BBC drops F1

[j2 lot]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35149963

Not altogether surprising but why not drop some football instead.

I guess the BBC is a motorsport free zone now

[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.

[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.

[Alistair]

Channel 4 to take on the contract - importantly with NO advert breaks

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[Jeremy]

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

[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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[duggiesmith]

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.

[pshanks76]

Bring back Kickstart [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

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[Daveb]

Hopefully they will abolish the licence fee soon.

[douglasgdmw]

Does this release Suzi to go to Top Gear I wonder?

George

[j2 lot]

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......