BBC considering not renewing F1 contract

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 12 Mar 2011, 17:57

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/ma ... e-bbc-cuts

I work for the BBC, although nothing to do with F1 or anything related to it. I have no insider knowledge on how seriously this is being considered, but I do know that pretty much nothing is sacred at the BBC at the moment as management try and work out how to make the 20% savings they need to do.

Interesting question as to who might come in for the UK TV rights if the BBC did drop out after 2014, though. Would ITV want it back, I wonder? Channel 4 has never really been seen as a mainstream sports broadcaster, but on the other hand it did win a lot of praise for its Test Cricket coverage when it held those rights, so could possibly be a bidder - I find it hard to imagine they'd want to spend that much money, though.

So I think it could end up on Sky, which is a depressing thought.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 12 Mar 2011, 19:54

Paul Hayes wrote:http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/11/wimbledon-formula-one-bbc-cuts

I work for the BBC, although nothing to do with F1 or anything related to it. I have no insider knowledge on how seriously this is being considered, but I do know that pretty much nothing is sacred at the BBC at the moment as management try and work out how to make the 20% savings they need to do.

Interesting question as to who might come in for the UK TV rights if the BBC did drop out after 2014, though. Would ITV want it back, I wonder? Channel 4 has never really been seen as a mainstream sports broadcaster, but on the other hand it did win a lot of praise for its Test Cricket coverage when it held those rights, so could possibly be a bidder - I find it hard to imagine they'd want to spend that much money, though.

So I think it could end up on Sky, which is a depressing thought.

Well that's made an already pretty grim sporting evening even more depressing.

Glennerz · Post by **Glennerz** » 12 Mar 2011, 20:14

shinji wrote:Well that's made an already pretty grim sporting evening even more depressing.

And this. Or does this forum only watch cricket and rugby besides F1?

fjackdaw · Post by **fjackdaw** » 12 Mar 2011, 20:20

I only watch F1, though I will sometimes follow the snooker world championship finals.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 12 Mar 2011, 20:21

Glennerz wrote:
shinji wrote:Well that's made an already pretty grim sporting evening even more depressing.

And this. Or does this forum only watch cricket and rugby besides F1?

That is not grim!

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 12 Mar 2011, 21:07

Glennerz wrote:And this. Or does this forum only watch cricket and rugby besides F1?

No no, but couldn't cared less for those teams...

Find something with Fulham - and I'll be all over it!

And then, Nottm Forest can get back to PL. While Aldershot Town gets up to League One, while AFC Wimbledon and Vauxhall battles it out in League Two!

Or like it's called in a Norwegian comic strip "Pondus" - Premiership -> Wankership -> Loosership -> Worse than Loosership -> Where are you playing nowship.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 12 Mar 2011, 21:14

Disappointing but not entirely surprising. If they don't renew I very much doubt if other terrestrial stations will want and/or be able to afford it. If it goes back to ITV again I'd rather stick pins in my head.

Let's face it, it's going to be Sky or ESPN isn't it? As Sky haven't shown much interest in motor sport thus far, maybe the latter.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 12 Mar 2011, 21:37

They won't axe it, it's too popular on the BBC to get the chop. Everyone wanted it back, and the big deal that was made about it by the BBC in the run up to the 2009 season was massive.

I'd rather see the darts/snooker/lawn bowls/other minority sports with minimal following to be axed than somthing that attracts millions of viewers every other weekend!

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 12 Mar 2011, 21:41

AndreaModa wrote:They won't axe it, it's too popular on the BBC to get the chop. Everyone wanted it back, and the big deal that was made about it by the BBC in the run up to the 2009 season was massive.

I'd rather see the darts/snooker/lawn bowls/other minority sports with minimal following to be axed than somthing that attracts millions of viewers every other weekend!

But what about the guys over at Lawn Bowl Rejects? How will they get their fix?

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 12 Mar 2011, 21:42

I just sincerely hope this isn't true. For a sport that has no natural breaks in it for 1 hour 30 mins. to 2 hours long, it really ought to be on a channel with no ad breaks. The BBC is the only channel that can offer that.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 12 Mar 2011, 22:58

Who knows, maybe this never-ending crisis will be over for 2014 when the contract ends.

Good luck with it!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 12 Mar 2011, 23:14

Has anyone ever suggested the idea of ad breaks, but once the race resumed from the ad break, it resumed right where it left off? Or something similar to IndyCar's side-by-side coverage, which, while it has ads on one side of the screen, has the race still running (albeit muted) on the other side? NASCAR once had a race where the bottom quarter of the screen was restricted to advertisements and scoring, and would mute the sound for ads at the bottom of the screen.

Appreciate no commercial breaks while you have them, but SpeedTV's coverage of F1 will repeat any major moment that the viewer missed on a replay if something happened during the commercial break unless it was radio chatter (in which case Bob Varsha will repeat it). Then again, I do appreciate SpeedTV's timing for going to commercial breaks, because they tend to do it whenever there is a lull in the on-track action. The only goof I can think of is that they did decide to cut to commercial break literally a second before Jenson Button's McLaren blew up spectacularly at Monaco, and there was a split second of Button's car up in smoke with Varsha's reaction. Fortunately they replayed it after the commercial break, so error amended.

Obviously, the BBC's decision doesn't affect me in the slightest (unless I torrent a race I missed live on Racing Underground), I just thought I'd share how things are like on this side of the pond, where corporations have much greater sway on what you view.

P_Friesacher · Post by **P_Friesacher** » 13 Mar 2011, 00:57

The first idea is terrible, because the race is no longer live then. The split-screen is fine, but if state owned TV wants to spend the money I pay for it to play something I like to watch without ad breaks (which, at least here in Austria - and I suspect in Britain, too - are forbidden by competition law), I won't complain either.

And about the state of American TV, I think you might want to consider spending a little more on public TV (and radio). I know - not a fight you could win, much less in the current climate. But still...

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 13 Mar 2011, 04:51

AndreaModa wrote:They won't axe it, it's too popular on the BBC to get the chop. Everyone wanted it back, and the big deal that was made about it by the BBC in the run up to the 2009 season was massive.

That was a long time ago now, though, and with the savings which need making it's much harder to justify the £40 million-a-year outlay for something that, frankly, isn't *that* popular.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 13 Mar 2011, 05:12

P_Friesacher wrote:And about the state of American TV, I think you might want to consider spending a little more on public TV (and radio). I know - not a fight you could win, much less in the current climate. But still...

There technically is a public TV station where I am, but there's nothing on it worth watching IIRC. It certainly doesn't attract any motorsport*, otherwise I'd watch it.

* Motorsport, for the curious, DOES NOT INCLUDE DRAG RACING OR DUMBASSES DOING TIME ATTACKS IN CIVICS. Thank you. :mrgreen:

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 13 Mar 2011, 06:05

BBC seems to be the only good choice for F1 in the UK.
And it comes from someone who prefers the English commentary over his native language one (the Hungarian, as that is boring as hell)! The latter version has one (yes, ONE) ad in it during the race. But: it doesn't get announced, the commentators just shut up suddenly, race screen gets smaller, the one ad on the right gets played with sound - I can even tell you what ad it was all the season: Burn Shot - then it ends, race goes on with sound again.

Post by **tommykl** » 13 Mar 2011, 07:10

In Belgium, I usually watch the BBC coverage when I can because of the lack of ad-breaks. If my dad won't let me, I've got two choices in French: TF1 (the French channel) and La Une (the Belgian channel). I almost always watch La Une because not only is the coverage good, but it also doesn't have that annoying jingoism thing (seriously. When Bourdais was in F1, the TF1 crew would remind you he was in 14th every five laps).

Ross Prawn · Post by **Ross Prawn** » 13 Mar 2011, 14:33

I imagine this is stage 1 in a long negotiation with Bernie. Nothing to panic about yet.

ITV would probably be keen to get it back. If all else fails I suppose it will be on at about 4 in the morning on Motors TV, after the tractor pulling.

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 13 Mar 2011, 14:34

Events like this probably don't help the future of races like the Australian GP, as the cost of production vs. ratings early in the morning probably doesn't add up.

Rocks with Salt · Post by **Rocks with Salt** » 13 Mar 2011, 18:03

Cynon wrote:Has anyone ever suggested the idea of ad breaks, but once the race resumed from the ad break, it resumed right where it left off? Or something similar to IndyCar's side-by-side coverage, which, while it has ads on one side of the screen, has the race still running (albeit muted) on the other side? NASCAR once had a race where the bottom quarter of the screen was restricted to advertisements and scoring, and would mute the sound for ads at the bottom of the screen.

Appreciate no commercial breaks while you have them, but SpeedTV's coverage of F1 will repeat any major moment that the viewer missed on a replay if something happened during the commercial break unless it was radio chatter (in which case Bob Varsha will repeat it). Then again, I do appreciate SpeedTV's timing for going to commercial breaks, because they tend to do it whenever there is a lull in the on-track action. The only goof I can think of is that they did decide to cut to commercial break literally a second before Jenson Button's McLaren blew up spectacularly at Monaco, and there was a split second of Button's car up in smoke with Varsha's reaction. Fortunately they replayed it after the commercial break, so error amended.

Obviously, the BBC's decision doesn't affect me in the slightest (unless I torrent a race I missed live on Racing Underground), I just thought I'd share how things are like on this side of the pond, where corporations have much greater sway on what you view.

SpeedTV is actually pretty knowledgeable when it comes to timing ad breaks and when not to -- I remember Turkey last year when they showed the bumper which meant that they were about to go to a commercial when Vettel and Webber collided, at which point the entire commentary team yelled "STOP! DON'T GO TO COMMERCIAL!" and they continued coverage.

As for side-by-side as breaks, the only one I've ever been okay with was Daytona last year when they muted the sound and played the commercial at the bottom of the screen; the racing was never out of view and with it being broadcast in HD you never had a drop in quality. IndyCar, however, seems to do everything wrong. The picture always shrinks to smaller than the commercial and it only focuses on the leader. If a crash occurs in the back, you'd be none the wiser. Even in HD you can't see anything... I'd be better off if they just did regular breaks like F1 and just showed in detail what we missed.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 13 Mar 2011, 20:18

Cynon wrote:Has anyone ever suggested the idea of ad breaks, but once the race resumed from the ad break, it resumed right where it left off? Or something similar to IndyCar's side-by-side coverage, which, while it has ads on one side of the screen, has the race still running (albeit muted) on the other side? NASCAR once had a race where the bottom quarter of the screen was restricted to advertisements and scoring, and would mute the sound for ads at the bottom of the screen.

I remember reading somewhere that there are laws that prohibit the split screen idea in the UK.

noisebox · Post by **noisebox** » 13 Mar 2011, 21:20

I think you need to read between the lines here - the article brackets F1 and Wimbledon. I think there is no way the Beeb would drop Wimbledon - certainly not whilst Andy Murray is a top player and probably not even after that. You could look at it in two ways, either that this discredits thoughts that they may drop F1, or that they are floating the two together so that it looks like they are dropping F1 to save Wimbledon...

Glennerz · Post by **Glennerz** » 13 Mar 2011, 23:49

noisebox wrote:I think there is no way the Beeb would drop Wimbledon - certainly not whilst Andy Murray is a top player and probably not even after that.

The counter-argument to that would be that there is a reliable British front-runner in Formula 1 as well, namely Lewis Hamilton. The question then for the BBC is what does the British TV licence-payer want to see more, Wimbledon or Formula 1 - and given Wimbledon's status as something of a national institution though, it doesn't look good for F1.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 14 Mar 2011, 00:35

Glennerz wrote:
noisebox wrote:I think there is no way the Beeb would drop Wimbledon - certainly not whilst Andy Murray is a top player and probably not even after that.

The counter-argument to that would be that there is a reliable British front-runner in Formula 1 as well, namely Lewis Hamilton. The question then for the BBC is what does the British TV licence-payer want to see more, Wimbledon or Formula 1 - and given Wimbledon's status as something of a national institution though, it doesn't look good for F1.

Exactly, and it's this same bullshit perception that continues to pervade the BBC in this modern age where stuff like Top Gear is actually postponed for live snooker coverage, and sports such as MotoGP are confined to the digital 'Red Button' service whilst golf gets wall-to-wall coverage. It's elitist, dated and is not a fair representation for the tens of millions of licence fee payers. Remember they have a legal obligation to provide popular television coverage for the wider population, hence why so many different sports are covered by them. If F1 is dropped and not picked up by another terrestrial channel, there will be a big public outcry.

IdeFan · Post by **IdeFan** » 14 Mar 2011, 00:37

Much like when the cricket stopped being shown on TV, I will probably swap to radio. There have been a couple of instances in the last few years where I have been unable to get to a TV on race day, and I must say 5Live does a superb job of covering what is such a visual sport on the radio.

No F1 on terrestrial TV would still be a disaster though, for me sport in general is one of the few things worth watching on TV these days and we seem to be getting less and less of it, I'd like to see more of my license fee spent on sport and less on trash (BBC 3 in general).

Edit: On a somewhat brighter note, I don't think its in F1's best interest not to be broadcast free to air in the UK. While there are die-hard fans (like us) out there, the majority of the viewer-base seems to be more casual, and they wouldn't clamour to buy it on pay per view or subscription, unlike football. Despite the rise of Asia the UK is still a very important market for many of F1's big sponsors, and they would not be happy to see the ratings plummet in the UK because F1 isn't free to air.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 14 Mar 2011, 02:23

Glennerz wrote:
shinji wrote:Well that's made an already pretty grim sporting evening even more depressing.

And this. Or does this forum only watch cricket and rugby besides F1?

Sad Ireland lost to FREAKIN WALES... but man u?

HORRAY!

Glennerz · Post by **Glennerz** » 14 Mar 2011, 11:12

JeremyMcClean wrote:Sad Ireland lost to FREAKIN WALES... but man u?

HORRAY!

Are any of Manchester United's supporters actually from Manchester?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 14 Mar 2011, 11:16

Ross Prawn wrote:I imagine this is stage 1 in a long negotiation with Bernie. Nothing to panic about yet.

ITV would probably be keen to get it back. If all else fails I suppose it will be on at about 4 in the morning on Motors TV, after the tractor pulling.

Yeah, isn't Bernie going to save it? It's a rather lucrative contract and he won't get better if BBC writes it off... It is in his best interest for him to prevent such thing. Almost the same thing happened here in Portugal. Except the difference is in that the private cable sports network actually stole the rights offering a better contract to Bernie... RTP (Radio Televisão Portuguesa) which is the state network and had the broadcast rights since, well, ever decided that the new price tag wasn't worth it and let Sport TV (that private sports network, similar in concept to that French cancer called canal+) steal it. The positive is that even the free practices are broadcasted (sadly I will be either working or sleeping so it is irrelevant to me). The negative is that the price you pay to see that network is outrageous (at Canal+ level) and most people only pay to watch their football team national championship matches. Obviously for every café and bar it is a must have, but for a private home it is not. People leave home to see that weekend match of their team, but to see F1? It is not a coincidence that most people, when spoken of F1, ask how it is like now since they haven't seen a race in many years... Shame, really. Luckily we still have Internet. So, UK friends, don't let anything similar happen to you. (In a way since most teams are UK based even if only a couple are really British...)

Just out of curiosity, this is the motosport that is broadcasted by Sport TV:
- Formula 1
- Portugal National Rally Championship
- Portugal National Baja Championship
- NASCAR
- WRC

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 14 Mar 2011, 11:17

Glennerz wrote:
JeremyMcClean wrote:Sad Ireland lost to FREAKIN WALES... but man u?

HORRAY!

Are any of Manchester United's supporters actually from Manchester?

I am not!

MaxZero · Post by **MaxZero** » 14 Mar 2011, 12:03

I can see the beeb dropping it, i doubt they would simply reduce the budget it gets if anything happens

ITV opted out of their last year of transmission didn't they? There wasn't actually anything wrong with their coverage, not as good was what the BBC does now but it was certainty a financial decision to terminate early. So thats them out, C4 do the horse racing and that Saturday morning program that used to be called Transworld Sports, i don't think the'll be interested.

But if it was to go the way of the Cricket, with live broadcasts on Sky and highlights on ITV4 or Channel 5 there would be absolute outrage from the industry involved within the UK. I don't think Bernie would let that happen.

But who else is there, Channel 1 has ties with Virgin Racing and is unlikely anyway, the quality of output and twat who owns on Channel 5 is i hope enough to keep Bernie away from them and Dave already has the rally

Post by **mario** » 14 Mar 2011, 12:57

MaxZero wrote:I can see the beeb dropping it, i doubt they would simply reduce the budget it gets if anything happens

ITV opted out of their last year of transmission didn't they? There wasn't actually anything wrong with their coverage, not as good was what the BBC does now but it was certainty a financial decision to terminate early. So thats them out, C4 do the horse racing and that Saturday morning program that used to be called Transworld Sports, i don't think the'll be interested.

But if it was to go the way of the Cricket, with live broadcasts on Sky and highlights on ITV4 or Channel 5 there would be absolute outrage from the industry involved within the UK. I don't think Bernie would let that happen.

But who else is there, Channel 1 has ties with Virgin Racing and is unlikely anyway, the quality of output and twat who owns on Channel 5 is i hope enough to keep Bernie away from them and Dave already has the rally

Besides, if the fees stayed at the same level as the BBC are paying now, I suspect that many of the independent channels would not be able to afford the rights. ITV and Channel 4 are profitable, but not massively so, and even though the sport is still bringing in a lot of spectators, I doubt that the advertising revenue that could be squeezed from the sport would offset the fees. Besides, the total revenue of ITV or Channel 4 is considerably smaller than the BBC, so if BBC is struggling to shoulder the costs, I doubt that they would want the rights unless the terms were much more favourable.

I strongly suspect, therefore, that the organisation that could afford to buy up the rights would be News Corporation, especially now that they have permission to take over BSkyB. The fact that Murdoch, and by extension his News Corporation, are so friendly with the current British Government, would probably help too, as I can't see the current Government wanting to increase funding for the BBC to hold onto the rights. The general public would complain, I expect, but those complaints would probably fall on deaf ears.
For the shorter term, I can see the BBC perhaps cutting back on some of its coverage - perhaps, for example, cutting the amount of pre and post race interviews and supplementary programming - but in the longer term, it is possible that the rights will go elsewhere, which would be a shame.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 14 Mar 2011, 19:01

I've been trying to resist having to buy pay-per-view TV for years, I like golf and cricket as well as motorsport, and a lot of that's now on Sky but there's enough highlights and stuff to keep me going (plus a mate of mine who's obsessed with golf as recently bought it, so can just go round his if there's any must-see golf not on BBC), but if F1 went to Sky I'd reluctantly have to take the plunge and try and save up!

Chewie · Post by **Chewie** » 15 Mar 2011, 20:02

AndreaModa wrote:Exactly, and it's this same bullshit perception that continues to pervade the BBC in this modern age where stuff like Top Gear is actually postponed for live snooker coverage, and sports such as MotoGP are confined to the digital 'Red Button' service whilst golf gets wall-to-wall coverage.

Golf has only 3 tournaments on BBC per year; the Open, The British PGA Championship and the Masters; the final 2 only have the second two days live now that Sky have managed to gain the rights to the full Masters package.

So compare that to F1 that gets 19 weekends of coverage; and last year I was able to watch all practice sessions, the qualifying AND the race!!

Golf gets 3 weekends, and only the Open is covered from start to end of play,

I'm sorrry but i'm a Golf fan and the coverage is far from wall to wall.

The F1 and MotoGP coverage actually dwarfs any other yearly live sport on the BBC, now that the BBC has very few live football matches, no cricket, only the six 'Six Nations' weekends & 2 weeks of Wimbledon.

The BBC coverage is excellent across all platforms, and 'red button' is essentially a awy of ensuring we get more coverage of our sport than a hindrence.

MaxZero · Post by **MaxZero** » 16 Mar 2011, 15:34

The Red Button proved itself as one of the best services auntie beeb offers during the Olympics, the switchover from Analog is almost finished so its not exactly a tricky to find service anymore. I bet more people would watch it if they stated calling it by the channel numbers they have

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 16 Mar 2011, 15:49

I'll agree the Red Button service is a good one, but when you live in a rural area where signal is often poor, or you don't even have digital yet, then it might as well not exist.

My point is this, sports that have always held higher regard within the upper echelons of British society have always been favoured by the BBC in terms of coverage. I'll admit things have improved in recent years, but the trend is still there.

Golf is a sport I'll never understand, it bores me to tears and I don't understand how people can spend entire afternoons watching it. That they do is fair enough, everyone is entitled to enjoy what they want, and I'm not trying to ridicule it. My point is that F1, MotoGP and other sports that often seem to get the shaft, have higher target audiences that most likely translate into higher viewing figures (though I can't confirm this) despite the fact that often they are shown at off-peak times like the early hours of the morning for races on the other side of the world.

What I want to know is why the BBC cannot offer a selection of sports that the majority of the British public enjoy, when every single owner of a working television in the country is paying them for the priviledge to use it? Show the golf, snooker, lawn bowls, horse racing, etc, but alongside coverage of more mainstream sports that the general public are interested in!

Chewie · Post by **Chewie** » 16 Mar 2011, 17:37

AndreaModa wrote:I'll agree the Red Button service is a good one, but when you live in a rural area where signal is often poor, or you don't even have digital yet, then it might as well not exist.

My point is this, sports that have always held higher regard within the upper echelons of British society have always been favoured by the BBC in terms of coverage. I'll admit things have improved in recent years, but the trend is still there.

Golf is a sport I'll never understand, it bores me to tears and I don't understand how people can spend entire afternoons watching it. That they do is fair enough, everyone is entitled to enjoy what they want, and I'm not trying to ridicule it. My point is that F1, MotoGP and other sports that often seem to get the shaft, have higher target audiences that most likely translate into higher viewing figures (though I can't confirm this) despite the fact that often they are shown at off-peak times like the early hours of the morning for races on the other side of the world.

What I want to know is why the BBC cannot offer a selection of sports that the majority of the British public enjoy, when every single owner of a working television in the country is paying them for the priviledge to use it? Show the golf, snooker, lawn bowls, horse racing, etc, but alongside coverage of more mainstream sports that the general public are interested in!

I don't know where you get the idea that motorsport gets short changed by the BBC?

19 entire weekends of F1 shown live; plus analysis and a superb web page. (plus all practice on red buttons, i-player and on the web)

Every MotoGP race shown live, plus 125 & 250 on red button.

check the BBc website and check the schedule for the sports you think have precidence?

1 golf tournament shown in full, 1 shown live for last 2 days but in the evening as it's in the US, and 1 other that has final day coverage.

Lawn Bowls? Snooker? horse racing? the BBC actually hardly has any of this any more;

and motorsport is in a much better state on terrestrial TV than when I used to watch Mick Doohan on Eurosport and Foggy in WSB on Sky;

BBC shows all F1 and MotoGP, ITV4 shows BSB, BTCC, and brilliant coverage of the IOM TT races and Nothwest 200. Dave has the WRC.

Only Le Mans is something I can't watch;

If BBC drops F1 it's solely down to the price Bernie wants them to pay, but he wants to be very careful. BBC gives excellent coverage that his sport wouldn't get on pay channels and sponsors know this.

Debaser · Post by **Debaser** » 16 Mar 2011, 18:02

I think AndreaModa is referring to things like football and cricket which are pre-dominantly shown on Sky , which you have to pay (I think) 30 pound a month to sign up to, or on ITV where you have simply appalling commentators and pundits. Sports coverage on the BBC is certainly not as good as it used to be, they had to get rid of Grandstand (a platform to show all sorts of sports on weekends) because they didn't have enough sport to fill the schedules.

Chewie · Post by **Chewie** » 16 Mar 2011, 18:24

Debaser wrote:I think AndreaModa is referring to things like football and cricket which are pre-dominantly shown on Sky , which you have to pay (I think) 30 pound a month to sign up to, or on ITV where you have simply appalling commentators and pundits. Sports coverage on the BBC is certainly not as good as it used to be, they had to get rid of Grandstand (a platform to show all sorts of sports on weekends) because they didn't have enough sport to fill the schedules.

Good on 'em for not paying huge fees for live football and cricket, and it kinda shows their commitment to F1 that it is the biggest sport they cover now. But if Bernie wants to flog to the highest bidder do we want our taxes (it is a tax after-all), used to pay for F1?

I think F1 needs good coverage more than money though, so the BBC are probably in a strong position.

Archie2K · Post by **Archie2K** » 16 Mar 2011, 21:43

Debaser wrote:I think AndreaModa is referring to things like football and cricket which are pre-dominantly shown on Sky , which you have to pay (I think) 30 pound a month to sign up to, or on ITV where you have simply appalling commentators and pundits. Sports coverage on the BBC is certainly not as good as it used to be, they had to get rid of Grandstand (a platform to show all sorts of sports on weekends) because they didn't have enough sport to fill the schedules.

Vis a vis football, ITV has only FA Cup matches remaining, and they need to share these with ESPN. The BBC shares Carling Cup matches with Sky, and shows the occasional Championship match. Premiership football is not available in full anywhere but satellite/cable because it is the most expensive. Despite the attempts to glamourise the cup competitions, they are seen as less important by both teams and fans, hence less expensive to air.

Although no-one asked me, I find Mark Lawrenson's commentary renders any football match on BBC unwatchable.

MaxZero wrote:C4 do the horse racing and that Saturday morning program that used to be called Transworld Sports, i don't think the'll be interested.

They also show triathlon at 8am on a Sunday (*plug*) which used to be shown on Channel 5 at 4am. I think the broadcasters have a duty to show a certain proportion of sports/public interest programming so they pick something with a small but dedicated following and stick it on when no-one is watching. At least F1 and MotoGP haven't reached this stage yet!

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 16 Mar 2011, 22:17

Archie2K wrote:Although no-one asked me, I find Mark Lawrenson's commentary renders any football match on BBC unwatchable.

Scene: it's the FA Cup Final, 2008. Gary Lineker is presenting the BBC's coverage.
GL: Hello, and welcome to the FA Cup Final. Two unfancied teams have battled their way past the giants of the English game, and now Portsmouth face Cardiff City for a taste of cup glory. Joining me in the studio are Garth Crooks, Alan Shearer and Mark Lawrenson. Let's start with a prediction. Who do you think is going to win today, Garth?
GC: Got to be Portsmouth. It's Harry Redknapp that'll make all the difference, he knows how to get the best out of the squad that's available to him.
GL: Alan?
AS: I'll go for Cardiff, y'kna, I like to shout for the underdog. That's why I played for Newcastle.
GL: Mark?
ML: I don't know what these two are talking about, Gary... I really can't see past Manchester United to win today.
AS & GC: WHAT?
GL: You do know Manchester United aren't playing in this final, right, Mark?
ML: But, Gary, they're the best team in the world. Probably in the universe. And Sir Alex Fergusion is such a brilliant manager, and David Beckham is the greatest natural talent this country has ever produced, and...
GC: Mark, have you gone completely mad? MANCHESTER UNITED ARE NOT PLAYING TODAY! Portsmouth knocked them out in the quarters!
ML: No, they didn't.
AS: And David Beckham is playing for LA Galaxy!
ML: I think you'll find he'll be on the field today, playing for Manchester United, who will win. I am such a huge fan of Manchester United, they're brilliant, better than any of the Liverpool teams I ever played for...
Suddenly, the screen cuts to loud static...
Announcer: We apologise for the loss of coverage of the three hours of punditry before the FA Cup Final actually starts. We believe a gang of angry Liverpool fans has stormed the building, demanding the head of Mark Lawrenson. We will return to our coverage as soon as we can blow up a balloon, draw a moustache on it and cover it in the roof of a thatched cottage.

...cut to coverage of the Monaco Grand Prix, a week later, on ITV... Martin Brundle is doing his grid walk.
MB: Let's see who we can have a word with... there's always a bunch of celebrities on the grid at Monaco, look, there's Sylvester Stallone surrounded by his heavies, and I think that's Pamela Anderson... we usually have some footballers here as well. Here's Carles Puyol, I'd recognise that hair anywhere... Carles! Who do you think is going to win the race today?
CP: ¿Que?
MB: Who is going to win the race today?
CP: ¿Que?
MB: Do you speak English?
CP: ¿Que?
MB: Never mind... Mark Lawrenson! What are you doing here?
ML: Those other BBC pundits were driving me mad with their inaccurate facts, I had to get away for a weekend...
MB: So, who is going to win the race today?
ML: No question about it, Manchester United.
MB: ...
ML: They're the finest racing team anyone has ever seen!
Martin sees Nelson Piquet passing on his way to tell his son not to crash today, and especially not in front of Prince Albert.
MB: Nelson!
NP: What?
MB: Look, it's Eliseo Salazar with a thatched cottage on his head!
NP: *THWACK!*
MB: Nice one. Back to Jim in the studio.