BBC might drop F1

losthorizon

Oh no not ITV. PLease no!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/11/wimbledon-formula-one-bbc-cuts

Or Peter Collins

bm365

losthorizon wrote: »

Oh no not ITV. PLease no!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/11/wimbledon-formula-one-bbc-cuts

Or Peter Collins

What was wrong with Peter Collins? I liked him and Kennedy.

mickdw

bm365 wrote: »

What was wrong with Peter Collins? I liked him and Kennedy.

They didnt even go to some of the races.

bm365

mickdw wrote: »

They didnt even go to some of the races.

I didnt know that. What races? This is hardly something you can blame Peter Collins for though

mikemac

Yeah I liked Collins and Kennedy

I cannot find it on youtube but will always remember at Hockenhem and Fischella took the lead and Collins almost blew the speakers on the TV with his shouting

Such Jordan bias on RTÉ

heyjude

F1 fans better hope that McLaren have a great car this season then, for a championship dominated by Alonso, Massa, Vettel and Webber, with the likes of Hamilton and Button struggling badly, would surely hit viewing figures and give them every reason to cut F1 coverage.

lord lucan

I think what this guy,Jorob,says in the comments beneath the article is spot on. It's just politics at play.

I say, no Wimbledon!! I think not. Is this an April 1st story leaked early?

Here's the gist of what I contributed the last time we had one of these "BBC cuts" stories. I think it still applies....

Don't worry, these proposed changes won't happen.

There are some VERY clever people at the BBC. Their ploy is to show up the coalition in a bad light by proposeing these cuts and publicising this fact non-stop at every opportunity.

The BBC story is - "Because of the cuts forced on us these are the very unfortunate changes we have to make".

The public then react and there is a compromise U-turn by the coalition.

Remember what happened when it was announced that Radio 6 was to be axed?

However the BBC does needs sorting out. It has been untouchable and it's about time it was slimmed down in a major way. It is too self serving and seems to do what it wants. I hope Patten gets a grip of them.

Off course I'm sorry for the people who could be directly affected. It's not their fault. As always it is the fault of BBC management/leadership - and politicians, in this case.

Sabre0001

I liked Peter Collins

>.>
<.<

Mainly for the start of races - even if nothing happened, it was exciting Anywhere but ITV though! "Now, you've seen a lap. Here's the running order, and here's ADS!"

mikemac

Please not ITV and James Allen

Cookie_Monster

There are so many crappy sports BBC could drop before F1.

Bowls
snooker
darts

just to name a few, they can't possibly come anywhere near the viewer levels that F1 does.

30.8m viewers according to here:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=39946

I cannot see any other sport apart from soccer and the olympics coming anywhere near that for BBC. THat said the article states that BBC paid 30m for the rights, one of the highest amounts. Maybe they should be looking for a reduction in the fees rather than cancelling, not reason they couldn't negotiate 10-15% off that. Would any other UK network still be able to afford it I wonder?

G-Money

I sincerely hope they don't drop F1.

If they want to cut some stuff, how about those millions of house renovation/antique auction programmes. There's several versions on every day!

ratedR

I was surprised to hear this myself to be honest. F1 was only starting to come out of a lull when the beeb got the rights back. And since they've had them back, each season has been better then the last, and people are switching back onto F1. The viewing figures are massive, and to be fair the coverage is excellent. No breaks, people who know what their talking about (the jury is still out on eddie jordan) and the red button coverage for free practice with crofty and ant davidson is invaluable to true F1 fans. The forum is also fantastic after each race. And now this year we're even going to have the races in HD.

I for one, would be devasted if BBC got rid. It would almost definitely mean Sky or ESPN getting it, and having to pay for it would sicken me slightly after all these years of not having to.

oneofakind32

I reckon ESPN will jump on it! They have WRC this year and there site (espnf1.com) is going strong. If they can get F1 they can corner the motorsports section and increase subscriptions. A lot could depend on how Bernie's feels about f1 not being free to air in the UK though

afatbollix

If you have to pay for F1 in teh UK the sport will die. The UK is there biggest market!! Silverstone is all ready allmost sold out most of the teams are based in the UK

The WRC on ESPN is also killing that sport.. This weekend the BBC is sending a crew to the track world champs in amsterdam Its not even live its on the red button yet they sent a bigger crew than anyone.. I mean a huge crew They have the budget for F1 they wont be giving it anytime soon... Id say FOM will reduce the price for BBC too..

ratedR

afatbollix wrote: »

If you have to pay for F1 in teh UK the sport will die. The UK is there biggest market!! Silverstone is all ready allmost sold out most of the teams are based in the UK

The WRC on ESPN is also killing that sport..

I agree. They shot themselves in the foot with that move. And over the past few years there was all this talk of trying to make WRC more popular, and bringing the likes of "internet sensation" Ken Block in to bring with him the youtube and yank fans.
Ok we can watch it for free on motors tv in the nights, but the commentary is dire ! Yer man is as dull and fumbles over his words and makes a heap of mistakes. I miss Neil Cole too !

WRC is actually starting to get its act back together slightly, although more manufactors are needed. But moving it to ESPN, they have alienated so many people, only the hardcore fans will continue to watch it.

The same would surely happen to F1 if it went the same way. And you just wouldnt know with Bernie..

Vinny-Chase

Bernie won't allow F1 to go PPV. He'll want it on on the free to view channels so as many people as possible can view it.

ratedR

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

Bernie won't allow F1 to go PPV. He'll want it on on the free to view channels so as many people as possible can view it.

You for real ? The man only cares about revenue. To be honest he has to, it's his job to keep the sport moving upward and it costs money to do that.

Want proof ? Look at the empty grandstands in China and Turkey.
If he really wanted to bring F1 to the fans he wouldn't be dropping classic races in Europe with the bigest fanbases in favour of new tracks in the Middle east, with crazy ticket prices and minimul interest from the public.

Vinny-Chase

F1 is run by sponsors for exposure. The more exposure for them the better.

I'll eat my hat if F1 is not on one of the free view channels in the UK. Whether it's ITV or BBC. Preferably BBC for Bernie as they show practice etc.

ratedR

To be honest I don't think it will leave the BBC for a long time.
I'm just making the point that Bernie doesn't care about fans having it for free, your post just seemed a bit naive, although I don't think you meant it to be.

RayM

ratedR wrote: »

Want proof ? Look at the empty grandstands in China and Turkey.
If he really wanted to bring F1 to the fans he wouldn't be dropping classic races in Europe with the bigest fanbases in favour of new tracks in the Middle east, with crazy ticket prices and minimul interest from the public.

This is true. He'd much rather cosy up to tyrants in faraway oil-rich countries, who care as much about motorsport as they do about human rights, than give the fans what they want. He knows he won't be around for much longer, so he doesn't really care about the long-term future of Formula One. In the short term, he wants to suck as much as he can out of it, and dropping the Grands Prix of those countries which are hindered by the unfortunate organisational barrier of democracy is currently the best way to go about it. As he gets older, his judgement is decreasing, but his power and authority remain as high as ever.

His demise can't come soon enough.