15 replies to this topic

[Chris Bloom]

After a couple of decades of getting F1 shown live on SABC (the state broadcaster in South Africa) it will now only be shown on DSTV a pay to view sattelite broadcaster. According to a poster in this thread http://forums.atlasf...&threadid=76385 the Concorde Agreement stipulates that F1 must be shown on a Free to view service. Whatever the rules say I am sure the sponsors and manufactures (BMW, Mercedes and Toyota are all big brands here)would like as many people as possible to see their cars racing.

Personally I'm not too fussed, I have watched all but two races since 1981 (yeah, I'm a pretty dedicated fan), the last season was the most forgetful and I am not going to fork out any more money to see any more of that. The A1 GP series is coming up, that will be shown on SABC, it can't be any worse than current F1. F1 has lost a very loyal fan, A1 GP has gained a fan!

[JForce]

I think Concorde may list goals and ideals, such as having it on free to air where possible, but I think they're more concerned with European markets etc.

We have it free to air here in NZ, and they do a pretty damn good job. In many ways we're lucky that it's on late at night as it frees them up to be able to make a good go of it, rather than having to be constrained by primetime etc.

[jondon]

Originally posted by JForce
I think Concorde may list goals and ideals, such as having it on free to air where possible, but I think they're more concerned with European markets etc.

We have it free to air here in NZ, and they do a pretty damn good job. In many ways we're lucky that it's on late at night as it frees them up to be able to make a good go of it, rather than having to be constrained by primetime etc.

Here in Ireland our only access to F1 from this year on is through subscription only channel Setanta (or ITV if you are lucky enough to have cable TV).
Mr. Ecclestone would seem not to be too fussy about free to air TV any more, and this could have quite a drastic effect on the sport in the future as sponsors want exposure to casual viewers as well as die hard fans who are willing to fork out for subscription channels

[SilverS2000]

I think when they say free to view they mean it is not a pay to view each event not "Free to Air" transmission. In the US the races are carried on Speed TV which is available by Cable (not in all locations or Satellite provider such as DirecTV or Dish Network non of which are free.

Mark

[Chris Bloom]

Well, up to now as long as you have a TV you can watch the Grand Prix. From nowon you will have to but a decoder, satellite dish plus monthly subscriptions to subject yourself to the tedious procession known as Grand Prix racing!

[jonpollak]

Yep..It's BOGUS...
Jp

[Gilles4Ever]

Originally posted by Chris Bloom
Well, up to now as long as you have a TV you can watch the Grand Prix. From nowon you will have to but a decoder, satellite dish plus monthly subscriptions to subject yourself to the tedious procession known as Grand Prix racing!

AFAIK it was simply a matter of the SABC refusing to pay for the rights for F1, there was no bidding or anything the SABC just felt that they would be better off spending their money on somethin else.

[Buttoneer]

It's unfortunate that this has all happaned in the year after what was for anyone except the Tifosi (and in fact even for some Tifosi) a dire year for competition (no finger pointing necessary)

I feel sure that had they gone to pay channels in Ireland and SA after the 2003 season, there would be a fair few people queuing up to subscribe.

As it is, expectations for 2005 are just not that high for casual viewers.

[cjpani]

mexico

[tintin]

Originally posted by Chris Bloom
According to a poster in this thread http://forums.atlasf...&threadid=76385 the Concorde Agreement stipulates that F1 must be shown on a Free to view service.

It says "in major markets", which is probably defined as: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil and Japan.

[Gilles4Ever]

South African state broadcaster the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has seemingly relented to pressure and decided to cover Formula One this season after all. In December last year it was revealed that SABC had failed to renew their contract with Bernie Ecclestone's FOM company for the rights to broadcast the series live and that satellite broadcaster Dstv had secured the exclusive rights.

In a statement early last week, which failed to gain much publicity, SABC announced that they had secured a deal whereby every race would be shown late in the evening on the Sunday of each race on its SABC 2 channel and not SABC 3 as was the case previously.

F1-Live

[Taxi]

here in Portugal, grand prix are broadcasted by the national tv, but often they forget to do it... like was the case last year with US GP, Canadian, French... the qualifyng is broadcasted by a cable tv owned by the national tv. it's realy a bad quality service...

[dworsham]

I would Pay - to - view here in the US for better coverage and less commercials.

Anyone agree? Especailly in a club setting or good pub.

[TailG]

Over here in Finland you get races & qualifying live for free, free practices, warm-ups etc. must be bought in a package that also includes all GP2 starts (qualifying and all races).

[tbones]

Originally posted by dworsham
I would Pay - to - view here in the US for better coverage and less commercials.

Anyone agree? Especailly in a club setting or good pub.

I would, I might even save some money if I didn't have to subscribe to a package that had SpeedTV, and just "bought" the races every other weekend.

[Voy]

I live in Tanzania, East Africa, and watch F1 on DSTV (from South Africa sattelite broadcast) - the only way to get it here - paying for the subscription 68 USD per month The only positive thing about it is that there are no commercials and Sat and Sun activities are shown live.