BBC may drop F1 in economy drive?

[Paradise City]

Senior managers drawing up cost-saving options have alighted on the £40m-a-year motor racing deal and the long-running tennis coverage as ways in which the BBC could help achieve a £600m annual saving targeted for 2014.

Formula One, although helped by the popularity of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, is not peak-time programming, and as a result is viewed as a relatively expensive part of the sports schedule. Having been on ITV as recently as 2008, the sport is not seen as a mainstay of the BBC calendar.
Dropping Wimbledon, seen as a quintessentially BBC event, is also under consideration, although that would be a controversial move. The BBC has broadcast the event since 1937, and the close relationship between the All England Club and the broadcaster means the exact cost of the rights is barely known outside a handful of people.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...a-one-bbc-cuts

[chunterer]

My mother texted me to say that she's heard this on the radio this morning as well. They were probably referring to this piece.

So should we assume that once the current deal ends F1 will be off to Sky Sports???

[duke_toaster]

Depends, Bernie probably wants F1 to be FTA in the UK (FOTA certainly would be unhappy if it went to Sky).

[Daisy]

Let's hope not. I'm happy to watch it on BBC, if goes back to Sky or some other channel which I don't have here, I have to go back to RTL Netherlands...

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

Depends, Bernie probably wants F1 to be FTA in the UK.

I certainly hope so, but I thought that in most other countries it is aired through satellite or cable operators on a pay/subscription service?

The viewing figures wouldn't be anywhere near those of FTA though which sponsors won't be that keen on.

[Sodemo]

I'd probably stop watching if it went back to a channel with advert breaks.

[Paradise City]

They are going to have to do better than 40 million that's for sure.

[bjohnsonsmith]

If it goes to Sky then I'll be forced to subscribe to Sky Sports and pay for other sports I have no interest in.

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by Daisy

Let's hope not. I'm happy to watch it on BBC, if goes back to Sky or some other channel which I don't have here, I have to go back to RTL Netherlands...

Same here Daisy only in my case it is the even worse RTL Germany

[chillibowl]

if only the BBC could find a way to justify the expense of broadcasting F1 by placing more races in 'prime time' slots. maybe some sort of night racing so that they can air it in the UK during friendlier sponsor time slots would work. i wonder why no one thought of that before

seriously though, in these economic times i cant blame the BBC (and every other national broadcaster that will follow suit) for raising the specter of dropping F1.

they should force a renegotiation, as should the tracks, and the sponsors. lower costs across the board might be the last best chance to stem off the need to turn F1 into a giant carnival type event...and lets face it, as long as spending obscene amounts of money to produce race cars even hard core fans struggle to love is the formula, a carnival atmosphere is the only thing that will keep it on TV.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

if only the BBC could find a way to justify the expense of broadcasting F1 by placing more races in 'prime time' slots. maybe some sort of night racing so that they can air it in the UK during friendlier sponsor time slots would work. i wonder why no one thought of that before.

That would be great, there's about 3 rounds already shown here at prime time (or near to it) Canada, Brazil and USA when it's on which is always a great feeling.

Problem would be that an awful lot of non F1 viewers would go bezerk if most of the races were on in place of soaps, comedies, films, dramas or religious programmes etc. No terestrial/fta channel would let that happen. Too many people don't watch F1 and other motorsport to justify it.

[skells22]

if this is the case i wonder where F1 will be on the UK channel. (not another hunt the thing if true)

[bjohnsonsmith]

Which country has the most F1 TV viewers?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Too many people don't watch F1 and other motorsport to justify it.

and i guess that is the underlying problem.
does anyone knows what the BBC choose to air instead of F1 today and tomorrow?

a little off topic, when there was a labour strike in hockey the CBC (our national broadcaster), which had aired a program once considered the cornerstone of Canadian TV for 50plus years aptly named 'Hockey Night in Canada", chose to replace that strike canceled programing with old movies.

sadly the CBC and their advertisers found out that in Canada more people cared about old movies than our national pastime so a few years later when it came time to renegotiate their deal they decided they were not going to pay to compete for the rights anymore.

when i realized that not even hockey was sacred in Canada i died a little bit that day.

can anyone tell im seriously missing a race this weekend?

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Which country has the most F1 TV viewers?

I'd guess probably Germany, possibly Japan.

[AndyS]

As others have said you can't really blame the BBC in the current climate. I've watched F1 since 1980 when I was 8 and I have to say if it went to Sky I certainly wouldn't be paying, I'm afraid it just is'nt worth it anymore. It'll be a great shame if Murdoch gets his grubby little hands on F1, having said that I suspect FOTA and Bernie will want it FTA in the UK and will work something out, so fear not!

[Steven Humphrey]

Motors TV??

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by AndyS

As others have said you can't really blame the BBC in the current climate. I've watched F1 since 1980 when I was 8 and I have to say if it went to Sky I certainly wouldn't be paying, I'm afraid it just is'nt worth it anymore. It'll be a great shame if Murdoch gets his grubby little hands on F1, having said that I suspect FOTA and Bernie will want it FTA in the UK and will work something out, so fear not!

Murdoch's already got his grubby hands on it.





In the US.

[MJones94]

This is just typical isn't it! I really hope that Sky does not buy F1 tv rights. I myself have sky tv, but that's not the point, they will have bad broadcasting and still, adverts and anyone who doesen't have sky will lose out!

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by AndyS

As others have said you can't really blame the BBC in the current climate. I've watched F1 since 1980 when I was 8 and I have to say if it went to Sky I certainly wouldn't be paying, I'm afraid it just is'nt worth it anymore. It'll be a great shame if Murdoch gets his grubby little hands on F1, having said that I suspect FOTA and Bernie will want it FTA in the UK and will work something out, so fear not!

Well, in Germany Murdoch already has his hands on pay tv F1 thanks to the German Sky leg. If F1 has to move from the BBC to some advertising I'd wish for one of the ITV's . Not much different to our RTL here then but at least way way less stupid comentary

[Sodemo]

I can only assume that it would go back to ITV.

[The STIG]

Here's a fact that may illustrate the BBC's thinking a bit...

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix programme was broadcast live at 12:12 on Sunday the 14th of November on BBC 1 : It had 5.83 Million Viewers. Ranking it as the 15th most watched programme on BBC 1 that week. The most watched programme on BBC 1 that week was Strictly Come Dancing. (11.74 viewers). Other Programmes on Sunday that outclassed the F1 were, in order of popularity (most popular first), Strictly Come Dancing (again), the Antiques Roadshow, and Countryfile. And Strictly Come Sequins was also trounced by X Factor that week which got 14.69m viewers.

I think that if you want to make the investment worthwhile and pull in more viewers, you should have all the drivers stop half way through the race and attempt to sing something, or do a dance, and the driver with the lowest score is elimiated from the race!

Having said that, it wasn't as bad as the Korean GP, which got 2.5 m viewers on BBC 2. This is not even high enough to put it into the top 30 of BBC 1! The Austrailian, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Japanese and Italian GPs did so badly that they don't even feature on the top 30s at all!

Here is where you can get the figures from : http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyT...ammesOverview?

[Teretonga]

I will not pay to watch it, it isn't worth it.
If its not free to air than Bernie can forget it.
I have a feeling that with the weather bombs (US freezing winter, Austalian floods and hurricanes), NZ and Japanese earthquakes, the state of the European, US and British economy, anlong with Middle East shifts in power and politics, there are far more important things happening in the world than F1, and, according to my science reports its going to get much worse.

We're entering a new age of economic and physical duress and the FIA/CVC/Bernie little house is going to have to make radical changes or it will meltdown like a reactor.

[Adam43]

The BBC coverage is very good so I hope that it doesn't disapear. I've seen anything here to convince me it is certain either, so I shall wait.

If it goes from BBC I hope it goes somewhere other than the inept ITV. I'm not against a pay channel. Maybe then it will get less popular and back to the good old days.

[NaBUru38]

I thought that broadcasting F1 in the UK on BBC with McLaren's all-British team was like broadcasting a World Cup - people want to watch their national team. I'm sure that's how Italians feel about Ferrari. Losing them to pay television would be like missing the Azzurri on free television - a catastrophe.

However, The STIG here makes a comparison of rating instead of product, which is how state television should be thought: show what people should watch, not whatever gets better ratings. Perhaps that's what happens when conservatives govern, or am was it the same on Labour periods?