BBC loses FI

[peterbaker]

Did I just hear that BBC are losing F1 to SKY as from next season?

[sparehead3]

Yes, I heard that :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9550930.stm

"The BBC has been the exclusive broadcaster of F1 in the UK since 2009 but its contract with Formula One Management was due to expire after the 2013 season.

Sky Sports will show every race, qualifying session and practice live.

BBC Sport will broadcast half the races live, as well as the qualifying and practice sessions from those races.

Both companies will broadcast in high definition.

Races screened by the BBC will be live on the BBC Sport website for UK users."

[fensaddler]

So more a case of sharing than losing.  Not that its going to affect me - its who will have the coverage down under that will matter to me...

[zagatoboy]

As long as sky don't do what itv did cutting short the best bit of the race to get an advert in!

[peterbaker]

Personally I don't have Sky and have no intention of subscribing. Anyway, I already pay the BBC..

[thecolonel]

So I've got to pay another, what, £130 a year to watch half the races.

[Jolly_Club_6]

And we have just got rid if skysports from our package, because of the constant cricket, golf and tennis 
don't get chance to watch every f1 anyway.
At least the WRC is free to watch on MotorsTV, Rally Finland tonight, sorted. 

[thecolonel]

About 1000 complaints to the BBC already.
Plus the title of the thread should be BBC gives away f1

[peterbaker]

Suggest read autosport forum

[fay66]

I'm not interested in watching half the Grand Prix and paying through the nose for everything else, goodbye F1 as far as I'm concerned, we can now see where Bernie's heart lies despite all his denials that this would never happen, I love watching F1 but not at any price.
If the BBC want to save money lets have a bit less wall to wall inane reality shows.
Just seen latest from Martin Whitmarsh who says he understands that the deferred viewing of the F1's not shown live, will be the full versions not just the highlights
Murdoch Strikes Again, about time they broke his empire up.

Brian
8227

[thecolonel]

After reading all the different views I've come to the conclusion that, aside, from the fact the BBC has no money
the joint venture with SKY is spiteful. What they have done is to stop any other Free to Air company from taking
over the transmission for 7 years and have also covered the FOTA concorde agreement by showing some of the
races.

Over 6500 posts on the BBC thread but it won't change anything, It is possible that ESPN will show the races
as a ppv on free view, or you should be able to get a free online feed from Germany or Spain.

I complained to the BBC and rec'd this reply:


Dear Mr Holmes

Thanks for contacting us regarding the BBC's rights to broadcast future seasons of 'Formula One'.

We understand you are unhappy that the BBC won't be showing all races in future seasons due to the sharing of broadcast rights with Sky.

We know that Formula 1 has an extremely passionate following in the UK and that some fans will be disappointed that not all races will be available exclusively live on the BBC from next season.

We are operating in a very tough financial climate and in common with all areas of the BBC, BBC Sport is having to make significant cost savings over the next few years in order to operate within the constraints of the licence fee settlement, therefore we have to make some difficult choices.

We believe this deal represents good value for money for licence fee payers. We retain live coverage of half of the race weekends and we will have extended highlights of the remaining races so we are pleased that all of the action from Formula 1 for the next seven seasons will remain on BBC television. Online coverage of the race weekends that we broadcast will remain the same, and we will carry all the news and reports from the rest of the season. Radio coverage will not change whilst the most popular races - the British Grand Prix, the Monaco Grand Prix and the final race of the season will continue to be broadcast live on BBC One.

We would like to assure you that we’ve registered your complaint on our audience log. This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily for all programme makers and commissioning executives within the BBC, and also their senior management. It ensures that your points, and all other comments we receive, are made available across the BBC. 

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.

www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

NB This is sent from an outgoing account only which is not monitored. You cannot reply to this email address but if necessary please contact us via our webform quoting any case number we provided.

Kind Regards

BBC Audience Services

[fay66]

In other words, don't waste your breath complaining as it's a done deal and we don't give a stuff for your opinions or complaints

Brian
8227