527 replies to this topic

[pdac]

I contacted Channel 4 through their website, and asked whether they'd have their own commentary team in 2019, or would take Sky-produced highlights. They emailed a reply, saying:

 

Thank you for contacting Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries regarding Channel 4: F1. 
We appreciate you writing in regarding your interest in the programme.

Unfortunately we have no information regarding our highlights package as yet. However, your comments have been noted and logged for the attention of those responsible for our programming.

 

So now we know that we don't know. Nevertheless, I was impressed that it was possible to contact Channel 4 so easily, and that they replied quickly. Very different from most organisations.

 

All that means is that the person looking after responding to contacts of this type (if, indeed, there is a person, as opposed to a simple text analysis program that fires off stock responses based on keywords present in the text) does not know and either cannot find out, does not have a mandate to find out or simply cannot be bothered to find out.

[secessionman]

At least he got a courtesy reply.

 

I'm still waiting for a reply from ITV after Imola 2005.

[Clatter]

All that means is that the person looking after responding to contacts of this type (if, indeed, there is a person, as opposed to a simple text analysis program that fires off stock responses based on keywords present in the text) does not know and either cannot find out, does not have a mandate to find out or simply cannot be bothered to find out.

It could also mean that C4 have not decided what they are going to do with the highlights package yet.

[pdac]

It could also mean that C4 have not decided what they are going to do with the highlights package yet.

 

It could, but I doubt it does.

[F1 Mike]

Also, I make no bones about my utter dislike of Simon Lazenby, but his body language reaction to being snubbed by Will Smith on the grid on Sunday said an awful lot about him as he peacocked away chewing a wasp.

His reaction was fair, it seemed to have been pre-arranged that he'd speak to him on the grid & Will changed his mind. If I was presenting that'd get me shrugging my shoulders too...

[Clatter]

His reaction was fair, it seemed to have been pre-arranged that he'd speak to him on the grid & Will changed his mind. If I was presenting that'd get me shrugging my shoulders too...

 

To be fair I think he was being briefed for the flag waving nonsense at the start, but I was quite happy not to have seen him interviewed. I couldn't careless about seeing and hearing the "celebs".

[SonGoku]

And why do you think those ''celebs'' are there in the first place? I am pretty sure they get a nice amount of money from F1 to spend their sunday afternoon in the middle of the desert. F1 fans seems to hate celebs, but to me it's pretty clear Liberty is pushing them more and more to turn up for the races. Apparently even that is needed these days to improve some ratings/marketability, which is a pretty sad fact.

[Fastcake]

To be fair I think he was being briefed for the flag waving nonsense at the start, but I was quite happy not to have seen him interviewed. I couldn't careless about seeing and hearing the "celebs".

 

At one point I would have cared, but the grid walk has been so denuded of anything interesting, the celebrity interviews no longer take up the time. The drivers are barely on the grid now, the team members are all too busy, every team principal not named Horner or Lauda runs a mile - and we hear them speak twenty times a week already - Ferrari won't talk to you even if you were trying to put out a fire in their garage, and anyone remotely relevant is mobbed by a dozen reporters and can't even hear the questions anyway.

[grandmastashi]

It's a strategy straight out of Vince McMahon's playbook for trying to get mainstream media coverage back in the 80's around the first WrestleMania. Bring in celebs and have them interact with your top talent to give them 'the rub'; back then it was Cyndi Lauper, Liberace and Mr T interacting with Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper et al, now we have Will Smith wearing a racesuit with Lewis Hamilton... 

[Clatter]

At one point I would have cared, but the grid walk has been so denuded of anything interesting, the celebrity interviews no longer take up the time. The drivers are barely on the grid now, the team members are all too busy, every team principal not named Horner or Lauda runs a mile - and we hear them speak twenty times a week already - Ferrari won't talk to you even if you were trying to put out a fire in their garage, and anyone remotely relevant is mobbed by a dozen reporters and can't even hear the questions anyway.

But we do get a 10 minute delay to the start time to give them more time to find no one to talk to.

[BRG]

And why do you think those ''celebs'' are there in the first place? I am pretty sure they get a nice amount of money from F1 to spend their sunday afternoon in the middle of the desert. F1 fans seems to hate celebs, but to me it's pretty clear Liberty is pushing them more and more to turn up for the races. Apparently even that is needed these days to improve some ratings/marketability, which is a pretty sad fact.

It is a mystery to me why Liberty get these celebs to attend races (if indeed that is what they do).  The race fans couldn't give a damn or worse, and the celeb fans don't know that their celeb is going to be there and don't watch the coverage.  Or if they do know through social media, they still won't be bothered to watch, they just wait for a clip to appear on Facepalm or Twatter.

 

So not sure what the point of it is, except to give FOM TV directors something to focus on whilst the race maunders on to a tedious and predictable conclusion.  It was bad enough when it was just WAGs in the pits, now it is almost any sort of random celeb, many of them only known in their home markets.  Perhaps the celebs just enjoy a massive freebie, and who are we to deny those poor deprived souls of a little bit of dsitraction from their daily grind?

[pdac]

It is a mystery to me why Liberty get these celebs to attend races (if indeed that is what they do).  The race fans couldn't give a damn or worse, and the celeb fans don't know that their celeb is going to be there and don't watch the coverage.  Or if they do know through social media, they still won't be bothered to watch, they just wait for a clip to appear on Facepalm or Twatter.

 

So not sure what the point of it is, except to give FOM TV directors something to focus on whilst the race maunders on to a tedious and predictable conclusion.  It was bad enough when it was just WAGs in the pits, now it is almost any sort of random celeb, many of them only known in their home markets.  Perhaps the celebs just enjoy a massive freebie, and who are we to deny those poor deprived souls of a little bit of dsitraction from their daily grind?

 

You were answered above:

 

And why do you think those ''celebs'' are there in the first place? I am pretty sure they get a nice amount of money from F1 to spend their sunday afternoon in the middle of the desert. F1 fans seems to hate celebs, but to me it's pretty clear Liberty is pushing them more and more to turn up for the races. Apparently even that is needed these days to improve some ratings/marketability, which is a pretty sad fact.

 

The point is that these celebrities are not there for the fans. They are there for the non-fans who might follow those celebrities. If celebrity X has millions of people following them, then it's likely that some of those people will want to be associated with the kind of activities that celebrity X is associated with. It's straightforward, simple marketing. Lifestyle advertising, if you like. You make your products something that is associated with a particular lifestyle and those who aspire to that lifestyle will want to pay for some of your products.

 

I don't get why fans on this forum think that Liberty want to do anything for them. No, Liberty know they arlready have you - they want to do stuff to bring in the people they don't have. The worse news is, if those new people will pay more than you, then they are going to want to get rid of you, if you are in the way of 'progress'. You have been warned.

[ANF]

On this 2001 grid walk, Martin Brundle found Shaquille O'Neal who just happened to be at Hockenheim to watch the world's best racers. https://youtu.be/bynP3oV2jQg?t=127

[BRG]

You were answered above:

 

No, that was me commenting on the post above and enlarging on it.

 

 

The point is that these celebrities are not there for the fans. They are there for the non-fans who might follow those celebrities.

And if you had really read my post, you will see that I took issue with that claim, which I feel is not based on reality.  Fans of celebs aren't going to watch a 2 hour motor race in the hope that there will be 20 seconds of Kim Kardashian or whoever looking bored in the pits.  Which makes Liberty's policy of dragging celebs around the world an expensive and ultimately pointless exercise which irritates the race fans and does nothing for the celeb fans.  A lose-lose result, it you like.

[Fastcake]

But we do get a 10 minute delay to the start time to give them more time to find no one to talk to.

 

Doesn't everyone just turn up 10 minutes later?

[pdac]

And if you had really read my post, you will see that I took issue with that claim, which I feel is not based on reality.  Fans of celebs aren't going to watch a 2 hour motor race in the hope that there will be 20 seconds of Kim Kardashian or whoever looking bored in the pits.  Which makes Liberty's policy of dragging celebs around the world an expensive and ultimately pointless exercise which irritates the race fans and does nothing for the celeb fans.  A lose-lose result, it you like.

 

They don't have to watch. They just have to come along and pay the entrance fee. Or they just have to buy some merchandise.

[loki]

It is a mystery to me why Liberty get these celebs to attend races (if indeed that is what they do).  

 

Celebrities have been attending F1 races long before Liberty bought FOM.

[ExFlagMan]

Bit ashamed to admit it - but back in Bernie's days at least you could identify who the 'celebrities' were...

[Sterzo]

I've always assumed the celebrities are encouraged to be there to massage the egos (in the nicest possible way) of the corporate guests, each of whom is a potential revenue enhancement opportunity.

[Clatter]

I've always assumed the celebrities are encouraged to be there to massage the egos (in the nicest possible way) of the corporate guests, each of whom is a potential revenue enhancement opportunity.

I've always assumed it was to massage the egos of the celebrities.

[BRG]

Celebrities have been attending F1 races long before Liberty bought FOM.

This is true.  i once found myself standing next to Eric Morecambe in the gents at Silverstone.  He wasn't very tall, so I always wondered just how short Ernie WIse must have been. 

[SonGoku]

Talking about celebs, the ''grid walks'' were something big a few years ago, but these days just a boring feature before the race. The interviews are stale and we don't have to hear Christian Horner 44 times during the same race weekend. I can't blame the drivers for not wanting to have another interview just before the race, because I can imagine they are preparing themselves for the race, but the whole feature seems pretty useless right now.

[Boing 2]

Used to watch all coverage obsessively but these days I tend to get to the end of the race and think, how can there be another hour and a half of broadcast here?

 

Racing as Swiss Tony would say, is very much like making love to a beautiful woman, lots of fun to do, quite fun to watch but often a bit of a challenge to talk about.

[Pete_f1]

I am still perplexed as to why the Channel 4 highlights coverage is for just one year.

[ExFlagMan]

Possibly because C4 want to see just how low the viewing figures drop before signing up to anything long term....

[P123]

Possibly because C4 want to see just how low the viewing figures drop before signing up to anything long term....

That, and perhaps similarly for Sky it enables them to flog them off at a higher rate if the viewing figures are respectable. So 1 year makes sense for both.

[Pete_f1]

Good chance F1 Highlights on Pick TV from 2020, a channel not everyone can get on Freeview digital terrestrial

Edited by Pete_f1, 05 December 2018 - 10:31.

[jonpollak]

Never heard of it. Is it on my Sky box?

[king_crud]

Should be in the freeview section on your sky box

[Grippy]

According to my TV guide, Pick is on channels Sky 152, Virgin 123, Freeview 11, Freesat 144 and BT 11.   (in the UK, in case that makes a diff).

[stewie]

Good chance F1 Highlights on Pick TV from 2020, a channel not everyone can get on Freeview digital terrestrial

Only a very small percentage don't get it tho, those who receive the Freeview lite package off relay transmitters. Probably only a few percent of the UK's TVs.

[pdac]

Good chance F1 Highlights on Pick TV from 2020, a channel not everyone can get on Freeview digital terrestrial

 

Where did you get this information?

[absinthedude]

Pick is logical, as it's owned by Sky....the only "free to air" channel they have now they've forced people to pay for everything else bar Sky News and Sky Sports News. 

 

Sky may well use it to whet appetites and in the hope of showcasing F1 just enough to persuade them to buy the full package. 

 

I'm pretty sure I've watched Pick at some point on Virgin Media, and it's on Freeview for 90% of people...so that's reasonable. As long as the highlight show is of a decent length and quality. 

 

As for celebrities....way back in Bernie's day we used to get famous actors, musicians and so on....on the grid. Nothing new there, but they were guests of teams and often people who enjoyed motorsport personally. I suspect Will Smith was paid to come by Liberty....but it's hardly the worst thing in the world. I recognised him, the spousal unit is a fan of his so it kept her interest at least until lap three. 

[johnwilliamdavies]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/46453954

 

In-match/race gambling to be banned in the UK. So at least the few watching won't have that to put up with. One of Liberties' plans scuppered, for the UK at least. 

[Peat]

Owww, I was looking forward to Ross Brown presenting a new 'Live Odds brought to you by Stan James' graphic to us instead of making the racing betterer.

[Pete_f1]

Where did you get this information?

F1 Broadcasting on Twitter. It was a little click batey, I think most people who saw it through it was a done deal but wasn't.

[pdac]

Pick is logical, as it's owned by Sky....the only "free to air" channel they have now they've forced people to pay for everything else bar Sky News and Sky Sports News. 

 

Sky may well use it to whet appetites and in the hope of showcasing F1 just enough to persuade them to buy the full package. 

 

I'm pretty sure I've watched Pick at some point on Virgin Media, and it's on Freeview for 90% of people...so that's reasonable. As long as the highlight show is of a decent length and quality. 

 

As for celebrities....way back in Bernie's day we used to get famous actors, musicians and so on....on the grid. Nothing new there, but they were guests of teams and often people who enjoyed motorsport personally. I suspect Will Smith was paid to come by Liberty....but it's hardly the worst thing in the world. I recognised him, the spousal unit is a fan of his so it kept her interest at least until lap three. 

 

 

F1 Broadcasting on Twitter. It was a little click batey, I think most people who saw it through it was a done deal but wasn't.

 

I just think that people feel that Sky will have to put highlights on a 'free to air' channel and are just thinking that because Pick TV is on Freeview that must be the channel they will use. But I don't think there is any other indication than in peoples own heads that there are any plans whatsoever to put F1 on Pick TV.

[johnwilliamdavies]

The Pick thing came from an Andrew Benson article

 

 

Beyond 2019, there is another question. The C4 deal is for only one year. Will Sky, which owns the rights, extend it, or switch free-to-air coverage to one of its own channels?

The latter would meet the requirements of the Sky contract that the free-to-air coverage must have "90% technical availability" to the public. But it would risk diminishing the audience even further.

Sources say Sky's plan as things stand is to promote its Pick channel through 2019 as a place people will be able to see F1, and then use it to meet its free-to-air obligations in 2020.

[Spillage]

Only a very small percentage don't get it tho, those who receive the Freeview lite package off relay transmitters. Probably only a few percent of the UK's TVs.

This is true, but I bet the chance of casual fans stumbling across it and liking what they see are much, much lower than they are on Channel 4.

[F1 Mike]

Doesn't really make sense to hide it away on an obscure channel even though it would still be FTA. As long as it remains on one of the big main channels there is more of a chance that those viewers could sign up to Sky Sports F1

[pdac]

The Pick thing came from an Andrew Benson article

 

Well, there you have it. On the other hand, what's wrong with Challenge TV? Anyway, 2019 is almost upon us, so lets see what they do with Pick. Personally, I've noticed Pick on the EPG, but have never spotted anything they were broadcasting there that seemed the least bit attractive. I wonder who those 'sources' were.

Edited by pdac, 07 December 2018 - 00:45.

[ExFlagMan]

Not sure that Challenge TV is any more known than Pick.  Looks like the only difference between them is that Pick shows recycled American c**p TV and whilst Challenge shows recycled home grown c**p.

[crooky369]

There’s no way they’re going to spend big money on the F1 rights only to ‘hide’ it away on one of their obscure Freeview channel, when they’ll be a queue of big name FTA channels offering money to show it. I’d be confident that the F1 highlights will be on one of Channel 4, Channel 5 or ITV in 2020.

Edited by crooky369, 07 December 2018 - 15:25.

[pdac]

There’s no way they’re going to spend big money on the F1 rights only to ‘hide’ it away on one of their obscure Freeview channel, when they’ll be a queue of big name FTA channels offering money to show it. I’d be confident that the F1 highlights will be on one of Channel 4, Channel 5 or ITV in 2020.

 

I doubt it will be ITV - that would be too much competition for Sky. But, yes, I can see them continuing with C4 or going with C5.

[Clatter]

I doubt it will be ITV - that would be too much competition for Sky. But, yes, I can see them continuing with C4 or going with C5.

 

Why would the highlights on ITV be too much competition for them? Existing subscribers are not going to drop their package because they think the highlights are a better bet, it's the price that will drive them away. And if more people watch the highlights on ITV than other channels, then thats good advertising for Sky who could pick up subscribers if they get hooked.

[johnwilliamdavies]

Sky supposedly paid £200m a year for exclusive coverage, and Channel 4 pay £25m for the 10 races and highlights, so say £10m-15m for highlights only. So why would Sky give up being the exclusive source of F1 (highlights on Pick), for a comparatively small amount?

[Clatter]

Sky supposedly paid £200m a year for exclusive coverage, and Channel 4 pay £25m for the 10 races and highlights, so say £10m-15m for highlights only. So why would Sky give up being the exclusive source of F1 (highlights on Pick), for a comparatively small amount?

Exclusive coverage or exclusive live coverage?

[JavierDeVivre]

There’s no way they’re going to spend big money on the F1 rights only to ‘hide’ it away on one of their obscure Freeview channel, when they’ll be a queue of big name FTA channels offering money to show it. I’d be confident that the F1 highlights will be on one of Channel 4, Channel 5 or ITV in 2020.

Sky don't care about the sport, it is just a cash cow. Highlights on a channel like Channel 4 or another channel would mean fewer people would subscribe, and therefore less money for them.

 

They're spending big money to show it on Sky Sports, and to sell overpriced Sky Sports subscriptions to subsidise Football. It makes perfect sense to hide it away as this increases the chances of people subscribing.

Edited by JavierDeVivre, 07 December 2018 - 21:40.

[pdac]

Why would the highlights on ITV be too much competition for them? Existing subscribers are not going to drop their package because they think the highlights are a better bet, it's the price that will drive them away. And if more people watch the highlights on ITV than other channels, then thats good advertising for Sky who could pick up subscribers if they get hooked.

 

Sky are obliged to provide some sort of free-to-air access. But, really, they are still keen to have every fan either sign up to a Sky Sports contract or else pay for a Now TV pass. I'm sure they very much want to provide the least possible free-to-air coverage they can get away with and on the most obscure channel. This will, however, be tempered by not wanting to cause too much dissatisfaction with FOM, FIA and the teams and also by the possibility of getting a little extra cash for providing this. That's why I think limited highlights on C4 or C5 and at a somewhat anti-social hour of the day.

[D.M.N.]

F1 Broadcasting on Twitter. It was a little click batey, I think most people who saw it through it was a done deal but wasn't.

https://twitter.com/...221882497122305

Not sure what in particular was wrong with my tweet here, it was me giving by opinion based on the article I quoted in my tweet.

Anyone who follows my Twitter feed will know that if it was fact then it would have quickly been followed up with an article (which it wasn't).