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BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 1:42 pm
by j2 lot
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35149963

Not altogether surprising :roll: but why not drop some football instead. :twisted: :evil:

I guess the BBC is a motorsport free zone now :cry:

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 2:04 pm
by Dominic
Changed times. Seems a bit unfair that they have now dropped all motor sport. I appreciate that there are a lot of people who enjoy football, but do we really want to see darts and snooker over motor racing???.... will be down to costs I am sure.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 2:06 pm
by Lazydonkey
Said this on FB but it's simple - football is a popular sport, F1 is minority.

Doesn't make sense to us but from a "please more of the the people more of the time" point of view it makes sense.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 2:52 pm
by Alistair
Channel 4 to take on the contract - importantly with NO advert breaks :-)

http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news ... 6f68a35e34

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 3:55 pm
by vet111s
They've already lost control of the olympics, the 6 nations and the open golf. Other than Wimbledon I can't think of any other blue riband events that the Beeb are going to continue to cover. If the pattern continues they'll only be covering footy (occasionally as sky and bt have the rights to most of the live stuff) some very very minority sports.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 4:21 pm
by David
The BBC has had a reduced budget, in real terms, for the last 15+ years. In the first 10 years, there was enough fat to trim from staff cost and engineering, but the last five years there's been no alternative to cutting services and programming budgets. Personally I think it's a good thing to stand up and say 'no more' to the extortionate costs of some sports, F1 in particular. I wouldn't worry too much about the BBC being motor sport free - I suspects that there are already plans to fill the gap. BBC is in the fortunate position to be able to take risks, and that may well prove to be the making of some other motor sport discipline.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:36 pm
by campbell
I agree with saying no to Bernie. Grippy fecker.

Looking seriously at abandoning F1 altogether now and following BTCC with one or both of the kids next season. Including getting to a few of the races.

May watch C4 coverage initially out of curiosity though.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:39 pm
by GregR
Surely the sponsors will not be happy without free-to-air exposure? Once it goes full Sky, there are fewer people to be wowed by their advertising.

Surely Bernie et al have to realise the bubble has burst and they have to stop milking absolutely everyone involved in F1

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:39 pm
by Jeremy
David wrote:The BBC has had a reduced budget, in real terms, for the last 15+ years. In the first 10 years, there was enough fat to trim from staff cost and engineering, but the last five years there's been no alternative to cutting services and programming budgets. Personally I think it's a good thing to stand up and say 'no more' to the extortionate costs of some sports, F1 in particular. I wouldn't worry too much about the BBC being motor sport free - I suspects that there are already plans to fill the gap. BBC is in the fortunate position to be able to take risks, and that may well prove to be the making of some other motor sport discipline.
Couldn't agree more. I think this is absolutely fantastic news.

F1 has become an incredible borefest and given the costs involved I'd much rather see a wider selection of more grass roots orientated motorsport on the BBC, for an overall cost saving. Seems like a no brainer.

I'm old enough to remember edge of the seat excitement of the Lydden Hill Rallycross on Saturday afternoons, speedway bikes, maybe the BTCC could have a resurge in popularity if shown on the BBC and the drivers once again become household names. Lets get some rallying back on too. Hillclimbs.

If this means Lewis Hamilton has to cut back on his diamond earring collection or Bernard Eccles has to disappoint his young supermodel wife by not upgrading her lear jet this year then for me that's a small sacrifice worth making.

Regards,

Jeremy

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 10:14 pm
by Scottish Scrutineer
It would be good if the BBC could cover some of the grassroots motorsports that they abandoned years ago. I remember watching Rallycross, Rallies etc on Grandstand.


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Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 10:20 pm
by duggiesmith
campbell wrote:I agree with saying no to Bernie. Grippy fecker.

Looking seriously at abandoning F1 altogether now and following BTCC with one or both of the kids next season. Including getting to a few of the races.

May watch C4 coverage initially out of curiosity though.
BTCC is 10 times more exciting than F1.
ITV4 show the entire race day live, including all the support races.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 10:54 pm
by pshanks76
Bring back Kickstart [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

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Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:18 pm
by Daveb
Hopefully they will abolish the licence fee soon.

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:29 pm
by douglasgdmw
Does this release Suzi to go to Top Gear I wonder?

George

Re: BBC drops F1

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:58 pm
by j2 lot
GregR wrote:Surely the sponsors will not be happy without free-to-air exposure? Once it goes full Sky, there are fewer people to be wowed by their advertising.

Surely Bernie et al have to realise the bubble has burst and they have to stop milking absolutely everyone involved in F1
Couldn't agree more - I did read somewhere how much the viewing figures dropped when the Beeb dropped the live races and couldn't believe that Bernie couldn't/ didn't want to see what effect it had. Short term gain but long term plummeting interest in the sport. Mercenary marketing......