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F1 Coverage - The Verdict: 2013 Season

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    F1KenF1Ken Posts: 4,229
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    which could lead to an increase in pay drivers over talent

    And could just generally damage the sport. Less people watch and talk about it like cricket. I used to have long lengthy conversations about cricket with my mates now nothing. Niche sport just like that. Thanks ECB.

    Tell as kid's we used to watch the cricket and know all the names of players. Not even the few kids that play the game at school could name many now.

    I don't want that to happen to Formula 1. It would be sad.

    Ken
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    R410R410 Posts: 2,991
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    which could lead to an increase in pay drivers over talent
    It already is.
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    Steve1977Steve1977 Posts: 1,274
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    Caxton wrote: »
    It is not greed, the free culture in life has gone.


    Say that to the people who stream online illegally, who download music illegaly, who download programs illegally.

    Sadly, even when you pay for programs through the TV license or to simply watch adverts, you're no longer entitled to watch programs.

    The thing is, the less people that watch it, the more that interest will diminish.

    I don't mind F1 but I don't like it enough to subscribe to Sky!
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    _SpeedRacer__SpeedRacer_ Posts: 6,724
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    The other consequence of Sky getting exclusive coverage could be that they start chucking in mid race adverts. I wonder if Canal will do this?
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    stefmeisterstefmeister Posts: 8,396
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    I don't think the pay driver issue is any different today than its always been, Less funded teams have always brought in at least 1 driver who has backing.

    I also think that the concept of a pay driver is different now compared to what it was in the past as you have drivers who are part of a driver development program or have backing from companies aiming to assist local talent etc....

    Also the drivers who do pay there way into F1 today tend to actually be decent drivers who have had success in lower categories such as GP3/GP2 & WSBR.
    In the past pay drivers simply brought there way into F1 having done nothing in lower categories & were clearly well out of there depth in F1 & that simply doesn't happen now.
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    BenFranklinBenFranklin Posts: 5,814
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    The other consequence of Sky getting exclusive coverage could be that they start chucking in mid race adverts.

    I think there is no realistic chance of Sky ever interrupting their race coverage with adverts.
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    BenFranklinBenFranklin Posts: 5,814
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    I don't think the pay driver issue is any different today than its always been, Less funded teams have always brought in at least 1 driver who has backing.

    I also think that the concept of a pay driver is different now compared to what it was in the past as you have drivers who are part of a driver development program or have backing from companies aiming to assist local talent etc....

    Also the drivers who do pay there way into F1 today tend to actually be decent drivers who have had success in lower categories such as GP3/GP2 & WSBR.
    In the past pay drivers simply brought there way into F1 having done nothing in lower categories & were clearly well out of there depth in F1 & that simply doesn't happen now.

    Yeah, a lot of fuss is being kicked up by people who should know better. I remember Jean-Denis Deletraz...
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    markmagmarkmag Posts: 3,131
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    Considering the speed we're now seeing pay becoming the norm, in retrospect the BBC rushing into the deal with sky was a great thing. If the BBC had run the full length of their contract, would we actually have ended up with Sky only after that? Instead we have seven years of BBC and Sky.
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    solarflaresolarflare Posts: 22,382
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    I'm not sure we can blame paydrivers on Sky.
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    _SpeedRacer__SpeedRacer_ Posts: 6,724
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    markmag wrote: »
    Considering the speed we're now seeing pay becoming the norm, in retrospect the BBC rushing into the deal with sky was a great thing. If the BBC had run the full length of their contract, would we actually have ended up with Sky only after that? Instead we have seven years of BBC and Sky.

    If the BBC had ran the full length of their contract then the rights would probably have been awarded exclusively to Channel 4 or ITV instead from 2013 onwards.

    So you could argue it's the BBC's doing (remember this was all their idea) that started this culture in the first place...
    I think there is no realistic chance of Sky ever interrupting their race coverage with adverts.

    Why not? Most people said the same about F1 even being on Sky less than 2 years ago.
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    BenFranklinBenFranklin Posts: 5,814
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    Why not? Most people said the same about F1 even being on Sky less than 2 years ago.

    Why would Sky piss off their customer base to such a degree? Remember, they are not a FTA broadcast whose only source of revenue is advertising, they operate a pay tv model and subscriptions and churn are the key factors for them. Offering a premium F1 service is far, far more important than the relatively little amount of money they'd bring in from advertising.
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    JackFoleyJackFoley Posts: 812
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    They never do it for football, no way they'll do it for races. They could probably put ads in a red flag situation but not when the race is on.
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    D.M.N.D.M.N. Posts: 34,172
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    JackFoley wrote: »
    They never do it for football, no way they'll do it for races. They could probably put ads in a red flag situation but not when the race is on.

    Did they for Malaysia 2012?
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    R410R410 Posts: 2,991
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    JackFoley wrote: »
    They never do it for football, no way they'll do it for races. They could probably put ads in a red flag situation but not when the race is on.
    But then the Football does bring in an awful lot more money than Formula One will. I still doubt that they will ever do it though.
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    ariusukariusuk Posts: 13,411
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    If the BBC had ran the full length of their contract then the rights would probably have been awarded exclusively to Channel 4 or ITV instead from 2013 onwards.

    So you could argue it's the BBC's doing (remember this was all their idea) that started this culture in the first place...

    And it wasn't a new idea. The BBC got into bed with Sky in a very similar way at the start of the Premier League.

    ...If they hadn't, the rights would have gone to ITV. (For three years. And eventually Sky would still have won a bigger and bigger chunk of the rights, and the broadcasting landscape wouldn't be much different to how it is now).
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    mikwmikw Posts: 48,715
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    If the BBC had ran the full length of their contract then the rights would probably have been awarded exclusively to Channel 4 or ITV instead from 2013 onwards..

    I don't think so, the moment it was announced they were interested in buying the sport the die was cast.

    If someone comes with millions of pounds Bernie isn't going to turn them away.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,386
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    According to one of the little news snippets in this week's Autosport mag, Sky are being tipped as the British broadcaster most likely to show the WRC this season. No deal confirmed, but it's hoped it'll be in place for Mexico.

    Not ideal, but it's the best non-FTA option out there. Plus, the WRC will look glorious in HD. Here's hoping they'll show repeats of the Monte and Rally Sweden.

    I wonder if it'll end up on Sky Sports F1? It'd be great, but I can't see it happening when you take into account their previous policy on non-FOM endorsed motorsport appearing on that channel. Oh for the days when Bernie had the rights to everything FIA, heh...? :cool:
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    F1-AddictF1-Addict Posts: 812
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    JackFoley wrote: »
    For those asking:
    yes, every session on Sky Italy will have commentary (and no commentary option)
    yes, they seem to take the Sky Sports F1 model (and rightfully so) but improving it, like for instance staying live all day from the circuit (unlike Sky UK) with continuity studios between the events, the F1 Show (our version at least) live every day, the Drivers Parade live and so on. I hope Sky UK follows that road too pretty soon.
    Sounds very promising, in fact better than what we have here with almost continuous coverage which should be especially advantageous for covering support races. However it could almost border on too much airtime as there's only so much you can say without repetition.
    F1Ken wrote: »
    And could just generally damage the sport. Less people watch and talk about it like cricket. I used to have long lengthy conversations about cricket with my mates now nothing. Niche sport just like that. Thanks ECB.
    This was my main concern when the deal was announced, the diminishing stature of F1 as a major sport in the UK and the falling viewing figures (although slight) suggest as much. Personally I think exclusively live pay-TV coverage of F1 in the UK would do significant damage in terms of public interest but the post-2018 deal may see that scenario come to pass.
    The other consequence of Sky getting exclusive coverage could be that they start chucking in mid race adverts.
    Sky would have to be crazy to put adverts during the race, the bad press wouldn't be worth the extra money and it might be worth noting A1GP's hour long feature races never had ads on Sky. Having said all that, to my knowledge F1 practice is the only sport on Sky that features adverts during live play so the notion couldn't be ruled out entirely. I've said before I'm against missing live action when you're paying a subscription for it, especially when it was provided uninterrupted the previous year for free.
    D.M.N. wrote: »
    JackFoley wrote: »
    They never do it for football, no way they'll do it for races. They could probably put ads in a red flag situation but not when the race is on.
    Did they for Malaysia 2012?
    No, the entire red flag delay was ad free.
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    dansusdansus Posts: 2,559
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    Interesting last comment from James Allen on the pay tv situation.
    Down the road one imagines that F1 may look at shifting to a different model, whereby users have a direct relationship with F1 via the F1.com website and can pay to live stream races as well as order other content.

    FTA is done, that well is dry. If the pay tv model doesnt work out, seems natural to go a to a direct model, maybe this is FOM's thoughts too with the recent tie up with Tata.

    Milk the cow now and be ready to jump when the teat dries up.
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    JackFoleyJackFoley Posts: 812
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    F1-Addict wrote: »
    Sounds very promising, in fact better than what we have here with almost continuous coverage which should be especially advantageous for covering support races. However it could almost border on too much airtime as there's only so much you can say without repetition.

    True, but at the same time it's not like they have much time to cover between sessions during the European season. At best it's 15-30 minutes, so I don't think there's too much risk. Plus it's not like they have to talk F1 all day, they can use the time to talk to italian drivers in GP2, GP3 and Porsche. Again, it's taking the UK model and improving it. I'm very surprised that Sky in the UK doesn't do that and "confines" the time between sessions with pieces on Sky Sports News (and very few of them).
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    theAREtheARE Posts: 1,847
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    dansus wrote: »
    Interesting last comment from James Allen on the pay tv situation.



    FTA is done, that well is dry. If the pay tv model doesnt work out, seems natural to go a to a direct model, maybe this is FOM's thoughts too with the recent tie up with Tata.

    Milk the cow now and be ready to jump when the teat dries up.

    See that I don't have a problem with at all (though it would depend on quality of the stream) my problem - and I'm sure many other people's issue with Sky is that you cant just buy the things you want without getting all the other mindless worthless tat of channels they have on their platform.

    I's be happy to pay F1.com for a full season pass - let's say £100 to £150, some thing along those lines, fine.

    What I object to is being forced to pay £500 a year for tons of channels I dont want just to be able to watch 1 channel that I do.

    It's not paying for the stuff I enjoy that I have a problem with - it's paying for stuff that I don’t want which is what Sky force you to do.
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    madmusicianmadmusician Posts: 2,050
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    And I think that there will always be an FTA component, even if just highlights. Will there be FTA highlights in France/Italy?

    Even if this isn't the case there, there is a culture of FTA highlights here (just look at the ECB cricket deal), and if there was literally no coverage available on FTA I would be very surprised.
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    theAREtheARE Posts: 1,847
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    And I think that there will always be an FTA component, even if just highlights. Will there be FTA highlights in France/Italy?

    Even if this isn't the case there, there is a culture of FTA highlights here (just look at the ECB cricket deal), and if there was literally no coverage available on FTA I would be very surprised.

    Italy yes we believe - the aim was to have the same set-up as we have here - though I'm not sure if the FTA part of the deal has been done with a broadcaster or not.

    France seems to be going 100% pay
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    BenFranklinBenFranklin Posts: 5,814
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    Paying FOM direct and streaming content directly from them would be great, but as much as I personally would like this service, I can't see it happening anytime in the near future.
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    F1 MikeF1 Mike Posts: 5,841
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    I've said this before, but down the line I can see F1 streaming direct to a special F1 set top box, multi language, multi angle, multi replays, archive content. subscription per year at a reasonable price. anything over about £140 would be too steep I think.

    Imagine having direct access via your remote to the entire FOM archive :eek:

    Technology is catching up on this dream...
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