine if you already have Sky, but I don't watch enough TV to make that worthwhile so I don't.
I think the £195 NowTV offer is still on. It's received some criticism as so far each race has also been shown on the far cheaper Sky one channel, but of course on the official F1 channel you get 100% coverage and the pre/post shows too.

£195 for a full season of, as you say, pretty good coverage - I think that's just about reasonable. It's about £2 an hour if you just watched P3+quali+race through the year.
You also get all the support races and IndyCar too.
Plus all the other sky sport channels.

TheDeuce

21,586 posts

66 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
rscott said:
TheDeuce said:
K50 DEL said:
TheDeuce said:
paulw123 said:
Except it wouldn’t be, would it. Why does every thread in the F1 forum seem descend into people crying about paying a few quid to watch F1?
Because those that want something for free are also those most likely bleat in public if they don't get it?

As if being invited to watch a multi billion pound global racing spectacle for free is a birth right.. I get that people don't like SKY, and why. I understand it's frustrating that it used to be on the BBC and now it is behind a paywall. But we all live in a capitalist society, anyone that doesn't like that is free to emigrate. And in that society it's possible for a company like SKY to grow to the point they can afford the rights, while the BBC cannot. It's not unfair, it's just the way it is.
From my personal perspective, I'm not crying about paying to watch F1, I actually rate the Sky coverage pretty highly and would happily pay a reasonable amount for it....

What I do think is wrong, and will happily complain about is the fact that there is no way of paying a reasonable amount for it...
As far as I can see, the minimum cost is somewhere in the region of £30 a month, and that's not reasonable.
If their (much advertised) £10 offer was actually genuine then I would have signed up at the start of the year, sadly it isn't £10 - it's £10 extra... fine if you already have Sky, but I don't watch enough TV to make that worthwhile so I don't.
I think the £195 NowTV offer is still on. It's received some criticism as so far each race has also been shown on the far cheaper Sky one channel, but of course on the official F1 channel you get 100% coverage and the pre/post shows too.

£195 for a full season of, as you say, pretty good coverage - I think that's just about reasonable. It's about £2 an hour if you just watched P3+quali+race through the year.
You also get all the support races and IndyCar too.
Plus all the other sky sport channels.
That's a key point for me, it is for ALL the sports channels, and I only like F1 really, and a general interest in other racing series too sometimes. Now, if I also loved Golf and Football, then the £195 would be a no brainer, for any sports fan I think. As it is, £195 for a year of decent and complete F1 live coverage? It's OK, at the end of the day I can afford it and i'd rather have the live access than an extra £195 in the bank. I can appreciate that for fans that are really watching the pennies (which being realistic is at least half the UK population), then £195 - more than a years regular TV license for a single sport - is pretty pricey and gets tough to justify.

It's a tough one for me to justify the price/value aspect - but it is nonetheless worth it for me personally. I was bought up in a no frills way t'up north, always had decade old 'new' cars in our family, and we never had SKY TV, or anything paid for if there was a 'good enough' free alternative. I remember the excitement when Channel 5 was launching, a fifth channel!?!? Our TV only had 4 presets laugh

At the end of the day, SKY found the money to secure the rights, they made a good business decision as a business. And it's the way it is. Same as F1 choosing to lease the rights as they do, that's their business. I run a business and guess how much I sell things for? (as much as I can get). Everything is worth what you can get for it in the end - in reality, we set our own price when we give in and pay.

rscott

14,762 posts

191 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
rscott said:
TheDeuce said:
K50 DEL said:
TheDeuce said:
paulw123 said:
Except it wouldn’t be, would it. Why does every thread in the F1 forum seem descend into people crying about paying a few quid to watch F1?
Because those that want something for free are also those most likely bleat in public if they don't get it?

As if being invited to watch a multi billion pound global racing spectacle for free is a birth right.. I get that people don't like SKY, and why. I understand it's frustrating that it used to be on the BBC and now it is behind a paywall. But we all live in a capitalist society, anyone that doesn't like that is free to emigrate. And in that society it's possible for a company like SKY to grow to the point they can afford the rights, while the BBC cannot. It's not unfair, it's just the way it is.
From my personal perspective, I'm not crying about paying to watch F1, I actually rate the Sky coverage pretty highly and would happily pay a reasonable amount for it....

What I do think is wrong, and will happily complain about is the fact that there is no way of paying a reasonable amount for it...
As far as I can see, the minimum cost is somewhere in the region of £30 a month, and that's not reasonable.
If their (much advertised) £10 offer was actually genuine then I would have signed up at the start of the year, sadly it isn't £10 - it's £10 extra... fine if you already have Sky, but I don't watch enough TV to make that worthwhile so I don't.
I think the £195 NowTV offer is still on. It's received some criticism as so far each race has also been shown on the far cheaper Sky one channel, but of course on the official F1 channel you get 100% coverage and the pre/post shows too.

£195 for a full season of, as you say, pretty good coverage - I think that's just about reasonable. It's about £2 an hour if you just watched P3+quali+race through the year.
You also get all the support races and IndyCar too.
Plus all the other sky sport channels.
That's a key point for me, it is for ALL the sports channels, and I only like F1 really, and a general interest in other racing series too sometimes. Now, if I also loved Golf and Football, then the £195 would be a no brainer, for any sports fan I think. As it is, £195 for a year of decent and complete F1 live coverage? It's OK, at the end of the day I can afford it and i'd rather have the live access than an extra £195 in the bank. I can appreciate that for fans that are really watching the pennies (which being realistic is at least half the UK population), then £195 - more than a years regular TV license for a single sport - is pretty pricey and gets tough to justify.

It's a tough one for me to justify the price/value aspect - but it is nonetheless worth it for me personally. I was bought up in a no frills way t'up north, always had decade old 'new' cars in our family, and we never had SKY TV, or anything paid for if there was a 'good enough' free alternative. I remember the excitement when Channel 5 was launching, a fifth channel!?!? Our TV only had 4 presets laugh

At the end of the day, SKY found the money to secure the rights, they made a good business decision as a business. And it's the way it is. Same as F1 choosing to lease the rights as they do, that's their business. I run a business and guess how much I sell things for? (as much as I can get). Everything is worth what you can get for it in the end - in reality, we set our own price when we give in and pay.
NowTv allows 2 simultaneous streams, so nothing to stop you splitting the cost and sharing the login details with someone else ...

Steamer

13,859 posts

213 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
Such a pleasant change to have Ted back today - even during just the 3 practice sessions he has brought so many interesting bits of information and questions to ask the teams thumbup

anonymous-user

54 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
Never a fan of Ted; someone in that position really needs better technical knowledge than he has but after seeing the cringeworthy performance of Chandhok in today’s ‘Chinese GP The story so far’ the sooner he’s back full time, the better.

rscott

14,762 posts

191 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
REALIST123 said:
Never a fan of Ted; someone in that position really needs better technical knowledge than he has but after seeing the cringeworthy performance of Chandhok in today’s ‘Chinese GP The story so far’ the sooner he’s back full time, the better.
So not until next season, if at all then. Sky have already confirmed he's doing 13 races for them this year.

TheDeuce

21,586 posts

66 months

Friday 12th April 2019
quotequote all
rscott said:
NowTv allows 2 simultaneous streams, so nothing to stop you splitting the cost and sharing the login details with someone else ...
I often flick between TV and mobile if I'm cooking when the race is on.. So I use both streams myself. also for the early morning races when I set my alarm, watch in bed until my legs function and can stagger down to the TV (hopefully having beaten Mrs. Deuce to it)!

firstworldproblems

K50 DEL

9,237 posts

228 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
quotequote all
rscott said:
NowTv allows 2 simultaneous streams, so nothing to stop you splitting the cost and sharing the login details with someone else ...
That's an interesting fact that I didn't know....

Anyone fancy splitting the cost? I could justify £100 a year (like another poster, I have no interest in any other content that Sky Sports broadcast so the £195 is not value for me.)

DeejRC

5,800 posts

82 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
quotequote all
So am I the only person on ph who tunes in for the start of qually, turns off once the grid is known and then turns it back on about 10mins before the race and off again on the victory lap?

I thought that was the normal thing for GP geeks and only the numpties watched all the rest of the fluff?


Bullitt Five-Oh

876 posts

67 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
quotequote all
DeejRC said:
So am I the only person on ph who tunes in for the start of qually, turns off once the grid is known and then turns it back on about 10mins before the race and off again on the victory lap?

I thought that was the normal thing for GP geeks and only the numpties watched all the rest of the fluff?
I used to like to watch the build up and the come down, especially during the late noughties BBC era with Jake Humphrey.

MiniMan64

16,933 posts

190 months

Sunday 14th April 2019
quotequote all
Bullitt Five-Oh said:
DeejRC said:
So am I the only person on ph who tunes in for the start of qually, turns off once the grid is known and then turns it back on about 10mins before the race and off again on the victory lap?

I thought that was the normal thing for GP geeks and only the numpties watched all the rest of the fluff?
I used to like to watch the build up and the come down, especially during the late noughties BBC era with Jake Humphrey.
Used to be nailed on for soaking up every minute of a GP weekend but a combination of non-availability on terrestrial TV and more commonly a complete lack of time in my life now to sacrifice close to 4 hours on the sofa every Sunday means I only grab a race when I can, usually on catch up

Although through random circumstance I’m up this morning for China thanks to Sky 1 and my 2 year old!

DS240

4,673 posts

218 months

Sunday 14th April 2019
quotequote all
DeejRC said:
So am I the only person on ph who tunes in for the start of qually, turns off once the grid is known and then turns it back on about 10mins before the race and off again on the victory lap?

I thought that was the normal thing for GP geeks and only the numpties watched all the rest of the fluff?
Might not even watch qually live and if on record, just the last 10mins.

Race live whenever is possible... Grid walk to podium. Then used to watch notebook later on from recording or catch up.

Never watch practice sessions. I can gauge the form off the timesheets afterwards.

Not really that interested in a lot of the other build up chat and features.

Only pay sky to have the freedom of choice if and when I watch the races live.

Adrian W

Original Poster:

13,875 posts

228 months

Monday 15th April 2019
quotequote all
Sky coverage yesterday was dire, I've been to more interesting funerals, Ted's bit was fairly good, trouble was there was not a lot to say, it was a fairly mind numbing grand prix, at one point we had to turn the sound down because croft was shouting at anything trying to give it some excitement, from memory it was the overtake for last place that did it. Ted's close was a bit amateurish, he had run out of things to say and was filling time counting down.

Evercross

6,000 posts

64 months

Monday 15th April 2019
quotequote all
Adrian W said:
Sky coverage yesterday was dire.
+1

By lap 24 Croft had declared Lewis the race winner (correct prediction, but not exactly a way to keep the viewers engaged). By lap 48 he had declared him the 2019 World Champion.

There's sycophancy, and then there is plain idiocy.