no ideas if it has been mentioned but the BBC Blog explanation now has nearly 4000 comments in response, 40 pages and more coming in every minute. Epic reaction to extremely sad news...
A whole race boycott this year would send a message of intent imho. The problem is which race? This season has to rank amongst one of the most exciting ever, but if WE (all of us on the WWW.) organise we have enough time to stage a protest by not watching, perhaps it could be publicised by those within the sport, shame Valencia has already passed as organising a boycott for that race would have been a walk in the park LOL. I am not averse to paying for things but this is different, its a principle watch next season by all means but by methods other than BBC & Sky, problem solved! we still get to see our GP albeit in German or whatever language (could be educational even) just not on the BBC or Sky, a boycott this year would be akin to firing a warning shot across their bow. Take advantage of the internet, it is an amazing tool at our disposal, spread your wings and spread the message. A boycott, which may go 2 or more ways, one being it is massive the other being it is not so. There are 2 unknowns (races) to come, maybe if the title is wrapped up soon we could end the season as we intend to start off by switching off BBC, imagine them trying to justify an audience of a couple of thousand?
I agree and I'd certainly join in - yesterday I was intent on boycotting tomorrow's race but it'd be a pathetic gesture. It'd take a massive effort, though. The strongest message would be sent by boycotting an important race like, the WDC decider but that couldn't be effectively organised because we don't know for sure when it will be. How about the Indian GP?
The more I read about it the more sick I get with their pathetic bullshit. I would much prefer them just saying "yes we do not give a **** about the fans because we know we can do whatever we want and they will continue to come back and we do not mind taking advantage of this over and over again." This would be at least truthful, but the constant limp wristed lying and constant bullshit rationalisation to pretend that they are doing this for the fans and that they listen to the fans because 'that is what really matters' is infuriating.
I THINK WE NEED CONCERTED ACTION. LETS BUILD A LIST OF EMAIL ADDRESSES - MPs / F1 bigwigs / BBC types / Sponsor figures etc then EVERY day we all email the lot with our continuing frustration....... It would mean attacks like DDS - only perfectly legal.
This is exactly what I was thinking reading the Autosport article. They all just keep repeating that this is a better deal for us! I know that they live in a bubble but can they really be unaware of the blanket opposition to this from fans, hardcore and casual? Are they trying to convince themselves? Because they're not convincing me; in fact, the more I read that this is better for me, the angrier I feel. My guess is that they are just trying to ride the storm and waiting for the anger to subside and the fans come to accept the 'inevitable'. I hope, perhaps vainly, that this becomes another Myspace for Murdoch and it backfires on him; after all, recent events suggest he may be losing his touch.
Then we should seriously make an effort to garner support for a day of protest. Boycott the Indian GP.
Official BBC Statement on website: Formula 1, unhappy with the announcement of a new rights agreement with the BBC and Sky Publication date: 29 July 2011 Complaint We have received complaints from some Formula 1 fans who are unhappy that the BBC will no longer have exclusive rights to broadcast the sport from 2012. The BBC's response We know that Formula 1 has an extremely passionate following in the UK and that some fans will be disappointed that not all races will be available exclusively live on the BBC from next season. We are operating in a very tough financial climate and in common with all areas of the BBC, BBC Sport is having to make significant cost savings over the next few years in order to operate within the constraints of the licence fee settlement, therefore we have to make some difficult choices. We believe this deal represents good value for money for licence fee payers. We retain live coverage of half of the race weekends and we will have extended highlights of the remaining races so we are pleased that all of the action from Formula 1 for the next seven seasons will remain on BBC television. Online coverage of the race weekends that we broadcast will remain the same, and we will carry all the news and reports from the rest of the season. Radio coverage will not change whilst the most popular races - the British Grand Prix, the Monaco Grand Prix and the final race of the season will continue to be broadcast live on BBC One.
I have found one positive of BBC only having half the races, having to only put up with Jake Humphrey for half the time.
BBC needed money to help the rich upper classes find more really expensive homes rather than them looking for themselves. The BBC does nothing for any class lower than themselves (upper-middle). And lets not forget it probably isn't only Bernie that's agreed it but probably the teams too.
thats quite a lot, considering its only been up for less than 48 hours and not on any official websites (i believe)
Not been online since the news broke, so I won't bore you all with my angry rant, instead I'm going to pick up on the next necessary step, action: Whatever we manage, it has to be a united effort, from as many F1 fans as we can group together. The petition we've all been signing doesn't appear to have a clear plan on what to do with all of the signatures it generates, which I think is the key need, to get our voice heard by as many people and organisations as possible. I'm suggesting a new petition, with the words something like this: "We, the undersigned, refuse to watch F1 on Sky TV, as we do not want to see the sport we love associated with a corrupt media empire. We believe any company using Sky as a platform for advertising, is complicit in the actions of this empire, and as such will no longer support any products offered by these companies" Or words to that effect, gather the signatures, and then send the petition to: -The BBC, Sky, ITV, Channel 4 & 5, -All the F1 teams, at every level possible, any contact we can find -All title sponsors of F1 teams, and as many minor sponsors as we can find. For example, I know Ferrari are sponsored by at least Marlboro, Santander, Shell, Kaspersky Lab, Pirelli, TATA, FIAT, acer and AMD, amongst others. -Number 10, and as many MP's as we can, there must be a list of all MP's in the UK somewhere online. And ideally, I'd like to see the petition sent by email, but then they'll block emails, so flood their conventional mail inboxes, and phone their respective complaints departments until they can't handle the demand. If we had enough supporters carrying out this sort of petition, we could start to make the companies support systems unusable for genuine customers, giving the impression of poor service, and hence hopefully effect their reputation. Any ideas how we can take this further? I'm normally not particularly militant-minded, but it's the little things sometimes isn't it?
Bernie Ecclestone on the possible concorde breach: "I shouldn't worry too much about the Concorde Agreement. We might not have another one," what a **** (sorry) I wish the F1 split 3 years ago happend now =/
I think what annoys me is that they are cutting the F.1 to save money and the BBC is still producing countless dance shows. I don't know many people who watch it. And some of the stuff on BBC3 is utter garbage. Savings could have been made in other areas of the BBC. Why cut something which is popular and still produce utter rubbish? EDIT: Sorry if this point has already been posted. I can't be bothered to read through the 15 pages of posts.
I guess we can look forward to more reality docs from BBC3 following the lives of a group of morbidly obese, schizophrenic dwarves as they endure the trials of their first teenage pregnancies while simultaneously learning to hunt and kill their own food in the wild... Oh, and more Family Guy re-runs. I think this is what my licence fee goes on nowadays.
