F1 goes to Sky sports

[chunder]

I have to agree with several posters.

It is clear the Beeb and Sky have done a deal of some kind, which makes a lot of what has gone in recently abotu News Corp look very interesting?

There have been opinions raised about News Corp getting so politically involved to try and push the BBC aside a bit more and stop them having blanket coverage of marquee events like this.

here is the evidence, that not only have BSkyB done that, the Beeb have also rolled over and allowed it under pressure from government spending cuts and also the consumer who has had their licence fee frozen for years.

We didnt I believe ask for our licence fee frozen?

[Al Weyman]

I won't be paying to watch and thats a fact. Let them get on with it.

[Tourer]

It's a very strange deal given that the current BBC deal with Bernie goes through to the end of 2013. Sounds to me like the BBC have cut and run rather than Sky pushing in - COULD be that Sky taking on all the races has saved half the races not being televised live at all in the UK.

Very strange also that there has been no real mention of a deal in the offing before now.

Feel for you guys in the UK - particularly when the coverage from the BBC has been so good.

Weird decision but then if the BBC were only prepared to do half the races live, it may have been the only course of action open to Bernie.

[cerdic]

Ridiculous compromise. I am another that will not fork out for Sky. I will probably still watch the races that are shown on the BBC but I'm not sure if I will maintain the same level of interest if I'm only watching half the races.

[Sodemo]

First thought, im disapointed, naturally. Second thought, in this flat we are considering all chipping in a few quid because we are football fans, so it may transpire that we are actually able to recieve the races on Sky. The thing is, will the races be on regular Sky Sports, or will they be on Box Office for £10 a race?

[Truckosaurus]

May I just make only my 2nd or 3rd visit to the F1 forum in a decade to say:



Bernie and Rupert, a match made in Heaven.

[SWCRacing]

If the BBC wanted to save money, why not drop the expense of sending 500 people to Glastonbury, or not be involve in that waste of money and airtime that was the "one year to the Olympics" party crap that they did a couple of days back???

[AndyS]

We'll that's a bit of a shock, I think it was inevitable it was going to happen sooner or later but just didn't expect it so soon. What surprises me most is the timing given the current storm surrounding Murdoch, which isn't going away anythime soon. I'm also surprised it's happened so quickly, clearly the beeb have been trying to get out of it for longer than we realised.

Does seem a bit half arsed having only half the races and I do wonder if in time it will all go to Sky. I assume the coverage the Beeb show will be a feed from the Sky coverage and won't involve a lot of the build up. It depends which races they show but at least they'll be highlights of the others. I don't mind that too much providing they show the better races live, the poorer circuits I tend to record and skip through anyway.

In general terms not ideal for the sport in the UK really, it's not got the mass appeal of Football which has got away with it. I certainly won't be subscribing to Sky Sports, as I've said before on here I simply cannot justify the cost at this time. Circumstances dictate that I have to have a more basic Sky package and I've always objected to lining Murdoch's pockets. As what I and many others having been saying about him for years has finally started to come out it upsets me even more. If I could justify paying for Sky Sports I wouldn't on moral grounds and would love nothing more than to cancel the whole thing and move elsewhere. Although I'll still follow the sport it certainly won't be as keenly as in the past, so well done Bernie you've reduced another avid fan to a casual spectator.

[Moneyseeker]

Like many people this would mean us effectively paying 3 times for the same thing - BBC licence fee/Sky sub and now Sky sport sub...

Actually I blame the BBC, they went into this deal with their eyes open and have reneged on it. They have what most broadcasters in the world would jump at, a guaranteed income, from tax payers, with non-payment punisgable by fine or crimminal record!

Showing half of a championship is like not showing it at all IMO. As for highlights programmes, that is 20 years out of date TV scheduling and coverage.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

First thought, im disapointed, naturally. Second thought, in this flat we are considering all chipping in a few quid because we are football fans, so it may transpire that we are actually able to recieve the races on Sky. The thing is, will the races be on regular Sky Sports, or will they be on Box Office for £10 a race?

Sky Sports HD, so it is subscription to channel service not a pay per view per se.

[kezza7]

I won't be paying to watch it, you can get lost, not paying anything to that evil corporation. Thank God that there are those really really legal ways of watching it online like i do with premier league football.

i want to be sick on Bernie right now.

[GTRMagic]

So.. are Martin & David going to SkySports too?

[duke_toaster]

Any comment from FOTA or the teams? I don't know how happy they will be ...

[josvandeperre]

Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said: "We are absolutely delighted that F1 will remain on the BBC.
"The sport has never been more popular with TV audiences at a 10-year high and the BBC has always stated its commitment to the big national sporting moments.

We are so committed to those record audiences we're betraying them

[chunder]

I don't think BBC have cut and run.

I do think all the hubbub about Murdoch and the BBC now makes a little more sense though!

What other marquee evensta re now also going to be lost!

They are cretins though, would tou pay a SKY subscription just to give billions to football clubs every year so that Carlos Tevez can moan about being on 250 grand a week? ( i know its not skys fault, but they generate the environment) Or clubs like West Ham, Blackpool, Wolves, any of the lower teams, can be run like charities because of the enormous sums given to them for failing!!

Very sad, poorly donr by the Beeb with all the recent rubbish about News Corp, makes the whole thing look exactoly what it is, Sordid and cheap, just like the News of the World