hmm I'm sure the BBC would have a higher budget for this year than ITV did last year. Didn't ITV drop F1 because they couldn't afford it anymore?

Were the F1 message boards popular though?

I think BBC would get the message very quickly if people notice a Hamilton love in beginning (or a Button love in if he is champion).



The official reason was "commercial". Probably because they couldn't afford it and didn't think it was profitable, but also because they wanted to concentrate on football.

So hold on. We've gone from "no major changes required for 2010" to tendering it out to an independent firm for next year?!!

I think that's a given, they'd produce everything the Beeb asked them to.

Even with another firm producing it that would not mean major changes to the format, they'd ask another firm to produce the same show.

No... It was multiple reasons:


1) Bernie took it away from them.
2) If they hadn't they'd have lost the Champions League to the BBC.

1) ITV told Bernie that they didn't want F1 anymore. BE and the BBC cooked up the current deal as if it was always going to happen when, in fact, BE was crapping himself that F1 would end up on PPV.

2) ITV were offered a minor partner deal with Sky Sports in a "Take it or leave it" manner. If they didn't get onboard with Sky they'd have ended up with no major football coverage. ITV used the money they'd have had to give Bernie to get in on the Champions League deal.


Re: Editorial decisions. From what I heard - the whole Lewismania thing was dictated from on high in ITV sport. See also the utterly cringemaking handing Michael Schumacher an England 1966 replica shirt on his retirement - same bunch decided that too.

Just to clarify, there was a clause in the ITV contract which stated they could cut the contract short by one year, i.e. stop showing it at the end of 2008.

The onboard channel would be good

A) If you could view it via iPlayer after the race, so you could see key events from a different angle. For the first time, I recorded the onboard channel at Valencia, and have it on my DVR/PVR/whatever it's called. It's not a terrible idea but....

B) It needs to show footage that you can't see on the main TV coverage. This is my biggest problem with it. In the corner you get a small window displaying the main TV coverage. It goes like this :

*TV coverage goes to Hamilton sweeping through the last sector*
*Onboard cuts to Hamilton sweeping through the last sector*
*TV coverage cuts to Jock Clear on the pit wall*
*Onboard cuts to Barrichello*
*TV coverage goes to Mark Webber being chased by Button*
*Onboard cuts to Mark Webber camera from the engine cover*

It needs to start showing stuff that you can't see, otherwise it's an almost entirely pointless addition.

Exactly.

ITV decided that F1 wasn't generating anything like the advertising money that the Champions League was bringing in. So much for "F1: The most watched annual sporting event in the world" then.

It is, just not in Britain.

I think it is good with the little TV coverage window. It means that, if there is a major incident or crash, you can press to change feeds immediately, whereas you wouldn't know if there wasn't footage of the World Feed.

Or Ireland.

The BBC don't control what's shown on the onboard channel, but they provide a service that you haven't had before.

Jesus Christ, you guys surely are spoiled. I would gladly double my tv cable TV bills to get an onboard channel, even in stream form.

I should note we did have F1 Digital+ in 2002, but granted that was £12+ per race.

Only if you had a pay TV package in the first place, the £12 had to then go on top of that.

I don't have a problem with the little window...?

What I meant was the onboard footage doesn't show those incidents, or indeed any other incidents.



I know that. I'm not bemoaning the fact that it exists.

Presumably FOM controls what Premiere Live shows (I think it's a German TV channel?), too? Whenever I've seen races from that channel, they usually manage to pick up incidents. They'd probably have picked up Nakajima and Vettel going slowly, at least (which the one the BBC used didn't).

Did they? Or are you just speculating?

Well.. I said probably

You didn't need any other package, just the sat receiver.

Which required buying a satellite receiver, which one normally gets with a package....

Don_Humpador, the Onboard feed that BBC use is from FOM, therefore it is exactly the same onboard feed that Premiere use. There are not two different onboard feeds as far as I know.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/20...the_europe.html apparantly 1 million watch the forum.

That figure is quite an achievement, and much higher than what I expected. Based on what I've been told, about 200k to 500k press Red and watch practice.

I agree that most people that buy a receiver will also buy a package, but that doesnt change the fact that buying a package was not a pre-requisite to recieve F1 Digital.

How many more watch it on-line?

why cnt we have mike gascoine back he was fantastic with his insight into the race and car dynamics really thought he was great

True, but many would still have had to buy something (the dish) in order to get F1 digital, like me for instance.

I don't know, but I'd say it'd be more than those that'd watch it on Red Button.

Yes, if you didn't already have the kit then one way or another some expenditure was required, and I doubt many would have done that just to get the F1 broadcast, but that's always the way with new technology, and there was no other way that the F1 digital service could have been transmitted at that time.

Certainly on the Friday, maybe not on Saturday.

I know, my original point was that the service being provided on a freeview service is completely new and wasn't available before, so what you get is infinitely better than what you had before.

It doesn't matter which sport you're talking about, impressing The Nerds is exactly how you build a reputation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/20..._grands_pr.html

- 1985
- 1992
- 1995 (extended)
- 1998
- 2008

I can answer your question off the blog DMN... Money, they're not going to pay ITV for that programme are they?

Probably because he thinks he can still get a proper job, more's the pity.

I wasn't thinking the whole programme... cut off the beginning and end with Grim Jim, cut off the break bumpers - there job sorted.

Of course first we'd have to persuade them to use commentary with Mr. Allen.

EDIT: I don't think it'd cost them would it as all footage filmed inside the racetrack is copyright of FOM?

At the end of that Senna seems to totally ignore the flag marshal and drives on for another lap around the circuit! Wonder if he did that intentionally or if he forgot they drive into the old pits at Spa.

Ah, I see, thank you.

It guess it must have been the lack of events at Valencia then

ITV produced it with their commentary to broadcast in this country and would therefore have the copyright.


Do you really think the beeb are doing 8 minute highlights when they could have 45 for sh*ts and giggles?

Formula One Management have all copyright to ITV commentaries, not ITV. It may be hard to believe, but FOM have copyright to anything that is filmed on site.

Also, ITV/BBC's commentaries are not just heard here - they are heard in Canada, Australia and amongst other countries.

I know all that, my second sentence was the most important.

BTW, Teds taken the reigns of 'The Mole' Blog this week if it hasn't been posted:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/f1mole/2009/08/...pean-gp-fr.html

This whole 'F1 Mole' thing is a load of ol' rubbish from what I've seen of it this season.

The BBC should just give Ted Kravitz his own blog and be done with it.

I actually think Ted could be an excellent commentator.

He's very witty.

I'm listening to his banter with Crofty at Spa at the moment and he's quite funny.

Fully agree.

Unfortunately it's Hamilton and Phillips this afternoon. Going to have to crack open a can of Red Bull just to keep me awake as Phillips drones on like some ol' codger in the pub.

Speaking of Ted, I wonder if he has found out about #tedkravitzfacts on Twitter? Hmmm....

I think they have because I'm certain 5 Live mentioned it at Valencia and David Croft had his "David Croft fact of the morning" in practice this morning.

Can't remember what the fact was now....

If the BBC needs to cut costs, they could do far worse than let those two go. They are so utterly irrelevant.