I already have Sky Sports, but I won't be watching F1 on Sky - so I'll be voting No. I'd rather watch the Spanish coverage. You can find a stream for almost anything.
No. I will not. I have today decided to cancel my subscription to Sky and am in the process of formulating a letter by way of explanation to them. I will also sign any and every petition presented to me, in an effort to show total solidarity with the F1 fan base I have come to know through fora such as this. The decision to disregard upwards of 6 million UK viewers announced today is a complete and utter disgrace.
prime minister, is that just a ploy to soften the blow for viewers. maybe we should boycott that, as a sign of our new-found hate for the east-punch-up-enders bbc.
I agree this is a disgraceful decision, i will not watch it on sky sports! I am not paying £600 a year! im lost for words right now, im just so disappointed in all involved with F1 especially Bernie. He is doing his best to ruin f1! But seriously who is going to watch it on Sky sports when everyone will be watching it on the bbc!? This decision makes no sense! I just really hope we dont loose the current commentary and presenting team!
Wow. Just as I get into watching F.1, they decide to give it to Sky! The BBC does some very good things but they all seem to be taken away. I ain't gonna pay for Sky as I simply can't afford it. Joke. The viewing figures just won't be the same.
It's a disgrace, but I already have Sky Sports, so I'll be watching it on there. When I go to Uni, I haven't got a clue what I'll do.
£600 to watch half a season's races?! Can't pay, won't pay. I've resisted Sky for all these years and I'm not going to succumb now. I'll just have to get used to either not seeing it all the time or find alternative ways to watch.
Never posted before, but I feel compelled to on this topic. This may affect the wider appeal of the sport and possibly even its future in this country. The sport is done superbly on the BBC with the excellent commentary team that the fans have long asked for, the unrivalled and unprecedented access that the viewer now has with the F1 Forum etc. (access that ITV never had) along with the highest viewing figures for the sport in several years. I'm afraid the sport will never reach the heights that the BBC has managed to achieve in just 2 1/2 seasons, whilst it is on Sky Sports. The BBC have come out of this with damage limitation I suppose. They get to keep the rights (albeit non-exclusive rights) to the biggest races of the season, but keeping the exclusive rights for the whole season was always going to be tricky as the coalition government froze the license fee, effectively reducing the BBC's budget when inflation is taken into consideration and clipping its wings financially. If we remember there were rumours that the BBC would lose rights altogether, so 'half-rights' is a consolation really, though ideally the BBC should show the whole season. I think eventually that after 2018 (or even before that at the rate of rights contracts modifications like today's!) Sky will try to have complete control over F1 coverage in the UK and it wouldn't surprise me if one day we see the likes of Wimbledon and World Cup football given up by the Beeb too - an extremely sad scenario indeed. I hope the new deal does further enhance the fortunes of an already hugely popular sport much like Sky has done with the Premier League and its worldwide influence, Cricket and its solution to funding problems, the rejuvenation of Darts, and the almost never-ending Golf coverage. But personally I just cannot see how F1, that relies heavily on sponsorship exposure for its funding (where companies would prefer to expose to the mass free-to-air audiences instead of a limited PPV audience), will benefit from this, especially if the sport would eventually go exclusive to Sky. I also desperately hope that F1 does not go the same way as the A1GP series that was also televised on Sky albeit exclusively back then. If there is hope of F1 returning to free-to-air TV we just need to look at the now defunct PPV F1 Digital service, also on Sky if I remember, that was a complete flop, though people could just watch all races for free on ITV! (A scenario half-similar to the future one.) Among other things this looks like Murdoch getting one foot in to the door of F1 pending more rumours of him taking overall control of F1 altogether.
Bernie Ecclestone warns selling F1 to Sky would be "suicide" By Byron Young in Istanbul 8/05/2011 http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/motor...g-f1-to-sky-would-be-suicide-115875-23116514/
Bernie Ecclestone warns selling F1 to Sky would be "suicide" By Byron Young in Istanbul 8/05/2011 Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/motor...uld-be-suicide-115875-23116514/#ixzz1TVDeA01F
Never liked Ecclestone and now the hatred towards him has increased even more. I will be watcing it on sky but I feel sorry for the others who can't watch it because he wants more money. It's a shame.
