F1 going to Sky

[steveaki13]

BBC Sport - F1 - BBC and Sky awarded rights in new Formula 1 deal

This is bad news for me.

[Bezza]

I thought this may happen sadly, however to be fair it is probably the lesser of all the evils available. I am so relieved that coverage is NOT going to ITV or Channel 4. The races would be ruined by adverts.

Sky Sports' coverage is fantastic and will be good to watch. They will have also learnt off the BBC how to do things when it comes to F1, and at the end of the day we still get 10 races (half of them) on the BBC anyway, including the big races such as Monaco and Silverstone. Yes, we will have adverts again, however I know that this was a moot point with Ecclesotone and part of the negotiations would have made sure adverts were placed around the racing, unlike ITV - where the racing was placed around the adverts!

I already subscribe to Sky Sports for football so this does not make any difference to me in that respect.

I would have preferred the BBC to remain the sole supplier, but we still get highlights of each race on BBC for anybody who can't afford the subscription to Sky. Cost is an issue for the BBC and it is good that they have managed to compromise to keep the coverage in some capacity.

[DexDexter]

Well I'm not going to buy Sky TV and the only sport I follow religiously has now been cut down simply for money reasons, sod the viewers it seems.

This place will certainly be more quiet on the races we can't watch, and it'll be interesting to see the teams and sponsors reactions to cutting the viewing figures down considerably. I'm furious, and don't really know what else to say at the moment.

Finnish Mtv3 put F1 on a pay channel a few years ago and they've effectively destroyed F1 in this country. F1 used to be one of the most watched sport events in this country but nowadays hardly anyone takes notice of it which can also be seen in the disappearance of the Finnish posters from here as well. I hope it doesn't happen in the UK. If I were a Brit, I wouldn't pay a dime to a channel that is part-owned by Murdoch.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I read BBC is under pressure to cut costs. That's Big Society for you guys, you voted for it.

[Mikeall]

Boycott all sponsors associated with Formula 1 to put pressure on teams to force F1 back to free to air TV.

[GOODSPEED]

Gutted

[Dave B]

I'll avoid the results and torrent the non BBC races. I'm not paying Sky a penny more.

[ArrowsFA1]

Oh dear It was always going to happen eventually wasn't it

This is a bit like going back to the late 70's early 80's if you don't have Sky. Back then the BBC had a 1/2hr highlights show. That was pretty much it for our F1 coverage, although IIRC ITV's World of Sport showed one or two races randomly.

The BBC will have half of the races on live but surely that's going to affect the number of casual viewers tuning in. They've done a fantastic job with their coverage but this 'half live half highlights' package seems rather half hearted.

And the big question: What about the committment from Bernie and that teams that F1 would always remain on free-to-air? Half hour highlights doesn't really cut it as far as that committment goes.

F1 has a remarkable ability to shoot itself in the foot.

Just got to work, live with @chrisdjmoyles at 8.40 on Radio 1, wonder what topic will be in the agenda today...?

https://twitter.com/#!/jakehumphreyf...43212941033472

[Bezza]

To be fair as it stands I probably only watch half the races live anyway - as Sunday afternoons I often have other things to do especially when it is nice and sunny. I certainly would prefer to go out and wait for highlights than sit down watching races on a laptop rather than just pay for Sky ! How sad and pathetic is that!

Still think this is the best we could hope for. At least ITV hasn't got it !

[rsmith16]

I wonder how much money they are going to save by cutting down on the amount of English football they show...