Channel 4 to take over from BBC

Main presenter = Steve Jones, DC, Mark Webber regular member, Susie Wolf will be an expert, Murray Walker will be doing some interviews, and will be there in person at the British GP, Karun Chandhok will be tech analyst, Lee McKenzie will continue to do work for C4, Ben Edwards will join DC in commentary box. Taken from Radio Times. The Chain will remain.

There is now a dedicated link on C4 Website.

 

So having subscription only races reduces the fans watching significantly. Do you know what would be a brilliant idea.......

Exclusive Sky deal takes live F1 off free-to-air in the UK

Live Formula 1 races will be taken off free-to-air television in the United Kingdom from 2019, after Sky agreed a new exclusive broadcast agreement with the sport's chiefs.

 

I wonder what the title sponsors will make of this decision to limit their air time, sort of reduces the point of paying all that money to advertise.

 

In simplest terms... bad deal for fans, bad deal for sky sports. Fan base will vanish and sky will be left paying for a sport no one's watching.

I sincerely hope someone has a veto on this, and it helps in removing Bernie. It's like he's doing it on purpose, how many bad things can he do for the sport and yet not lose his seat of power.

 

Bernie Ecclestone appears intent on outliving the sport.

Personally i'm finding it hard to care anymore.

 

Sky sports is even more expensive that I thought! Just had a quick look and the cheapest way to get sky sports is £550 a year. Or just over £27 per race in a 20 race season.

I suspect a boost to advertising revenue, for the streaming websites that is. But long term those sites, much like the sport, are doomed.

"Now" money over long term income. I suppose thats expected when your owner is 85.

 

I don't really care to be honest....

In this day in age you don't have to pay to watch f1 on sky if you catch my drift.

Imagine in 2019 when satellite TV will be totally screwed over by the all powerfull Internet!!!

Feel sorry for c4 in a way though. They've just got broadcast rights and after 1 race they've found they will be losing them.

 

As long as the internet is available to stream it from somewhere, I couldn't care less.

But we could be observing the closing stages of our sport as we know it.

 

http://f1broadcasting.co/

Analysis – A huge bombshell
The idea that Formula 1 was going to move exclusively live to pay-TV at some point is not surprising. What is extremely surprising is the timing. One race into the 2016 season and the rights for 2019 onwards have been decided. In my opinion, this is Sky Sports covering themselves from a BT Sport onslaught where Formula 1 is concerned. There is no other reason for tying up the rights this early in the game when we are a long way away from 2019.

Of course, this is extremely sad and disappointing news to say the very least and means that, for the first time since its inception, Formula 1 will not be covered live (in some capacity) on BBC, ITV or Channel 4. For the latter, it is a huge blow, given that they would have been hoping to cover Formula 1 in some capacity. They still might: as we have seen with MotoGP, a highlights package may well be created for BBC, ITV or Channel 4 to bid on come 2019. That needs to happen if Formula 1 is going to reach the masses come 2019. There’s also the unfortunate question about whether Channel 4 will be committed to see out their three-year deal…

> Sky’s average F1 race day audiences
> 2012 > 0.71 million
> 2013 > 0.64 million
> 2014 > 0.79 million
> 2015 > 0.64 million

The sad thing is, time and time again, the prices of subscription television services goes up and up, above the rate of inflation. Yet, if you look at the quality of Sky’s Formula 1 programming (in totality as opposed to their race day show), that is dropping. For 2016, the scale of The F1 Show has been cut due to ‘cost cutting’ (which looks odd on the scope of today’s statement). The lack of reference to Sky Sports F1 as an explicit channel implies to me that the channel will quietly disappear at the end of 2018. We will see.

Inevitably, unless a highlights package is created for 2019, viewing figures will plummet. Lewis Hamilton’s championship victory last October peaked with 1.7 million on Sky Sports F1. His second championship victory, thanks to live free-to-air television exposure, peaked with nearly eight million viewers. Sky’s viewing figures for the Australian Grand Prix dropped 30 percent year-on-year. There is no evidence to suggest that Sky’s viewing figures are growing, and bringing in new viewers. Unless Sky’s viewing figures see a surge in the next few years, this new deal is extremely detrimental to Formula 1, in the same way Sky’s cricket deal was ten years ago. What FOM and other stakeholders do not realise is that fans are only going to pay so much. Fans, such as myself, only have limited expenditure.

Sky may have ten million customers, but their customer base is not growing fast. You can argue that the likes of Now TV have an effect, but as a combined entity, the numbers simply do not equal the pull that free-to-air television has. On a day when the GPDA released a statement concerning the future of Formula 1, the words below now take on extra meaning:

Formula 1 is currently challenged by a difficult global economic environment, a swift change in fan and consumer behaviour, and a decisive shift in the TV and media landscape. This makes it fundamental that the sport’s leaders make smart and well considered adjustments.​

Formula 1 has undoubtedly established itself as the pinnacle of motorsport and as such one of the most viewed and popular sports around the world. We drivers stand united, offer our help and support for F1 to keep it as such, and further to make it fit and exciting for many years and generations to come.​

Overlooked in the statement is the news that every race will be broadcast in ultra HD from 2017. Considering FOM are usually behind the ball in these things, that is great news from that perspective. I assume other countries will be able to pick up the ultra HD feeds (and additional camera angles).

Tonight, FOM may be the winners. But the losers are the drivers, who will have less eye balls on them in the future. And most importantly, once again, the fans are the ones that will be picking up the pieces.

 

How many teams are actually contracted to race in 2019? If the teams and drivers feel strongly about this, what have FOM got to bind them to F1? This announcement is advanced enough that a new series could be organised in time.

 

and that would make my day.

Sadly the most unlikely outcome, but we can hope.

 

Sky have the potential to be so good for F1 but they are so bad.

Lazenby could bore the skin off a rice pudding and you all know my thoughts on Crofty by now. His commentary isn't even a commentary, it's a live conversation with Martin Brundle, who almost seems to educate Crofty as we go.

Crofty could front the show in the Pitlane or front a studio midweek thing but that's it.

Kravitz is now bordering on arrogance, Damon Hill is probably better in a more technical analysis role.

And we're paying a minimum of 550 a year for this. It should be head and shoulders the greatest production on sports television but it's not.

The sport just seems stuck in a real rut where the money men are bleeding it of everything that made it great.

 

Bernie's turning F1 into exactly what he wants, a sport for older, wealthy people. And that's the audience he seems to attract sponsors for. Nobody new is going to get to watch F1 when there's nothing free-to-air to casually tune into. In the short term the new Sky deal obviously looks great for the sports finances, but that older audience aren't going to be replaced. Not that that'll matter to Bernie as he'll be long gone before the changes are really felt in ten years time.

Going back to my last post, it feels like Bernie only keeps the teams in F1 because he encourages disharmony between them, and gives each a deal which is marginally better than they could initially get elsewhere. It'd be a bold step to break away, but surely the best one.

Formula E seems to be going from strength to strength, with Jaguar now announced as a constructor for season 3 (starting September). By 2019 the cars will be more powerful, and the aero regulations freed up. Between that, MotoGP and WEC, I'm not sure I'll bother seeking out F1 streams, a few minutes of highlights will probably be enough.

 

The best thing that could happen to F1 is for a rival series to blow it away.

Once the money men panic about what's happening then and only then will they begin to listen to what is required.

 

An hour of this **** before the race even starts ...exciting as that will be....15 - 30 minutes maximum surely ?????

 

I agree. Why not have 15-30min before race and 1 hr at the end to see press conf and then chat and analysis of the race that has just taken place?
I blame DC as it's his production company. He is just sticking to same as they used to do. Come on DC try something different.

 

Stay tuned as we go into the inner sanctum of Mercedes!


They went into the hospitality box....

 

going to be interesting to see what tyre strategies come out of the wash

 

I always tune in 30mins before lights out. Just in time for the excitement, and cuts out unnecessary chatter.

 

I usually aim for the formation lap.