BBC Coverage

[henners88]

Excellent confirmation. Hopefully it'll continue to the end if their current contract in 2018. I can't see Sky getting an extension either.

[Mark]

Excellent confirmation. Hopefully it'll continue to the end if their current contract in 2018. I can't see Sky getting an extension either.

Why not? Who else would take it?

[tommy2k8]

Sorry, but eventually, I think Sky will get it all

[henners88]

A channel that can guarantee a healthy audience. Perhaps CVC need to consider dropping the price they demand to broadcasters and think long term rather than going for the quick buck? Sky's viewership is dreadful regardless of how decent their coverage is.

Are broadcasters really going to be interested in bidding for the rights if they know very few people are going to watch it? Sky admitted back in April that they thought demand would have been higher. I can't see Sky pushing as much resources into things if it continues for another season as it's an awful lot of outlay for 600k viewers. The fact their audience has shrunk 21% since 2012 is very telling I think. Bernie would be mad to give them exclusive rights.

[acescribe]

Alas the days of F1 being covered live on terrestrial TV in the UK are gone, probably forever. Perhaps Sky will lose faith too, as they could end up with the same syndrome that ITV suffered in that the same German is winning all the time. I think Sky's channel would be more marketable if it was a pan-motorsport channel (ie a bit like Motors TV) rather than just F1. F1 could get the main slots over the race weekends but the rest of the time there is a whole world of stuff out there that could be covered. What many do not realise perhaps is that there are A LOT of petrol heads who actually have little or no time for F1.

But beyond 2018, well, look where Moto GP has gone for next year and beyond. With their amount of money, which has even put the frighteners up BSkyB, they will be a main player in sports TV coverage from here on in. Sadly, 'Old Auntie' cannot possibly compete.

[tommy2k8]

True, I'm sad to say - even my mate who follows F1 religiously couldn't be bothered to watch the last two races. And I do agree, weekdays and between November and March on SSF1 is all repeats of old stuff.

[tommy2k8]

And, sadly, because of the way F1 is going, lots of petrol heads are getting into other types of motorsport, as they want action (BTCC for one)

[henners88]

Alas the days of F1 being covered live on terrestrial TV in the UK are gone, probably forever. Perhaps Sky will lose faith too, as they could end up with the same syndrome that ITV suffered in that the same German is winning all the time. I think Sky's channel would be more marketable if it was a pan-motorsport channel (ie a bit like Motors TV) rather than just F1. F1 could get the main slots over the race weekends but the rest of the time there is a whole world of stuff out there that could be covered. What many do not realise perhaps is that there are A LOT of petrol heads who actually have little or no time for F1.

But beyond 2018, well, look where Moto GP has gone for next year and beyond. With their amount of money, which has even put the frighteners up BSkyB, they will be a main player in sports TV coverage from here on in. Sadly, 'Old Auntie' cannot possibly compete.

I see F1 on a slippery slope at the moment. The fact the action on track at the moment is duller than dish water doesn't help, but you'd expect the promoters to at least be a little worried by how far it's popularity has declined in just 2 years based on its greedy distribution of TV rights. How F1 can deliberately reduce it's viewing audience is beyond me quite frankly. It's clear having F1in it's sports portfolio has not increased the amount of subscriptions so it begs the question whether Sky will continue to give it a dedicated channel when they could just show the races on say Sky Sports 3 or something like that. They saw the size of the audience in 2011 and expected F1 fans to be so distraught about losing the coverage, they would just sign up and pay through the nose. Thankfully this hasn't happened and it's just further exposed what a terrible idea this was in the first place. The only positive for me is that the BBC managed to get rid of some of the weaker members of it's presenting team, naming no names.

I'm on the fence at the moment as to whether BT Sport challenging Sky is a bad idea? I do think it will introduce a price war between broadcasters and Sky will have no option but to charge what they are worth rather than what they wish based on their current monopoly. We could see Sports subscriptions come down in price name few years time but who knows? Other than having exclusive rights to some sports, I can't really see the justification of current prices? If they want my business they better make a competitive case or I will continue to watch illegal streams or consider buying a chipped box in the new year. I don't feel at all guilty about doing that.

[philipbain]

I can't see Sky getting an extension either.

Mmm, here's you hoping that Sky don't get an extension, which I think they will get, like it or not Sky Sports F1 has become the natural home for F1, the BBC's coverage has fallen behind Sky now they are up to pace, even when races are live on both I always watch Sky now which was definitely not the case in 2012. As for BT, they are going for football with big bucks (overpaying for Champions League football for example) because they are confident that they can garner a decent audience from it, I don't know if F1 is truly on their radar. Sky have reported that the F1 coverage has been excellent for retention of HD customers (of which I am one) that don't actually purchase Sports, as existing HD customers get the F1 channel even if they don't subscribe to Sports. Retaining customers is the key to profitability, as getting new customers is comparatively costly compared to retention.

[henners88]

I can't see Sky getting an extension either.

Mmm, here's you hoping that Sky don't get an extension, which I think they will get, like it or not Sky Sports F1 has become the natural home for F1, the BBC's coverage has fallen behind Sky now they are up to pace, even when races are live on both I always watch Sky now which was definitely not the case in 2012. As for BT, they are going for football with big bucks (overpaying for Champions League football for example) because they are confident that they can garner a decent audience from it, I don't know if F1 is truly on their radar. Sky have reported that the F1 coverage has been excellent for retention of HD customers (of which I am one) that don't actually purchase Sports, as existing HD customers get the F1 channel even if they don't subscribe to Sports. Retaining customers is the key to profitability, as getting new customers is comparatively costly compared to retention.

I admit I do hope Sky don't get the extension and next time it will likely come down to money again so yes they probably will get the rights once again. Its not a case of 'like it or not' with regards to the 'natural home of F1' though. That is a purely subjective opinion for both of us. The popularity of both channels tells a different story. In 2013 Sky's viewing audience fell considerably in comparison to the previous début year whereas the BBC's grew . That suggests to me that the BBC are still the primary source for many fans viewing F1 in the UK. These figures can be seen at both the F1 Broadcasting Blog and at Barb. You should read some facts rather than puff pieces put out by BSKYB.

The season, when taking into account Sky’s longer running time for each race programme, averaged 4.11m across the nineteen races on BBC One and Sky Sports F1. This is an increase of 130k (or 3.3%) on the 3.98m average recorded for 2012, but is again down on the figures recorded between 2009 and 2011 when Formula 1 was exclusively live on the BBC. Despite an overall increase, viewing figures dropped a million viewers from the first half to the second half of the season. The first half of the season averaged 4.58m (2012: 4.06m), whilst the second half of the season averaged 3.59m (2012: 3.89m), a 27.6% drop compared with a 4.4% drop in 2012.

BBC’s Formula 1 coverage was the reason for the increase, averaging 3.42m viewers throughout 2013 for their race-day coverage, compared with 3.22m in 2012, an increase of 6.2%. The main source of the increase was the high German Grand Prix highlights rating, which averaged 5.15m and benefited from following the Wimbledon final. Removing this would still keep 2013 above 2012 for the BBC.

Unlike BBC, Sky Sports F1?s coverage dropped throughout. When putting it on a level playing field with the BBC, the main part of their race-day programming averaged 685k, down on the 767k recorded in 2012, a decrease of 12.0%. There is no particular race that struggled, but rather an overall declining picture for the channel compared with 2012. 770k (2012: 855k) watched the first half of the season with Sky, this number dropping to 590k (2012: 659k) for the latter half of the season. In both 2012 and 2013, Sky’s coverage has dropped across the season: a decrease of 30.5% compared with a 29.7% drop in 2012.

May I ask where the figures are to support your claim Sky's audience grew? The F1 Broadcasting Blog is well respected and is an impartial comparison to the viewer-ship of F1. 'Like it or not' less people are watching the sport as a result of this deal and although you are able to sit on the high ground safe in the knowledge you can afford a subscription, its having a slowly devastating long term effect on how the sport will be received in future.

Sky will never have the outreach to maintain F1's popularity in the UK, even if it doesn't presently attract the same amount of viewers other sports do. Sky are too expensive for most people and there is the issue. I'm considering getting a SkyBox F5 fitted this year to watch all Sky channels for free