Loss of free to air coverage

[Jon39]

Krikkit said:

Jon39 said:

Krikkit said:

I pay for it, but consider it a pretty steep charge, and I don't watch other sports. £8-10/month would be the sweet spot for subbing for all of us I think. Compare it to WEC where it's £35/year or whatever it works out to now, even double that would be palatable.

If you don't watch other sports, why do you not use the free and legal way to enjoy live F1 television, as outlined a few posts above ? It is not complicated.

Because the enjoyment of watching it live and in full is (just about) worth it. I can also record the full races on the Sky box and watch them later if I want to be busy. I always find highlights frustrating.

Perhaps I did not give a very clear explanation Harvey.

Anyone in UK (saying that, I am presuming the north of Scotland can pick up the satellite signal) can watch every F1 Grand Prix, live and in full, free of charge .

The German RTL tv channel is the one to watch, because it broadcasts all Formula One races free.
(One of their presenters used to be Niki Lauda.)

RTL can be received in the UK by using a cheap satellite set top box and satellite dish.
The satellite is not the same one used by Sky, BBC etc., but is at 7° different trajectory.

If you don't speak German, mute the tv sound and turn on BBC Radio 5 for commentary.
For added enjoyment, use a tablet to display on your arm chair, the free Formula One live lap chart information.

I have never bothered recording, but that must be possible as well.

[TheDeuce]

Jon39 said:

Perhaps I did not give a very clear explanation Harvey.

Anyone in UK (saying that, I am presuming the north of Scotland can pick up the satellite signal) can watch every F1 Grand Prix, live and in full, free of charge .

The German RTL tv channel is the one to watch, because it broadcasts all Formula One races free.
(One of their presenters used to be Niki Lauda.)

RTL can be received in the UK by using a cheap satellite set top box and satellite dish.
The satellite is not the same one used by Sky, BBC etc., but is at 7° different trajectory.

If you don't speak German, mute the tv sound and turn on BBC Radio 5 for commentary.
For added enjoyment, use a tablet to display on your arm chair, the free Formula One live lap chart information.

I have never bothered recording, but that must be possible as well.

Most smart TV's can schedule and record whatever feed you give them. A lot of people don't realise that! They don't have their own storage so you have to buy a cheap USB HDD. Only problem is... You would have a recording in German and the R5 commentary would have ended hours ago

Although I guess the commentary can be re-played somewhere online?

[Pebbles167]

TheDeuce said:

Most smart TV's can schedule and record whatever feed you give them. A lot of people don't realise that! They don't have their own storage so you have to buy a cheap USB HDD. Only problem is... You would have a recording in German and the R5 commentary would have ended hours ago

Although I guess the commentary can be re-played somewhere online?

Good plan. Lots of Youtube channels do 'watch along' commentary which can be surprisingly decent.

[StevieBee]

Whenever this subject pops up, it's like a meeting of Over Engineering Anonymous. It's the same amongst my football following friends.

Second dishes, realigning your existing dish to pick up a foreign broadcast blended with radio commentary....additional bits of kit to plug into the telly...... really?

It's not that complex.

If you are a fan of Formula 1, Sky provides very good coverage and host of other content for a reasonable price.

If you like Formula 1 but are not a fan, C4 provides a very good highlights programme after each race.

If you have nothing other than passing interest in F1, there's plenty of online content offering clips and updates all for free (officially free).

[paulw123]

Some of these methods to save a few quid are rather tragic. In the pistonheads world of houses that you must be able to drive around, everyone’s a company director and all shop at Waitrose is this the last acceptable way of being tight?

[Jon39]

paulw123 said:

Some of these methods to save a few quid are rather tragic. In the pistonheads world of houses that you must be able to drive around, everyone’s a company director and all shop at Waitrose is this the last acceptable way of being tight?

Quite fun though, particularly if there is no need for economy. A technical challenge working out how to do it, then eventually finding it is easier than originally thought.

Have not yet found how to avoid paying for two TV licences, even though can only watch one television at a time. Any ideas ?

Just thought of another point for debate.

Why should everyone in Germany be allowed to watch live F1 free on their televisions, but British people have to pay ?
After all, Formula One motor racing was started by the English.

Edited by Jon39 on Monday 18th November 21:06

[Evercross]

paulw123 said:

Some of these methods to save a few quid are rather tragic. In the pistonheads world of houses that you must be able to drive around, everyone’s a company director and all shop at Waitrose is this the last acceptable way of being tight?

I detect a level of sarcasm.

Point is though that it isn't 'being tight'. If you compare what an F1 fan gets for his/her money compared to what a football fan gets then F1 is demonstrably poor value, but then Sky has to recoup their investment in F1 and work within the bounds of their outdated business model.

I have a cable service that includes Sky channels but not sports or F1 as it would more than double my monthly costs. I also have a motorised satellite dish so I can watch terrestrial channels from Italy which I can decrypt with a viewing card (which I am legally entitled to as a TV licence payer over there) but as a bonus I can point it to other satellites and watch German RTL. Between these two services I can watch every race live either when Sky decides to show it on Sky 1, the Italians are broadcasting it on TV8 or at a push I'll settle for the RTL coverage.

The set up wasn't cheap but a spin-off of having it is being able to watch all of F1 with no additional ongoing costs. I'm not going to double my monthlies just to watch the same thing with different commentary and pre/post race punditry.

[Kolbenkopp]

Jon39 said:

If you don't speak German, mute the tv sound and turn on BBC Radio 5 for commentary.

I'd like to add that muting the sound is optional if you _don't_ speak German -- but absolutely mandatory if you do . Haven't tuned in for a while (I watch it on F1TV which is pretty reasonable at €70 per year over here), but the commentary used to be incredibly bad.

[Eric Mc]

Jon39 said:

After all, Formula One motor racing was started by the English.

Edited by Jon39 on Monday 18th November 21:06

I think you'll find it wasn't.

[Cold]

I'm afraid F1 have lost a regular viewer here due to their decision to make it Pay for View.
I don't and won't ever have Sky (nor a spare dish to go satellite hunting) and have to rely on the C4 highlights but their (forced) daft scheduling means that I've only managed to catch just over half of this season - and if another news outlet gives the result during the time between race end and broadcast it makes me extremely reluctant to switch on.

I'm not convinced such restrictive broadcasting is an effective way of attracting new viewers - it can't even keep the old ones.

[Jon39]

Eric Mc said:

Jon39 said:

After all, Formula One motor racing was started by the English.

I think you'll find it wasn't.

You are of course correct Eric, but you will know what I was thinking of.

The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950.

[Eric Mc]

That's more or less where I am now. My F1 consumption is back to where it was around 1977 i.e an era where only an occasional F1 race was on TV and the ability to know what happened in a Grand Prix was reading about what happened afterwards.

[Derek Smith]

TheDeuce said:

I think sub £10 p/m would be hard to argue with. And even those that think that's still too much would probably pay it anyway. As I understand it current pricing in countries where you can watch the action live via F1TV is between £60-100 ish a year. That's over 100 hours of live F1 track action for £100 or less - at that price point virtually anyone who enjoys the sport will find the money..

As it is via Sky, Liberty have to make their money AND sky have to make their share - it can only result in an unfair price.

I paid under £10 per race. I don't see all the races live though. I can't dedicate 20 weekends a year to F1. It's impossible. I pay for races where the highlights go into midnight. I pay for races at circuits I like. That's 10 a year plus Silverstone. I've watched two this season away from home. With the final race of the season, I'll have watched 10 races on Tesco tickets. It seems reasonable, or at least its the price I paid.

[Eric Mc]

Jon39 said:

You are of course correct Eric, but you will know what I was thinking of.

The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950.

I wasn't thinking of that at all. Formula 1 predates the World Championship by four years. It was devised by the French (who had also started Grand Prix racing in 1906) and was initially called Formula A (or Formule A to be precise). The first Formula 1 (or A) race was held in Paris in 1946 followed shortly after by the 1946 Turin GP.

Britain only became a significant player in Formula 1 in the mid to late 1950s (ten years into Formula 1 - and ignoring 1952 and 1953 when Grand Prix racing was not run to Formula 1 rules) when British cars began to emerge that could realistically challenge the Italians and the Germans (Connaught, Vanwall, Cooper, Lotus and eventually, BRM).

[HardtopManual]

I paid for the NowTV season pass and watched the cricket on it too. Won't be getting it again next year though unless it also allows the use of catch-up.

[Chris77]

I have followed F1 since watching with my dad in the late 80's, have never missed a race since those days. When the BBC started showing the practice sessions I would watch all on track action.

I remember lots of lost weekends due to having to watch the race no mater what. When the ability to record via set top box came along my viewing changed to saturday and sunday evenings which I now prefer. I actually find it really easy to avoid results now.

When the half live half highlights happened I was gutted but accepted it and didn't change much for me as I think Ch4 do a great job and really like the team.

This year though I have started to be "creative" with how I watch. For the midday races I will watch the Ch4 build up and then the race in full. If its a good on I will go back to the Ch4 coverage for analysis. For the late races I will watch qually on Sunday and the race Monday night.

The problem for me is the cost of Sky. I only follow 2 sports religiously and they are F1 and UFC. I pay for BT Sport solely for UFC and cant justify the extra for Sky coverage.

For me if I could get UFC Fight pass and F1TV subscriptions with all events covered in full I would be happy to pay. Its the fact you have to pay large amounts for a load of ste you don't want to get the bit you do.

[Jon39]

Eric Mc said:

Jon39 said:

You are of course correct Eric, but you will know what I was thinking of.

The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950.

I wasn't thinking of that at all. Formula 1 predates the World Championship by four years. It was devised by the French (who had also started Grand Prix racing in 1906) and was initially called Formula A (or Formule A to be precise). The first Formula 1 (or A) race was held in Paris in 1946 followed shortly after by the 1946 Turin GP.

Britain only became a significant player in Formula 1 in the mid to late 1950s (ten years into Formula 1 - and ignoring 1952 and 1953 when Grand Prix racing was not run to Formula 1 rules) when British cars began to emerge that could realistically challenge the Italians and the Germans (Connaught, Vanwall, Cooper, Lotus and eventually, BRM).

Thank you Eric.

We perhaps need a different tack to deal with the question of, is it fair that Germans are allowed to watch free live F1, but the British have to pay.

Britain hosts the majority of F1 teams and therefore builds most of the cars.
I think Toyota used to be in Germany, but are any teams based there now ?

[Evercross]

StevieBee said:

If you are a fan of Formula 1, Sky provides very good coverage and host of other content for a reasonable price.

You sound like a Sky shill.

The days of Sky's business model of forcing customers of one content to subsidise the purchasing of other content are coming to an end. It would appear that the markets where F1 viewership and revenue are increasing are the ones delivering F1 as a standalone product for less than the equivalent of £100 per annum.

StevieBee said:

Second dishes, realigning your existing dish to pick up a foreign broadcast blended with radio commentary....additional bits of kit to plug into the telly...... really?

Hyperbole notwithstanding think of it another way. The premium Sky charge for their F1 coverage is a laziness tax.

Edited by Evercross on Tuesday 19th November 12:24

[StevieBee]

Evercross said:

Hyperbole notwithstanding think of it another way. The premium Sky charge for their F1 coverage is a laziness tax.

Edited by Evercross on Tuesday 19th November 12:24

That, it may well be.

Personally, I retain sufficient passion and enthusiasm for F1 that justifies my subscription that enables me to sit down, switch on the telly and watch the race with my lad (as we have done since he was a nipper - now 21).

If I wasn't bothered about F1, I wouldn't pay the subscription.

What I don't understand is those who do all manner of things to get 'free' access to the racing for what seems like the only purpose being to determine just how boring it is.

[IforB]

HardtopManual said:

I paid for the NowTV season pass and watched the cricket on it too. Won't be getting it again next year though unless it also allows the use of catch-up.

Same here. Whilst it is nice being able to see it. Real life gets in the way a lot and so not being able to see it on catch up means I invariably miss it and then have to watch on Ch4 for the highlights, whereas I'd far rather watch the whole race on Sky.

This has meant I have watched significantly more on Ch4 simply because it is available when I get a chance to watch it, so Sky sports will be getting binned at the end of the season unless catch-up is brought in.