YES YES YES YES YES!!!! THe UK can now watch "Bernie TV"!!!

[Mr V]

if sky put the prices up too much, not enough people are going to pay for it, so they've gotta start off at a reasonably low price to get their customer base! how about it bernie...every race weekend for a fiver each?!

[Ian-S]

no,no, Sky principle is start high then go down if people don't sub.

Footy season ticket, £120 I think to start with, xmas promoton £60, I got a letter other day saying something about £40 for rest of season.

If you start high and then work down, the poor people who bought at the high price are subsidising the people who subscribe at the lower price.

Basic Tesco principle: buy in large quantity (1000) @ £1, sell a few weeks for £3 then reduce to £2, by the time it's reduced to £2 they've you've enough to cover the cost of buying the 1000 items (300 sold) and the remaining £2 x 700 is your profit, everybody thinks the deal is great and tells their mates to buy @ £2.

I know many people who have become extremely rich by sticking to these rules.

[Mr V]

i agree to a certain point ian, but for 2 reasons:-

a. this isn't something for a pound from tesco's, this is gonna be considerably be more money than that

and

b. FORMULA 1 hasn't got the fan-base that football has, sky can charge higher prices, knowing that there are more people prepared to pay the inflated prices, there's not enough f1 fans in britain to run the risk of putting the high prices forward first!

[Mr V]

(sorry).................but i personally hope that they set their prices high, and us sky viewers say f*** off and they bring them right down!

[Ian-S]

Originally posted by mr v
i agree to a certain point ian, but for 2 reasons:-
a. this isn't something for a pound from tesco's, this is gonna be considerably be more money than that

dohh - that is an example of how Sky works, price it high, get initial influx of subs to pay for it, then flog it cheap to make "the profit".

If they do a season ticket, then I'd expect the initial price to be somewhere in the region of £170, then after a few races, it'll drop in one of their "half price offers", maybe then will I think about it, but I'll bring my subscription down to the lowest level first.

Personally, I don't understand how Sky has not been closed before now, do you know how much money that company looses a day? It's all very well announcing to the world that you made a "operational profit" of £1Million but that mean jack **** when you've got a £200 Million debt to pay off, the interest alone on the debt is more that the "operational profit".

If me and you were to run a business like this, the banks would laugh us out the branch.

It would be interesting to know how much Sky have paid to obtain the rights to this, then we can sit down and see if they'll make anything from it because none of the other carriers, Telepui, Canal+ France, Canal Digital Spain, Premiere World etc. have always said the F1 is a loss maker...

In fact, Canal Digitaal (in Holland) exercised a get out clause on the contract to get out of carrying the feeds because it was costing them so much.

The only person here to benefit is Mr E!

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Ian-S
The only person here to benefit is Mr E!

nothing unusual there then.the thing with pay per view is that after 3 or 4 races, they haven't got the interest from the viewers they expected and drop their prices then the viewer doesn't lose out as he (or she......sorry!) pays less, if the do a season ticket (i'll use your example of £170 i.e £10 per race) and after those 3 or 4 races they haven't got the customer base.....they drop the remaining race's to (i.e) £50 all in then they're gonna have alot of un-happy bunnies! i'll proberbly gp for it if it's a pay per view (per race) set up.if they want a lump sum up front then they can stick it!

[MickyHelm]

I can see the appeal of interactive F1, however I won't be paying for it, I don't agree with paying a small fortune to have more say in the coverage of F1.

OK, maybe Sky can be partially excused for charging something because it is interactive and we already have standard coverage of F1 provided by ITV. That is fair enough, and if you chose to pay it that is up to you, but I don't see why people should pay an extortionate amount to line the pockets of the Sky bosses.

I personally won't be paying for F1 coverage this year, I will be sticking to ITV, who I think provide very good coverage, especially considering that they are relying on live feeds from the host country (with the exception of Britain which they control). They can't control whether or not you see someone spinning off or not. I also think that Martin Brundle is an excellent commentator who adds to the experience of watching F1. Ok, I will admit that it will take a while to get used to no Murray, and it won't quite be the same, but I think that James Allen is trying hard, and it will take a while for him to get used to it and find his own unique style. I am confident that he can succeed, especially with Martin Brundle as his co-commentator. It will just take time for us to get used to James. I love Martins commentary and the humor he brings to it. Remember that they have to commentate from the same pictures that we get, so it is a very diificult job.

I watched the Italian coverage of the grand prix a few years ago (before the introduction of Bernievision), and I have to admit that it was very boring and dead pan. There were quite long gaps without any commentary at all, and I found it very dull, not like ITV.

It's your choice what you do, but personally I will be sticking to ITV. Keep up the good commentating Martin.

[Adam43]

I also think that Martin Brundle is an excellent commentator who adds to the experience of watching F1.

I agree I'll miss Martin. I'll probably watch his pit lane walk about. Maybe I'll get the little telly from upstairs and have ITV on as well. I'm not at all bothered about James Allen.

[Adam43]

Does anyone know if the digital feed will be available in 16:9 widescreen as well as the normal 4:3. Some channels broadcast in both on digital (the beeb) and some never do.
Is the football interactive available in 16:9????

I hope so.

[formula-3000net]

Originally posted by AdamAshmore
Does anyone know if the digital feed will be available in 16:9 widescreen as well as the normal 4:3. Some channels broadcast in both on digital (the beeb) and some never do.
Is the football interactive available in 16:9????

I hope so.

Sky's interactive football is only 4:3, although when the BBC did interactive tennis and golf last year that was 16:9.

[paulzinho]

Originally posted by Ian-S
Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Especially if what I read is correct, it will be "interactive" like the football, which means that you will have logo's all around the screen and at the bottom, and you'll only get abour 3/4's of the screen actually of the race, the rest filled up with ****.

Also Sky's interactive coverage is soooooooo slow.

[sceptic]

Originally posted by paulzinho


Also Sky's interactive coverage is soooooooo slow.

Two years ago, Bernie said he wouldn't let Sky have interactive F1 because their software was too slow - all the other broadcasters carrying the signal use mediahighway software, which is also used by ITVdigital, but Sky use NDS software - mainly because NDS is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

[paulzinho]

The thing is, it isnt much faster than a couple of years ago. That could be a major problem.

Nonetheless I cant wait to give it a try but it'll depend on the price.

[paulzinho]

I've just been wayching the F1 season review video from last yera and I was surprised to find the real reason for Kimis accident at Suzuka.....

Bernies on board cameras picked up a rear suspension failure mid corner..... OUCH!!!

[Mr V]

Originally posted by paulzinho
I've just been wayching the F1 season review video from last yera and I was surprised to find the real reason for Kimis accident at Suzuka.....

Bernies on board cameras picked up a rear suspension failure mid corner..... OUCH!!!

so bernievision maybe the way to go after all!!

[SILVERS95]

Originally posted by Ian-S
Believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

well ive already watched 3 races on bernievision....and i thought it was excelent....to i think it is more than its cracked up to be.