F1 TV audience dwindling.
Discussion
blueST said:
I think a better approach for the customer/viewer/fans would be to cherry pick individual sports rather than subscribe to entire services for just one thing. If you could have specific sports for say £5 to £10 a month each with the ability to stream live and on demand with Chromecast compatibility, I’d be up for F1 and MotoGP no question. I don’t think F1 TV is available in the UK to protect Sky’s investment, not sure about MotoGPs service, it’s not clear on their website.
I believe you can subscribe to the MotoGP season pass in the UK. You’d need a tablet, mobile or PC/laptop though, very few smart TV options or anything on a Chromecast or Fire Stick AFAIK. thegreenhell said:
stevesuk said:
Although at least 2019 gave us 3 teams winning races. Not sure it would have been 3 teams without Max Verstappen though 
The same three teams that have won the last 139 races. No other team has won a race since the first race of 2013. Nobody expects that to change in 2020.Only during a few seasons did we see more winning teams. 2012 for example - McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams and Lotus all won at least once. But that seems to be the exception, not the rule.
Tyre Smoke said:
The point is that F1 has become boring compared with other race formula.
That is the public perception. Whether you agree or not is immaterial. There will always be those that are totally captivated. The problem is, that number is falling.
Exactly, close racing is almost not the point. It's the glamour, the excitement,the noise, the smell, the venues, and dare I say it - the danger, having real heroes doing the racing - a kind of gladiatorial aspect.That is the public perception. Whether you agree or not is immaterial. There will always be those that are totally captivated. The problem is, that number is falling.
Most of that is now gone.
And I just don't see that side of things returning either. So, I think no matter what happens in the future, it's declining as a spectator sport and will continue to do so. Once upon a time chariot racing was the most exciting and glamourous sport ever conceived. It doesn't draw much in the way of big audiences these days.
MissChief said:
I believe you can subscribe to the MotoGP season pass in the UK. You’d need a tablet, mobile or PC/laptop though, very few smart TV options or anything on a Chromecast or Fire Stick AFAIK.
And I’d be willing to bet the lack of casting functionality is to protect the the revenue of the domestic broadcasters like BT and not for technical reasons. I use Chromecast for nearly all my TV watching at home now and it is a superb Device for Netflix, iPlayer, Youtube etc.Thread title is classic myopic British arse-hat ignorance. F1's worldwide TV audience grew in 2018 and 2019.
Obviously I would prefer F1 to be free-to-air. If that is not possible I would prefer that at least the Sky monopoly can end- I would happily pay a hundred quid per season directly to F1 itself if the option existed.
Obviously I would prefer F1 to be free-to-air. If that is not possible I would prefer that at least the Sky monopoly can end- I would happily pay a hundred quid per season directly to F1 itself if the option existed.
MissChief said:
Exactly. The racing is far, far better now than it ever was. More cars close together, more cars finishing and more cars on the lead lap. People have rose tinted glasses, especially for the 80’s. The majority of races were deathly dull. Twenty or thirty seconds between drivers, five or six cars on the lead lap, half a dozen retirements or more.
Maybe but the difference back then was a small team could come out of nowhere (Leyton House for example) and fight with the big boys. Not a chance of that these days. It's all so clinical and lacking soul. HustleRussell said:
Thread title is classic myopic British arse-hat ignorance. F1's worldwide TV audience grew in 2018 and 2019.
Obviously I would prefer F1 to be free-to-air. If that is not possible I would prefer that at least the Sky monopoly can end- I would happily pay a hundred quid per season directly to F1 itself if the option existed.
If you look into that (certainly 2018) the reasons are return to FTA in some countries boosting the figures though.Obviously I would prefer F1 to be free-to-air. If that is not possible I would prefer that at least the Sky monopoly can end- I would happily pay a hundred quid per season directly to F1 itself if the option existed.
I love F1 and always have, however I will not pay to view, and line the pockets of the greedy aussie for no good reason.
F1 is full of consumer advertising on every inch of the screen at all times, which I've no issue with .... that's the way of things. That should be enough! There is no need to expect a payment from the viewer to access that commercial content.
I hope that the principle sponsors of the sport see this viewer decline, and fight to get the sport accessible to all, without a fee.
F1 isn't like football, where there is always something going on somewhere to justify a dedicated channel. Even if the channel were to be a super-channel for access to wider ranges of motorsport, there's no getting away from racing being a fundamentally weekend venture. It'd fail miserably straight away, as access to many live events couldn't be achieved due to conflicts in timing.
F1 is full of consumer advertising on every inch of the screen at all times, which I've no issue with .... that's the way of things. That should be enough! There is no need to expect a payment from the viewer to access that commercial content.
I hope that the principle sponsors of the sport see this viewer decline, and fight to get the sport accessible to all, without a fee.
F1 isn't like football, where there is always something going on somewhere to justify a dedicated channel. Even if the channel were to be a super-channel for access to wider ranges of motorsport, there's no getting away from racing being a fundamentally weekend venture. It'd fail miserably straight away, as access to many live events couldn't be achieved due to conflicts in timing.
Eric Mc said:
Exactly, close racing is almost not the point. It's the glamour, the excitement,the noise, the smell, the venues, and dare I say it - the danger, having real heroes doing the racing - a kind of gladiatorial aspect.
Most of that is now gone.
And I just don't see that side of things returning either. So, I think no matter what happens in the future, it's declining as a spectator sport and will continue to do so. Once upon a time chariot racing was the most exciting and glamourous sport ever conceived. It doesn't draw much in the way of big audiences these days.
But.. attendance and viewership worldwide is not declining, it's increasing. whatever logic you base your theories on, them's the facts.Most of that is now gone.
And I just don't see that side of things returning either. So, I think no matter what happens in the future, it's declining as a spectator sport and will continue to do so. Once upon a time chariot racing was the most exciting and glamourous sport ever conceived. It doesn't draw much in the way of big audiences these days.
mat205125 said:
I love F1 and always have, however I will not pay to view, and line the pockets of the greedy aussie for no good reason.
F1 is full of consumer advertising on every inch of the screen at all times, which I've no issue with .... that's the way of things. That should be enough! There is no need to expect a payment from the viewer to access that commercial content.
I hope that the principle sponsors of the sport see this viewer decline, and fight to get the sport accessible to all, without a fee.
F1 isn't like football, where there is always something going on somewhere to justify a dedicated channel. Even if the channel were to be a super-channel for access to wider ranges of motorsport, there's no getting away from racing being a fundamentally weekend venture. It'd fail miserably straight away, as access to many live events couldn't be achieved due to conflicts in timing.
Murdoch has nothing to do with Sky anymore. Sky, including Murdoch’s stake was sold to Comcast NBC Universal in late 2018.F1 is full of consumer advertising on every inch of the screen at all times, which I've no issue with .... that's the way of things. That should be enough! There is no need to expect a payment from the viewer to access that commercial content.
I hope that the principle sponsors of the sport see this viewer decline, and fight to get the sport accessible to all, without a fee.
F1 isn't like football, where there is always something going on somewhere to justify a dedicated channel. Even if the channel were to be a super-channel for access to wider ranges of motorsport, there's no getting away from racing being a fundamentally weekend venture. It'd fail miserably straight away, as access to many live events couldn't be achieved due to conflicts in timing.
It’s worth noting that Liberty do want the sport on FTA in the UK and want to be able to retail F1TV Pro as well. The deal Bernie signed with Sky prevents it without substantial financial penalties.
super7 said:
This season has been very good......New blood competing and bringing the game to the old pro's.... and the old pro's falling around themselves with the pressure.... except for Hamilton!
This season has been defined by four things.... 1) Mercedes reliability 2) Hamilton's performance 3) Ferrari's incompetence at managing a team and strategy 4) Vettel's inability to deal with pressure.
All of these things lead to Hamilton's success but that success hides all the drama behind. If you didn't watch it ALL you'd have missed the WHOLE story of the season. Then you would turn round at the end of the season and say Wow... that was good!
But you needed a SKY F1 package to see all that.... and that's a shame because if it was free-to-air more people would be hooked, especially the youngsters who would go and buy a sim setup and get involved in their own way!
This I suspect is the truth for many people that gave up when Sky started to charge - they can't now fully appreciate just how good 2019 was, as it's impossible to get the whole story, and crucially see and sense that story unfold live, if you're stuck with just a highlights show after the event. It's chalk and cheese.This season has been defined by four things.... 1) Mercedes reliability 2) Hamilton's performance 3) Ferrari's incompetence at managing a team and strategy 4) Vettel's inability to deal with pressure.
All of these things lead to Hamilton's success but that success hides all the drama behind. If you didn't watch it ALL you'd have missed the WHOLE story of the season. Then you would turn round at the end of the season and say Wow... that was good!
But you needed a SKY F1 package to see all that.... and that's a shame because if it was free-to-air more people would be hooked, especially the youngsters who would go and buy a sim setup and get involved in their own way!
I can well imagine that if I watched that way, I wouldn't appreciate several races in the way I have done. There have been some races this year that were exciting for no other reason than a slow building tension to a final few laps of drama that for whatever reason didn't happen... But that's irrelevant, as watching live, we all felt that build up and were watching every subtle shift that could influence the outcome of the race. You can't replicate that in a highlight show, when 99% of the audience already know who won etc anyway.
HustleRussell said:
Thread title is classic myopic British arse-hat ignorance. F1's worldwide TV audience grew in 2018 and 2019.
Obviously I would prefer F1 to be free-to-air. If that is not possible I would prefer that at least the Sky monopoly can end- I would happily pay a hundred quid per season directly to F1 itself if the option existed.
Apologies the title was not to your liking. I will endeavour to be careful to convey the subject matter in more of a concise manner while also taking into account that it is relevant to international considerations as well as solely UK concerns. Obviously I would prefer F1 to be free-to-air. If that is not possible I would prefer that at least the Sky monopoly can end- I would happily pay a hundred quid per season directly to F1 itself if the option existed.
Eric Mc said:
The fact that Liberty want it back on free to air indicates to me that they know it was a really dumb thing to do in the first place.
I'm sure it will come back but the damage is being done and the damage may be permanent.
You know that Liberty aren't responsible for Sky's exclusivity deal don't you?I'm sure it will come back but the damage is being done and the damage may be permanent.
Eric Mc said:
The fact that Liberty want it back on free to air indicates to me that they know it was a really dumb thing to do in the first place.
I'm sure it will come back but the damage is being done and the damage may be permanent.
Sky pay 5 mill a race + huge production costs.I'm sure it will come back but the damage is being done and the damage may be permanent.
(For balance Sky pay 9 mill for each premier league game broadcast).
If liberty want it back on FTA, how are they going to explain that to the shareholders, KIV the UK is one territory that they are selling into, are Heineken, Emirates, DHL (etc), suddenly going to increase their title sponsorships from 10/20 mill to what 30/40 million. Or get the viewer to pay..
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