F1 goes to Sky sports

[henners88]

Red Bull embraced the Sky deal knowing how many British fans are against it which was abit of a kick in the teeth and surprising from a British team. Nevermind eh. Roll on China 2012, its going to be a long wait.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by brands

They had a small decal in the side of the car towards the rear as well. A spot on the car for "local" sponsors. During FP1 it was said it was the Brazilian Sky TV, don't know if that's part of Murdock empire.

Murdoch has a stake in it.

[Mr V]

Sky sports news reporting that Martin Brundle will be with them next year, but from listening to Jake on BBC it would seem that he, EJ and DC will still be on BBC.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Sky sports news reporting that Martin Brundle will be with them next year, but from listening to Jake on BBC it would seem that he, EJ and DC will still be on BBC.

Thats great news if true. I know Leigh McKenzie is staying too.

[brands]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Sky sports news reporting that Martin Brundle will be with them next year, but from listening to Jake on BBC it would seem that he, EJ and DC will still be on BBC.

I hope that is true but probably not for the same reason as some others

EJ free Sky will do nicely.

[SilverSpeed]

There are plenty of streams on the net...not sure what the big fuss is. A few always get taken down by FOM, but you've just gotta know where to look to find the good ones.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by henners88

Red Bull embraced the Sky deal knowing how many British fans are against it which was abit of a kick in the teeth and surprising from a British team. Nevermind eh. Roll on China 2012, its going to be a long wait.

Red Bull would have been doing their own sponsers a disservice by not taking the Sky deal. Sky will be showing the RB8 quite alot, even more if their own name is on it, which can only be good for Red Bull's other sponsers.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by raymondu999

BBC have removed Brundle, Ted Kravitz and Lee Mckenzie from their BBC F1 twitter list this morning

https://twitter.com/#!/bbcsportwebsite/f1/members

According to my twitter page, Lee posted a link as to why she is staying with the BBC

[henners88]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Red Bull would have been doing their own sponsers a disservice by not taking the Sky deal. Sky will be showing the RB8 quite alot, even more if their own name is on it, which can only be good for Red Bull's other sponsers.

I understand why they did it and its a catch 22 situation. Do they please the sponsors they have on their car by endorsing the TV company who are showing their name to 1 million viewers, or do they please the other 3 millions fans who won't be watching Sky next year? They did what they had to do and money talks.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by Mr V

According to my twitter page, Lee posted a link as to why she is staying with the BBC

Just read that and she is very right, especially when she mentions the BAFTA award winning team. SKY have a massive job on their hands if they think they'll be able to compete with the BBC next year and its already obvious they won't have anywhere near as many viewers. They are planning to pump million's into making the coverage as vast as possible but its not all about that. The BBC team of the past 3 years has played a big part in its success and its evident SKY haven't got as strong a line up so far IMO. The real telling part will be the viewing figures and when its obvious the BBC highlights shows and races when the BBC have full live coverage are attracting triple the amount of viewers as SKY, I think it'll bring a smile back to the faces of British fans.

If the highlights shows next year are anywhere near as good as the BBC's coverage and content in 2011, then SKY will be the ones losing out IMO.

[Peat]

Do crystal balls give details like exact viewing figures now? Extraordinary.

I still think Sky hold the cards with exclusive live coverage for all races. I think people will soon tire of having to disconnect themselves from thier computers/phones for hours on a Sunday, while waiting for the Beeb coverage. As-live just isn't the same as Live.

[LC2guy]

How many years is the share agreement for ? Will it always be 50 / 50 on live races, or is that a temporary appeasment as the beeb had the rights. Will 2013 be all live races only on sky, with just highlights ( or worse, nothing ) on bbc ? If all the coverage is destined to be on Sky sooner rather than later ( maybe as early as 2013 ), then maybe that has influenced such as Brundle, kravitz and anyone else who wants to be involved in F1 long term. Why stay at the beeb if in 2 years you'll be covering tiddly-winks.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by Peat

Do crystal balls give details like exact viewing figures now? Extraordinary.

What do you think? Doh
Unless 3 million British F1 fans suddenly commit to buying a SKY package, its a no brainer. many can't afford it so I can't see that suddenly happening and SKY pulling in that extra 3 million.

Originally Posted by Peat

I still think Sky hold the cards with exclusive live coverage for all races. I think people will soon tire of having to disconnect themselves from thier computers/phones for hours on a Sunday, while waiting for the Beeb coverage. As-live just isn't the same as Live.

I won't and many like me won't worry about it. I don't tend to waste my Sunday afternoons in the summer sat in front of the TV and often record the races and watch them later. I am annoyed the whole race won't be shown on the BBC but we are assured the highlights show will be better than ever anyway.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by LC2guy

How many years is the share agreement for ? Will it always be 50 / 50 on live races, or is that a temporary appeasment as the beeb had the rights. Will 2013 be all live races only on sky, with just highlights ( or worse, nothing ) on bbc ? If all the coverage is destined to be on Sky sooner rather than later ( maybe as early as 2013 ), then maybe that has influenced such as Brundle, kravitz and anyone else who wants to be involved in F1 long term. Why stay at the beeb if in 2 years you'll be covering tiddly-winks.

With the backlash over only half the races being live on the Beeb, I doubt they could remove it completely off free to air. That would just be dumb and I doubt F1 would wish to loose the British market for their sponsors.

[MagnetON]

blah, blah, "best for the fans", blah, blah, BBC, blah, blah.

Right, Sky deal is great for the fans! Why?

They'll be showing all the F1 on-track session activity on a dedicated channel that I can RECORD, pause, rewind, etc. which I can't do on BBC red button.

As for the commentary team, meh, we'll see who actually goes when Sky starts, I'm sure there will be as much discussion about this as there was over the BBC->ITV->BBC moves in the past.

Time for a "Sky Commentators Dream Team" thread methinks!

[MagnetON]

blah, blah, "best for the fans", blah, blah, BBC, blah, blah.

Right, Sky deal is great for the fans! Why?

They'll be showing all the F1 on-track session activity on a dedicated channel that I can RECORD, pause, rewind, etc. which I can't do on BBC red button.

As for the commentary team, meh, we'll see who actually goes when Sky starts, I'm sure there will be as much discussion about this as there was over the BBC->ITV->BBC moves in the past.

Time for a "Sky Commentators Dream Team" thread methinks!

[henners88]

Originally Posted by MagnetON

They'll be showing all the F1 on-track session activity on a dedicated channel that I can RECORD, pause, rewind, etc. which I can't do on BBC red button.

Unless you've been watching all the practice sessions on channel 301 on freeview of course.

[MagnetON]

Originally Posted by henners88

Unless you've been watching all the practice sessions on channel 301 on freeview of course.

Freeview which we don't get in ROI........

[Adam43]

HD practice. Always bothered me when I tried to catch up a little on a Friday after work.
Did I also hear that there was a range of feeds to choose from?

[henners88]

Originally Posted by MagnetON

Freeview which we don't get in ROI........

Thats not good.

[sunny.traveller]

Just checked out the details on the Sky website after seeing an ad in the UK Sunday papers - apparently the Skysports F1 channel will be free to SkySports viewers and also free to Sky HD viewers.
I have never subscribed to SkySports as I have no interested in football although I already have Sky HD but I will be interested to see how many people either already have Sky HD or upgrade to it anyway, and get the F1 channel.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by sunny.traveller

Just checked out the details on the Sky website after seeing an ad in the UK Sunday papers - apparently the Skysports F1 channel will be free to SkySports viewers and also free to Sky HD viewers.
I have never subscribed to SkySports as I have no interested in football although I already have Sky HD but I will be interested to see how many people either already have Sky HD or upgrade to it anyway, and get the F1 channel.

If you already have SKY and don't usually watch any other sport except for F1, then it's a bit of a no-brainer to pay for the £10.25 p/m HD upgrade. In my case, they provided the HD box for free, but you will need an HD TV in order for them to be able to set it all up.

So the choice seems to be, if you haven't got an HD TV, is to have Sky Sports 1 & 2 added. So that you can watch all of that, including F1, but not in HD.

[Delenn]

Originally Posted by Marbot

If you already have SKY and don't usually watch any other sport except for F1, then it's a bit of a no-brainer to pay for the £10.25 p/m HD upgrade. In my case, they provided the HD box for free, but you will need an HD TV in order for them to be able to set it all up.

So the choice seems to be, if you haven't got an HD TV, is to have Sky Sports 1 & 2 added. So that you can watch all of that, including F1, but not in HD.

No, you don't need an HDTV to have a Sky HD box.
The Sky HD boxes come with a scart socket, so you can plug into a non-HD TV perfectly. This is exactly the situation we have upstairs since September.

So, even if you don't have an HDTV, adding the HD pack is still the cheapest way of getting F1 on Sky.

[Born Racer]

In the gym the other day, watching Sky Sports (I was stuck on a bike with nowhere else to look), I saw them proudly advertising 'ALL the free practice sessions, NO adverts', etc, etc. Am I supposed to be excited about this not-at-all new development?

Bernie has a huge amount to answer for, because he has made F1 so prohibitively expensive, but then why did the BBC get into a deal that they knew they could not pay for (the recession was under way, was it not, when they began their deal)? Also is there not a competitions law investigation that should take place over the way the BBC blocked Channel 4 from getting it?

The dream team has been well and truly broken up and the repercussions will long-term and not-at-all immediate. In time, F1 will become even more of a minority sport (it already is in some respects). The UK is an important market and sponsors will get fed up. Hey, maybe some good can come of it and costs in the sport can finally come down (I don't really believe that).

David Coulthard had a nice try at trying to claim a certain improvement in the BBC's coverage by talking about how the delay will allow them to have had a lot of analysis by the time they put out the highlights, so they can cover that in the post-race show. Thanks David, but I can get analysis elsewhere.

If the BBC's my auntie, I want to disown her.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Delenn

So, even if you don't have an HDTV, adding the HD pack is still the cheapest way of getting F1 on Sky.

Ah yes! We did have that choice too.

Spread the word!