BBC gives F1 the BAT: What F1 features are most important to you?

Text Size: Smaller - Bigger

Home » F1 Blog » July 29 2011 at 10:52 | posted by James Wilson | 14 comments made so far - add one
Photo: BBC gives F1 the BAT: What F1 features are most important to you?

A cruel blow to many British F1 fans

It’s been announced today that the BBC will only be airing half a season’s worth of races from 2012 onwards, with Sky Sports stepping in to show every race and session live.

It’s the news British F1 fans were dreading. Many have even said that the BBC might as well not show any live if they’re not going to air them all. Why? Consistency and coherency are words that are being used to describe how the coverage should be broadcast. By only showing half the seasons races, it seems this won’t give the uniformity that fans enjoy so much from the BBC.

Many have said they simple can’t or won’t be watching the races on Sky Sports. There is a mix of people saying they either cannot afford to, or those who can simply do not want to line Rupert Murdoch’s pockets after the recent News of the World phone hacking scandal.

It all sounds pretty definite and I’d be highly surprised if any online petitions are going to reverse such a dramatic and high profile decision. The BBC simple cannot afford to pay for full F1 rights for an entire season. Not if it wants to keep is half rate BBC4 channel in operation.

Many people are already slating Sky Sports coverage even before anything has been announced with regards to what they plan to do with it. On that basis, join in with our poll below and vote for the features from the BBC F1 coverage that are most important to you:

Posted by . - Follow him on twitter @enterf1.

Recent comments on this article:

#1 Mike | 29 Jul 2011, 11:00 Reply »

Where's the option for "Not having to spend over £360 a year extra to watch 10 extra races live"?

#2 paul mckay | 11 Dec 2011, 19:43 Reply »

Yae keep it on bbc com on

#3 Alex | 29 Jul 2011, 11:02 Reply »

Isn't a big deal for me, I've already got Sky, I just hope Brundle stays as a commentator and that the practice sessions have commentary, that'll be fine for me

#4 Jimmy@enterF1 | 29 Jul 2011, 11:18 Reply »

Good point. You almost wish BBC would cut it all together to give people some real value for money if they are going to fork out. But of course that completely cuts out the fans who definitely can't afford Sky at all. Messy!

#5 Sir Dread | 29 Jul 2011, 11:38 Reply »

we saw it coming.........wot a disgrace, no more reason to pay TV licence

#6 Melvyn | 29 Jul 2011, 11:52 Reply »

I can't believe all this !! it was always promised that F1 would be "free to air!". I'm 65 and have been interested in F1 since 1952. I won't be watching it on SKY. I hate this whole scenario, maybe the teams will do something about it.

#7 Bruno | 29 Jul 2011, 12:04 Reply »

Betrayal !

#8 Tim | 29 Jul 2011, 12:31 Reply »

Its a tragedy for true F1 fans today. Outrageous that Bernie sold us all out after saying he would do his best to keep F1 free-to-air. Guess what Bernie - you didnt try very hard. I for one who has been watching F1 for 14 years will now be turning off next year, i will not and never will directly line the pockets of the Murdoch empire. Outrageous.

#9 Ashley Munro | 29 Jul 2011, 14:07 Reply »

I have no issue with it being Sky, I already have sky to watch football and as long as they keep the winning formula that BBC have and hopefully pay Brundle, DC and Humphrey to move over to Sky. If they dont do that I think they may struggle to replicate the current standard.

For those that WONT be watching because of this travisty.... You obviously dont care too much for the sport anyway. You must be able to find a pub that will show the F1, a lot of pubs have 2 channel choices these days so hardly the end of the world. When real fans are willing to pay £330 on a weekend tickets to silverstone without the cost of camping, food and drink included. The extra bit ontop for the rest of the season pales in significance.

You have to remember that F1 is a business at the end of the day and if Sky offer the big money for coverage surely it will filter down in some form to the 'loyal' viewer......

#10 Hazel | 29 Jul 2011, 14:55 Reply »

Because all real F1 fans have money for Sky Sports or are in circumstances that let them go to the pub to watch it? I love F1, I wish I could afford to go to races, but I can't. And now, I'm not going to be able to afford to watch them on TV either, and I don't think I can take my kid to the pub to watch them with me! I get why they've done it and they have every right to make as much money as possible but access to the races just isn't going to be as easy for everyone as it apparently is for you.

#11 Hannah | 29 Jul 2011, 14:57 Reply »

Being a student, I certainly can't afford to pay for Sky JUST to watch F1. I do care about the sport a great deal, and am a huge fan - but paying £40 a month to watch 10 races is not feasible for me. Also, the university I attend is in the middle of no-where (I'll be living on campus) so I'd have to travel about 30 minutes by bus to get to a pub to watch a race which is hardly convenient.

So what am I to do? I have no choice but to miss out on those races.

#12 Hannah | 29 Jul 2011, 15:11 Reply »

Also, which pub would be able to recommend I go to at 5/6am to watch the Australian GP etc?

#13 Len Hutton | 29 Jul 2011, 16:07 Reply »

Hannah I fully sympathise with you. Mike #1 agreed who would want to pay such an amount of money for half a season's races?

On 8th May The Telegraph quoted Bernie re Sky "They have been trying to buy the TV rights from us for a long time, but we won't because they are not free-to-air television broadcasters,”

Now he is saying he has no control over the situation. Milk bottle shoulders? hmmmmmm

This is a very short-sighted and bad decision for F1 in the UK

#14 John McDonald | 1 Aug 2011, 19:39 Reply »

I agree 100% with Tim and I also will not line BskyB pockets. Why not cut Bernie Ecclestone's salary and keep it on BBC??

Please post a new comment:

Your name*

Your email*

Comment*

Are you human? * We hate spam! Please enter the following number into the box below: 34

* Please complete all 4 fields to send a comment.
From James Wilson, the owner of enterF1.com:
EnterF1 Flag

"Thanks for visiting our website, enterF1.com. Have you got a suggestion? A potential improvement? Or if you would just like to get in touch with us then please do!"

"We listen to all our website fans and love to hear from you, so please leave some feedback or feel free to tweet me @enterF1."