Bernie sold out - F1 moving to sky

[Mr Momo]

/conspiracy mode on

This is revenge after Jake asked Bernie if he was guilty of corruption last week

/conspiracy mode off

[vet111s]

Interesting quote from brundel during quali 1
To DC "so who else do you think will be joining us at the front of the job centre queue next year"!!

Kind of expected something like that to be slipped in from brundel. DC sidestepped the question. Maybe less confident of retaining position next year?

Ali

[campbell]

Then take the bloody ipad from jake that he never, ever uses, but insists on carrying everywhere.

All gave me a chortle Scott, however I believe Jake makes a lot of use of the iPad for viewer interaction on the F1 Forum and at other points in the weekend especially race day. Wouldn't surprise me if he had show prompters etc on there too, maybe with some feeds from The Gallery, because prior to the iPad it was clipboards - and they used them!

Well as promised I have maxed iPlayer already, and have just enjoyed full qually, time delayed without worrying about recording it on something, delivered in best quality Standard Definition (!) to my telly courtesy of Sony Blu-Ray player.

Noticed lots of "F1 on the BBC" phrases today. Maybe cos I'm looking for it, maybe cos the scripters are subliminally messaging everyone

And as for qually itself, well it should be a laugh into Turn 1 tomorrow, and big up Perez for P10, Massa for beating Alonso, and Di Resta for hanging onto 11th.

[a4drk]

I'm not very happy about this, but, what can I do? So, how much is Skysports going to cost me then? (already have Sky, all be it the most basic package).

think its £8 or £10 per month.

I already have sky, but like most have really been enjoying the beebs (advert free) covarage. i even watched a full qually program for the first time last weekend. (ok so i was hung over)

it cant be any worse then ITV's can it

It's £20 a month extra - on top of my HD Movies Package - already paying £70 a month to them.

David

[Dominic]

Interesting quote from brundel during quali 1
To DC "so who else do you think will be joining us at the front of the job centre queue next year"!!

Kind of expected something like that to be slipped in from brundel. DC sidestepped the question. Maybe less confident of retaining position next year?

Ali

We noticed that. Also Brundle at the very start of his commentary just before the race started; "well the Sky has closed in on formula 1....." of course he was talking about the weather

[PhilA]

if i were bbc F1 crew id be might pissed off.
worked so hard, in live tv - getting in to the garages and gaining trust with the teams to get ever closer.
those relationships were earnt

u can tell all that from the comments made throughout the shows.

also, can tell BBC put a gagging on any chat on the subject.

jake put a "the show must go on" face and tried to rally his troops - respect to him.

I think the glory years have now passed - will be a subset of what we have had, no matter the broadcaster - the dream team's energy will be hard to match elsewhere.

personally, im mighty pissed off ill get half the story, which means im likely to not have as much an interest as I do just now - pretty fanatical about F1 at the mo.

[kerryxeg]

One of the news reviews on the topic stated that the BBC coverage cost £1.30 per viewer per race, so I guess it's hard not to argue against the statement that this is disproportionate compared to the annual licence fee (whatever that is now). On the other hand, I don't watch much TV, and it can't be that expensive to fill the BBC channels with soap reruns.

Keeping half the live races on the BBC is the best outcome we could have hoped for in current times.

[campbell]

I think I'd happily pay an extra £1.30 per race to watch it on the Beeb with the continuation of the current (excellent) formula. For a couple of pounds a month, that's brilliant value

Anyone at the Beeb up for a pay per view subscription model then?!

[campbell]

Some quality, grown-up analysis and minor insight on Jake Humphrey's F1 blog. The 200+ comments are entertaining in places too!

Click on the quality Beeb presenter for the detail...

[Scotty C]

I think I'd happily pay an extra £1.30 per race to watch it on the Beeb with the continuation of the current (excellent) formula. For a couple of pounds a month, that's brilliant value

Anyone at the Beeb up for a pay per view subscription model then?!

yes but would you pay say £10 or £15 per race?

i think the present crew will stay and the Highlight shows will be 3 hours long.

[campbell]

No I certainly would not pay £10 to £15 per race, that's a bridge too far.

As it happens, ISTR that you can pay a few pounds to watch streaming of "Race of Champions" near Christmas time. If such a model were implemented by the Beeb for the quality of coverage they produce, at a couple of pounds a race, I'd almost certainly do that.

But I'm still unclear - if the Beeb run a 3-hour highlights show, how are they saving money? Surely they have to pay to acquire the footage / feeds? And they'll still be paying "talent" to design, produce and present the show?

<scratches head>

[alicrozier]

I'd be happy with almost full highlights programmesas I don't think I've watched any races live this year...always something else on (that does involve dodging the spoilers tho'...la,la,la).

[Tommy Twist]

What a bummer

I'm a relative newcomer to F1, having only started following it near the start of the 2010 season. I do in fact have Sky HD, but I don't have Sky Sports, nor will I be subscribing to it for the sake of ten or so races. Also very hard to imagine how Sky could improve upon the BBC's fine coverage.

So much for my newfound interest! Thanks very much, the Government and Bernie

[Mikie711]

But I'm still unclear - if the Beeb run a 3-hour highlights show, how are they saving money? Surely they have to pay to acquire the footage / feeds? And they'll still be paying "talent" to design, produce and present the show?

<scratches head>

This years season is costing the Beeb £31 million. The deal with Sky reduces this to £15 million for the live races and the "extended highlights" with Sky's share being £25 million. This explains why Bernie is happy with the new package.

All explained in greater detail on pitpass web site. Not sure how accurate the info is but seems plausible.

Created quite a furor this deal, weather or not public opinion will change the outcome remains to be seen. Personally I doubt any thing will change but certainly there are a few people at the BBC who should be looking for alternative employment for grossly misjudging the situation, starting with the director of sport Barbara Slater.

6872 replies to Ben Gallops blog kinda tells a story in itself. Blog here.

[Mikie711]

What a bummer

I'm a relative newcomer to F1, having only started following it near the start of the 2010 season. I do in fact have Sky HD, but I don't have Sky Sports, nor will I be subscribing to it for the sake of ten or so races. Also very hard to imagine how Sky could improve upon the BBC's fine coverage.

So much for my newfound interest! Thanks very much, the Government and Bernie

They won't, it'll just be longer and include the practice seasons as well as qually and race.