Well spotted, didn't see C4 doing F1. Could be interesting. No history in F1 so hope they do a great job and learn from BBC and previous ITV coverage. Hopefully they will have less padding before the race and good analysis after including the podium drivers press interviews after. Great news on Radio 5 Live, means I can still watch RTL pictures and listen to R5L.
I'm hoping (against hope) that Channel 4 won't be another Hamilton show, last 2 years BBC was pretty bad, but not as bad as ITV's show. I'm just hoping that Channel 4 will let the sport take centre stage and not base their coverage around a single driver.
Just read this: Channel 4 will broadcast 10 live Formula 1 races, including practice and qualifying sessions, in each of the three FIA Formula One World Championship seasons from 2016 to 2018. It will also broadcast comprehensive highlights of all 21 Grands Prix and qualifying sessions - including those shown live by Sky. All of the live coverage and highlights will be broadcast free-to-air and in high definition. Reflecting Channel 4's track record for innovation in sports broadcasting, in a first for a UK terrestrial commercial broadcaster, no advertising breaks will be taken through the duration of the live races. NO ADVERTS IN LIVE RACE !!!!!!! YES!!!!! and all live coverage in HD YES. Just need great team of presenters.
I imagine for 2016 they will use the BBC team of presenters. Can't see how they can assemble a new team, also it would be assumed their contracts with the BBC were for the same duration as the contract with Bernie, so they would be transferred over to CH4.
Must admit I do like Eddie. OK so he isn't always right but he does have a different angle to things being a former team owner and it's fun to see him dashing off to try and talk to someone. DC is ok. Suzi Perry has taken quite a while to gel but I still think Lee McKenzie would have done a better job.
nice one channel 4! put together a package that calmed our fears (adverts) Lets see what they can do! this is quite a coup for them. Shame on the BBC though! not only first of all trying to give up the whole broadcast to sky then having to grudgingly settle for taking half now they have finally ditched it. Again I ask the question... What is our TV Licence worth.
Really very sad to have this news confirmed. The BBC team have done an amazing job, especially in the three years in which they had total coverage. It does feel like the BBC bosses regretted the contract from day 1. I would probably find it hard to argue though if i was on the committee that Formula 1, with Bernie's extortionate prices, provides good value at the moment, especially as their budget grows ever smaller. Based on the quality of the rest of channel 4 i doubt their ability to be BBC standard. Hopefully they decide to invest and get most of the now unemployed BBC team. At very least though. It's staying add free on free to air. Also, they can't be worse than Sky's atrocious coverage.
Just a hypothetical question but say the C4 production team were to read this thread. What would you say were the best and worst of BBC & Sky coverage? For me, good technical knowledge, I love to find out the engineering side of things. I also like differing opinions and no UK driver bias. I like rumours even if some of them don't come true. The big one for me is post race coverage and analysis. BBC had too much pre race coverage and then small amount after race, although Red Button Forum did help. I have seen some of the Sky analysis on their smart board tv which is good but needs to be done by technical person. So what are the best bits of BBC & Sky that C4 should take on board and what should they avoid?
Time will tell how this will play out. The BBC coverage back when they had all the races was the best I've seen. Both sky and BBC have got ever worse since then. I don't mind bias but I strongly dislike hidden bias. Pretending you're impartial when you're clearly not is obvious no matter who you are.
Despite some of its dodgy presenters, Sky did do some good behind the scenes and technical stuff which the BBC never had the time to do with the limited coverage schedules they had.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/d65fc069-ca52-41dd-a7be-674ca1614e14 It's all down to costs. Viewing figures, content etc don't matter anymore. If it's cheap the BBC will have it, if it got 50 million viewers but cost a few quid to get it, BBC cuts it off. So, who's for Tennis, athletics and snooker?
If it's anything like their Isle of Man TT coverage, C4 will do an absolute stellar job. These guys will be passionate for it, breathe some fresh life and energy into it, and let it be a real channel flag-bearer, whereas I think the Beeb has really waned in the last two years. Excited, but they need the sport to be released off its own leash to truly do it justice. Fast and loud, please.
Well, I can't say I'm happy about this news except that half of the races will remain free-to-air. For now. I wish there was more detail in the news. I'll be sad if there's no more Perry, DC and EJ but I guess this a real possibility. I did read somewhere about the possibility of it being produced by a company owned by DC and Jake Humphrey, in which Channel 4 also holds a small stake.
Agreed that ITV4's coverage of IOM TT is great, and to echo your comments, lets hope that Channel 4 take a look at it and try to portray the same enthusiasm as they do on the TT show. For my point of view, I'm hoping that Channel 4 focus of Formula 1, and not the current focus BBC have on Lewis. I like the technical analysis, strategy calls, tyre information etc. Basicily, I wish it could be more like James Allen's website, which is ironic as as a lead commenter he was awful.
