BBC to only show half of F1 races from next year - moving to Sky Sports!

[hayesey]

I know there are a few F1 fans on here, if like me you don't have Sky Sports then you probably wont be over the moon to read this:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93447

It seems stupid the BBC showing half the races, what is the point in that?  How many F1 fans want to miss half the races? 

To see the whole thing from next year on you'll have to pay for a Sky Sports subscription

I fail to see how this can lead to anything but a huge loss in viewing figures in the UK.  There is talk of this breaking the Concorde agreement between the F1 teams and the poisoned-gnome (sorry, "F1 Supremo" as he insists the media calls him).  I hope this is the case so they can tell him to feck off, stop being a money grabbing idiot and put F1 back where the fans can watch it.

[SamG40]

I've already emailed the BBC and FOTA. Unfortunately I cant help thinking that this is the best we can hope for. The BBC want to cut the cost of it so I think this was probably it or nothing. Compared to some things the bbc spends money on I dont think its that bad plus the money they must make selling it to other countries.

I think they'll get a way round the concorde or waving a big pile of Sky money at the teams will make the concorde issue go away.

[hayesey]

It just beggars belief.  Viewing figures for F1 are higher than they've been in a long, long time (10 years plus) and are still growing.  The BBC coverage gets nothing but good reviews.  And then they decide to get rid of it for cost saving purposes?

Surely they could get rid of something else instead?  How about BBC3?  Who the hell watches the braindead crap on there?  I cannot think of a single program that's ever been on BBC3 that's worth watching apart from Family Guy repeats which are hardly hard to fit somewhere else or just get rid of.

I do already have Sky but not Sports and I'm not paying the extra £15 or whatever a month for some channels I'll watch 0.01% of the programs on.

[Etches]

I'm fully angerd by this. Since brittish success in F1 like haysey has said viewing numbers have rocketed. The BBC are doing an awesome job in the presentation of the Sport. Ive been an avid fan for the past 8 years but now I'm being told i cant watch all of the races. Fully gutted

[hayesey]

Bernie has said it won't break the Concorde agreement because it expires when this come into effect.  Nice one

[Puncharado]

I'm also well pissed of about this, it was great when it went back to BBC after ITV's shite coverage and adverts every 15 minutes. I've also noticed the MotoGP coverage on BBC has been much worse this season, I can see the BBC losing that as well.

[Etches]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sporteditors/2011/07/f1_coverage_to_be_shared_betwe.html

check this out, everyone seems to feel exactly how we do

[SamG40]

Wow I started reading the comments until I realised how many there were! I really hope the reaction to this manages to reverse the decision but I can't see it, Sky won't give this up now they have signed. I think the only people that could stop this happening are the sponsors if they decide to pull out because they believe their coverage will be less.

[scotsjohn]

That's a very pertinent point. With free to view, they're guaranteed their audience; not so with pay to view. Trouble is, it'll take some time before sponsors see which way the wind's blowing and their contracted commitments will keep this fuck-up running for some time even if they're losing out.

[Richg40]

Maybe we'll see F1 in the pubs! The silver lining!

[Jezza-7]

Surely they could get rid of something else instead?  How about BBC3?  Who the hell watches the braindead crap on there?  I cannot think of a single program that's ever been on BBC3 that's worth watching apart from Family Guy repeats which are hardly hard to fit somewhere else or just get rid of.

What about bbc 4! What the hell is on that channel?!

[hayesey]

I watch a few sciencey documentaries on bbc4. Sometimes has some music stuff too

[Richg40]

I couldn't give two shits honestly, and yes i do have sky sports. I hope all the f1 moves over as it'll likely end up being better quality just like the football did all those years ago. The sooner the beeb loses the rights to show all sport the better. Let's start a campaign to get all sport and eastenders moved to sky.

[Max]

You can't honestly say the BBC coverage of F1 is bad???

[Richg40]

It doesn't matter if it's bad or not, with shit loads more money thrown at it will it get worse? Unlikely.