I think it would be a mistake giving the coverage back to ITV at the price of reduced quality. The BBC have done a fantastic job and are recognised for increasing F1's level of popularity over the past 4 and half seasons. They couldn't justify the extortionate amount Bernie and Co demand for coverage and had no choice but to either drop it completely or share it. In an ideal world Bernie would have offered it to them at a reduced price seeing as they give the sport the exposure it deserves, something Sky are incapable of doing due to their outreach. At the time money was more important and Sky were willing to pay the premium even if many of us could see that viewers were going to drop considerably. Now we have a situation where Bernie is being forced to go back on some of his earlier smug comments and admit the drop in viewers is perhaps a problem after all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bezza
What we have works for anybody who already had Sky or were rich enough to upgrade. There are a large number of fans who have chosen not to receive Sky based on their principles but there are many others who enjoy watching the sport but simply can't afford it. At present I don't pay anything to watch TV apart from the license fee. I don't have a monthly subscription to any cable or satellite service, therefore the jump to Sky would be a £40 a month bill, which I can't justify for 10 races a year nor can I really afford it. That also isn't a 'very, very cheap utility bill' for some of us. I get every channel I desire apart from the F1 channel. If Sky offered this one channel for a limited fee (£10 a month) I think they would steal much of the die-hard fans amongst us. As it stands greed has taken over and they are in the process of restricting the channel even further. No longer offering it to new HD customers and perhaps taking it off customers who once had it. I can't even say I think their coverage is streets ahead of the BBC because it isn't. I know quite a few people who have the channel but watch the BBC when live without question. That must indicate Sky have failed somewhat and you only have to look at the viewing figures when both channels have the race live to see they lose viewers. I read somewhere that Monaco figures were down compared to recent years. The weather and the fact the BBC didn't have it live were obvious reasons. Sky had an average of 560k with the BBC getting 3.13m peaking at 4.16m. It didn't give a peak for Sky. That is massive and something is going to have to be done about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bezza
Its a right mess and finally its being realised by the powers that be. Sky don't care because as far as they are concerned they have a multi year contract and its just another channel in their sports portfolio. The BBC may have reduced coverage but they are still the primary choice for viewing F1 in the UK and are most important in terms of out reach. Its very easy to defend the present deal when it doesn't affect you too. If by a miracle the BBC are given back the exclusive rights at a discount, I do hope they keep the current line up. I'd hate to see the likes of Kravitz and Brundle automatically taking their old jobs back. I was very bitter about all this in the early days but I have bigger distractions in my life now, but would be lying if I said I didn't take some pleasure in seeing this agreement fail somewhat. My interest will naturally dwindle over the next few years but that's life. If the sport feels it can turn itself into a specialist interest event with only 500k followers in the UK and survive, then good luck to them. Its going much the same way as cricket and boxing but with an outlay that's huge and sponsorship is more important than ever. Time will tell.
