Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 25

Thread: Liberty Media

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    171
    Like
    0
    Liked 1 Time in 1 Post

    Liberty Media

    How much of an effect do people think Liberty Media will (or may if I am wrong) have on F1? Will they be able to overturn this Sky exclusivity deal?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    2,858
    Like
    62
    Liked 478 Times in 371 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by tommy2k8 View Post
    How much of an effect do people think Liberty Media will (or may if I am wrong) have on F1? Will they be able to overturn this Sky exclusivity deal?
    They won't turn over the exclusivity deal that Sky have at the moment and it's unlikely that F1 will be back on free to air in the future. I think their impact will be good. I wouldn't be surprised of we see a modified championship format where they introduce an equivalent of the Super Bowl to F1. And, to be frank, I think F1 needs new owners like them to spice it up. Come 2020 I think there'll be some big changes in the sport once the Memoranda of Understanding runs out which is badly needed.

    Hopefully Bernie Ecclestone will be gone from the sport. While he has done an amazing job in ways, he has been a complete disaster in other ways but I do think F1 needs fresh blood at the helm, it has been the same for far too long now.

    I'm excited about the new owners, I think or at least hope that they will do an amazing job with F1.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Jag_Warrior's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2000
    Posts
    8,489
    Like
    156
    Liked 210 Times in 159 Posts
    I'm cautiously optimistic. My hope is that the new owners will focus on growing the global presence of the sport and will make it more fan/customer friendly. But I'd prefer that they not tinker with the things that are not broken. And if they begin transitioning someone like Zak Brown into a deal making and leadership role, all the better. I've yet to hear a name come up that compares to him (not Horner, not Wolff and most certainly not Monisha Kaltenborn).

    But the biggest question on my mind has been whether (or when) F1 will get moved to one of Liberty/Discovery's channels here in the U.S. If that allows me to finally move to a skinny bundle, an a la carte option or cut the cord altogether, then I'd be largely OK with that. Other than F1, I just don't watch that much television anymore. Access to (and the cost to access) the F1 broadcasts is almost as important to me as the quality of the broadcasts.

    I don't think that the money men from CVC have done anything positive for F1 (the sport, not the business), so I can only hope that Malone, having something of a fan's eye, will. I hope...
    "Every generation's memory is exactly as long as its own experience." --John Kenneth Galbraith

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    2,607
    Like
    28
    Liked 186 Times in 146 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior View Post
    But the biggest question on my mind has been whether (or when) F1 will get moved to one of Liberty/Discovery's channels here in the U.S. If that allows me to finally move to a skinny bundle, an a la carte option or cut the cord altogether, then I'd be largely OK with that. Other than F1, I just don't watch that much television anymore. Access to (and the cost to access) the F1 broadcasts is almost as important to me as the quality of the broadcasts.
    What's the relationship between Liberty Media and Discovery Communications? I checked Wikipedia but it wasn't much help.

    I wouldn't mind seeing F1 on Eurosport, but they'd need another channel as they already have too much content. It sucks when they push British Superbikes coverage onto crappy standard-def Quest.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Jag_Warrior's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2000
    Posts
    8,489
    Like
    156
    Liked 210 Times in 159 Posts
    Liberty Media and Liberty Global are controlled by John Malone - he's the Chairman of the Board of both companies. I believe there's a third Liberty asset that's in a tracking stock now, that holds some sports assets. But I'm not entirely up on that corporate structure. Discovery Communications is now the publicly owned company that Liberty used to own 50% of. Malone is still on the Board of Directors there too. Liberty and Discovery have done a number of joint ventures over the years since Discovery was spun off.

    As an American, although I'm not dissatisfied with NBCSports coverage of F1, it's funny to see the most technologically driven motorsport (F1) being topped by the least technologically driven when it comes to ontrack coverage: NASCAR. IMO, the current F1 offering (from the world feed) isn't that much ahead of where CART was in the 90's.
    "Every generation's memory is exactly as long as its own experience." --John Kenneth Galbraith

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Monitored by NSA
    Posts
    2,968
    Like
    32
    Liked 39 Times in 33 Posts

    Cool Confiscation of the Holy Grail. Yes!!

    Who's says Americans are not much involved in F1?!

    Okay bad joke, sorry.....


    Quote Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior View Post
    As an American, although I'm not dissatisfied with NBCSports coverage of F1, it's funny to see the most technologically driven motorsport (F1) being topped by the least technologically driven when it comes to ontrack coverage: NASCAR. IMO, the current F1 offering (from the world feed) isn't that much ahead of where CART was in the 90's.


    I don't watch much of the tube anymore either, except during NFL season. I cut the cord about 4 years ago, and last year, oddly enough discovered that UniMás (Spanish language channel owned by Univision Communications) is the best I've ever seen - only because the broadcast of the races are virtually commercial-free. Only about three or four breaks during the entire race. I need to brush up more on my Spanish though.

    Anyways, I hope this is a good deal for the sport. It will be interesting to see how long Bernie lasts before he's sacked.
    FIDO - Forget It, Drive On

  7. #7
    Senior Member Jag_Warrior's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2000
    Posts
    8,489
    Like
    156
    Liked 210 Times in 159 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by AAReagles View Post
    I don't watch much of the tube anymore either, except during NFL season. I cut the cord about 4 years ago, and last year, oddly enough discovered that UniMás (Spanish language channel owned by Univision Communications) is the best I've ever seen - only because the broadcast of the races are virtually commercial-free. Only about three or four breaks during the entire race. I need to brush up more on my Spanish though.

    Anyways, I hope this is a good deal for the sport. It will be interesting to see how long Bernie lasts before he's sacked.
    Man, that's my dream! I envy you. I want a divorce from DirecTV so bad I can taste it. That's about a $90/month savings right there. I bought a Roku box a couple of years ago, and with that, I've found that I can receive most everything that I want to see... except for F1. I hate TV now (especially the reality TV crap that has filled most channels these days). I use the Roku to access NBCSports to watch extra F1 footage (FP1, FP3 and interviews) and GP2, but I have to have a cable/satellite subscription to get that. I use the Tivo on DirecTV to watch F1 races. But because I have a season pass set up, I've noticed a Spanish language offering that also shows up. I think that's the UniMás that you're talking about.

    I would love to cut off DirecTV and be able to buy F1 races and the weekend sessions a la carte through Roku or an AppleTV. And think about how much money F1 leaves on the table by not offering F1 seasons of years past on DVD or Blu-ray. There are certain seasons that I would pay for, just so that I could build a library of my favorite seasons. The F1 Decade show that used to be on Speed was OK. I'd go for something as basic as that. But I'd rather have ALL the races, and some additional content would be wonderful... like a special feature that included nothing but onboards. As much of a nickel-sniffer as Bernie is, you'd think that he would have thought of that. But no, he's spent his time locking down F1 content, worrying about selling Rolexes to 90 year olds and keeping the content hidden away. Sure, you can find some stuff on YouTube (til Bernie's money thugs discover it), but why not bring it out of the shadows???!!!

    One thing is for sure, with some U.S. 'Muricans now involved, I figure that a lot of things that weren't being monetized before, will be pretty soon. Overall, I think that will be more cost effective for many of us. And for other people (especially in those places where lack of free-over-air coverage has meant a severe decrease in viewership), I hope that the Liberty people find a decent balance. Unlike Bernie, I think they understand the value of eyeballs. At least for consumer oriented companies, sponsor exposure value is a key metric.
    "Every generation's memory is exactly as long as its own experience." --John Kenneth Galbraith

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Monitored by NSA
    Posts
    2,968
    Like
    32
    Liked 39 Times in 33 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior View Post
    I would love to cut off DirecTV and be able to buy F1 races and the weekend sessions a la carte through Roku or an AppleTV. And think about how much money F1 leaves on the table by not offering F1 seasons of years past on DVD or Blu-ray. There are certain seasons that I would pay for, just so that I could build a library of my favorite seasons. The F1 Decade show that used to be on Speed was OK. I'd go for something as basic as that. But I'd rather have ALL the races, and some additional content would be wonderful... like a special feature that included nothing but onboards. As much of a nickel-sniffer as Bernie is, you'd think that he would have thought of that. But no.... Sure, you can find some stuff on YouTube (til Bernie's money thugs discover it), but why not bring it out of the shadows???!!!

    ..... Overall, I think that will be more cost effective for many of us. And for other people (especially in those places where lack of free-over-air coverage has meant a severe decrease in viewership), I hope that the Liberty people find a decent balance. Unlike Bernie, I think they understand the value of eyeballs. At least for consumer oriented companies, sponsor exposure value is a key metric.
    YouTube races (especially the "Natural Sounds" recorded events) are my favs. Love the whole races of 73' French GP, 71' Italian GP, etc... etc... being available. Not to mention Indy 500 during the respectable pre-IRL era. I always fall back to sentimental indulgence with 1960's/70's/80's racing. I'm not happy (or haven't been I should say), with the current state of the OWR in F1 or here in the states due to politics, butchering of venues and of course, the inevitable compromise of driver skills being displayed as a result of advance technology. So I really don't watch much live events anymore with notable exceptions to Indianapolis, Monaco, Silverstone, Spa & Monza.

    I do still have interest in the sport as to how it will handle the challenges of environmental-friendly regulations, events becoming pimped out from the more traditional holy grounds (France w/out a GP is absurd) and now, thank god, with new ownership. I figure it can't get worse, unless of course it continues to be driven into the ground so much that people won't have enough interest in F1 to sustain its existence.
    FIDO - Forget It, Drive On

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    7,129
    Like
    3
    Liked 22 Times in 14 Posts
    I'm interested to see how Liberty approach F1 and change things for the better. What I am worried about is the introduction of "gimmicks" - in my mind they are multiple races over the weekend, reverse grids, points for overtaking etc - these are all not fixing any problem - they are creating false excitement. In my mind, DRS is part of this issue - as it is "false" overtaking.

    If you want more overtaking, great - but it should be natural, quality driving. Overtaking is supposed to be difficult thats why we love the great moves of the past.

    So I'd hope they bring F1 into the modern arena, would be nice to have a second GP in the USA and some more European races again but capped at 20 races. NO SECOND RACES!!!! Imagine, 40 races a year... that would be terrible. F1 is not the BTCC, so I really hope they veto that idea early on - it goes completely against the history of F1 and would be an unnecessary change.

    -----

    Distribution of money to make more teams competitive is important, as well as rules on cars meaning that they can follow and overtake easier without artificial aids. Quite simple when you put it like that! We don't want falsely created exciting races, penalizing drivers/teams who have done well just for the sake of it.
    Niente č vero, tutto č permesso

  10. #10
    Senior Member Rollo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Location
    Sep 1666
    Posts
    10,462
    Like
    15
    Liked 201 Times in 155 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior View Post
    the current F1 offering (from the world feed) isn't that much ahead of where CART was in the 90's.
    The free-to-air feed in Australia is worse than where it was in 1984.

    Hence the reason why I found a streaming service... that steals the Sky feed.
    The Old Republic was a stupidly run organisation which deserved to be taken over. All Hail Palpatine!

  11. Likes: Tazio (15th September 2016)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •