41 replies to this topic

[marcos]

In Canada, the same network broadcasts the race live on both its French (RDS) and English (TSN) feeds. We do get the US Speedvision network on cable but it's blacked out. The English TSN feed features the dynamic ITV duo of Murray Walker and Martin Brundle while the French has two imbeciles in a Montreal studio and a third in the press box at the circuit speaking through a phone.

They do NOT describe the race but usually start commenting on F1 rumors after the 5th lap or so. Both feeds too frequently interrupt broadcasts from 60 to 90 secs for adverts.

Earlier this year TSN used to cut the audio and keep a small image of the race while the ads were aired. But no more. So we Canadians are witness to the ONLY live sports broadcast in the country to be TOTALLY interrupted by commercials. The TSN/RDS network made something like 55 million $$$ in profits last year so they could afford to give us the ENTIRE race ? But nooooo... Why they do not use the Soccer broadcast method is beyond my comprehen$ion.

How is it in your part of the world ?

[Antti]

In Finland, yes, the broadcast is interrupted by commercials.

Antti

[Witt]

All sports in Australia are interupted by commercials. F1 is no exception. Believe it or not, i actually find it harder to watch a GP without the "enforced" breaks anyway. Strange.

[Peter]

If you get the (British) ITV feed in Canada, do you get "our" commercial breaks?

Murray or Martin always anounce when one is coming up, so you should be able to tell whether you are "in sync" with us or whether you get some unannounced breaks as well.

BTW there is a little square in the top right corner (black & white lines scrolling) when a break is due, but it can run for a minute or two if something exciting is happening.

[The Swerve]

That scrolling box is called a CUE DOT - I think ITV use it differently to how we (the BBC) used to use them. I believe theirs comes on at roughly 30 seconds before the break and then off at 10 before the break.

It's a cue for all the ITV regions to roll their own commercial breaks.

[Grano]

Aren´t all broadcast interrupted by ads?

[The Swerve]

Not in the UK, no adverts on BBC 1 or BBC 2.

[molive]

In Brazil the race in Globo TV (nationwide open feed) and has no interruptions whatsoever. They also show qualifying live and with no breaks.

I had to put up with TSN for 4 years. I found it strange to have breaks during the race, but then I´d just switch to RDS once TSN went to commercials and then back again after a minute or so.

[CDNgrl]

I do the same thing. TSN and RDS rarely have commercial breaks at the same time.

[tigraine]

Well, in Norway we're lucky enough not to be interrupted during the race. I must say I find commersialbrakes quite annoying. Pardon my poor English.

[KinetiK]

Peter,

No, we do not get your commercials, but believe me, they would be a welcom respite from the ones TSN shows here. I think that there are perhaps 4 or 5 commercials that are played during an F1 race. Yes... 4 or 5 that are continuous recycled during the race, occasionally even showing back to back with themselves.

The ones that are normally shown are 1) Suzuki Grand Vitara 2) Air Canada Champagne Spray 3) Air Canada Lollipop shot (5 sec interlude) 4) Air Canada start lights (5 sec interlude) 5) Mercedes Benz slingshot. There are a couple of others perhaps that I am overlooking but that's the extent of the commercials. It's no Superbowl.

KinetiK

[TheDestroyer]

Yes. What's really annoying is that I paid extra for Speedvision.

F1 should take a cue from world soccer and only have commercials during non-race times, e.g. pre/post race, restarts, etc. They can always use picture in picture technology to splash an ad on the screen while allowing us to still view the race...

[coyoteBR]

Yes, brazilians have good race coverage.
Unless the times when we have a big soccer game. the people of Globo TV interrupts the race to show flashes of... a bus taking the team to the field, them the players getting down the bus...
In fact, they did that in one of the last Piquet victories at Benetton. We didn't saw his last laps, only a small flash of the podium.

But yet, at least it's not interrupted by breaks. All in all, I guess it's way above average

[Megatron]

Speedvision has most of the race commerical free most of the time, but quailifying is proablly half commericals.

[Max Torque]

Here in Greece we have commercials interrupting the race too. Hopefully I get RTL coverage thru satellite too, so I switch channels every time there's a break. This way I don't miss anything and my tapes always have the complete race without a second missing.

Don't you people have the opportunity to catch F1 coverage from foreign channels? No two channels interrupt at the same time. This method has worked perfectly for me.

[F1Veteran]

Here in Malaysia, TV is commercials interrupted by regular TV programmes. However, F1 fans are slightly luckier in that the live coverage is less frequently interrupted. While Murray and Martin takes 20 sec breaks, our commercials take a bit longer to complete!

Looks like there is no escaping commercials... I really miss the days when F1 was televised on the BBC. As the BBC is commercial free, the races are free flowing and we get to see the processional races (during the days of turbocars) in its entirety!

My 2 cents worth!;)

[Sudsbouy]

I only get to watch the races on a delayed basis on Fox Sports. What's really irritating about these telecasts is that the commercial breaks occur regardless of the on track action. If something significant happens while we're off to commercial land, it's replayed once the telecast returns to the race.

Since the telecast is tape-delayed, it seems to me that they could time the commercials so that we don't miss crucial action. I think it just shows how much these guys care and how amateurish F1 can be (they don't have any decent mechanism is place to ensure the quality of the race coverage).

Thank you.

[Lamont]

Suds, couldn't agree more on that. Personally I prefer the live telecasts, I miss getting up at 4 am to watch an F1 race. That requires real dedication.

Not willing to pay for SpeedVision though, while I'd like to be able to see the qualifying I don't think the extra coverage is worth the additional cash.

But hey, at least us Fox Sports peons will get Indy qualifying. In addition, Fox has announced they will be showing the two Friday practice sessions, which is very cool!

[luisfelipetrigo]

In MEXICO commercials are interrupted by race coverage - and that is only for those GPs that they broadcast. For some reason we do not get the whole season.
I do not know about cable or pay TV since I do not have any of them. I used to have cable (for a while) and directTV (also for a while) but they are so bad that I canceled them. At that time Speedvision was not available so I can not comment on them.

Similarly to comments from Brazil, soccer is king in Mexico and shadows anything that happens at the same hours.

Commentators are awful, I bet worst than in any other countrys [so please stop complaining ] they are never at the track and try, with very little success, to relate what is going on. They can tell a Ferrari or a McLaren from the rest but that's about it, they rarely (never!) give the correct driver when a car stops in the pits or leaves the race ... pathetic.

A related comment:
Last sunday (Aug 20) I was in Sao Paulo and watched the CART Elkhart Lake race in ESPN. First of all it was broadcasted at around 23:00 hours because of a volley ball tournament in which Brazil finished second.
The commentators spend the whole time talking only about the Brazilian drives and making up all kinds of probable (but laughable)scenarios under which a Brazilian would win. As each of the drivers was withdrawing they would point out the fault of the (pick one) car / track / crew / engine and move on to the next (by now improbable) scenario.
ESPN puts so many breaks (not necesarily commercials) that it is maddening. Their motto is World wide leaders in Sports, to me they are leaders in interrupting any event to announce up comming events.

So, in summary. I follow Formula 1 by comming to Atlas F1 almost on a daily basis, looking at other web pages, checking a few magazines and buying F1 books ... a sad state of affairs but is the best I got.[p][Edited by luisfelipetrigo on 08-22-2000]

[f1sl]

Originally posted by Peter
If you get the (British) ITV feed in Canada, do you get "our" commercial breaks?

yeah we get the same breaks but TSN usualy make them longer.

[jaxfan]

No complaint really with SV's breaks, they time them well & at qualifying when nothing's happening they get them all over with & I sure don't care, same as the race. besides as long as we get all the race every race we're happy!!

[Pascal]

In France, TF1 has about 4 commercial breaks during the race, and they each can last what seems like an eternity if there's some action on the track.

Thankfully, we also are one of the few countries where digital coverage is available through cable or satellite, and whenever I can, I pay for the access to it, as there are no commercials whatsoever there.

[Max Torque]

Pascal, which are the countries where digital F1 is available? Does it require a card on the digital decoder or is it more complicated?

[goGoGene]

I think that the current regulations are designed to accomidate commercials. How other do you think to yourself during the commercial break "oh man, I'm missing an on track pass for the lead", come on, it doesn't happen. This way you can calmly sit through the ads, and come back in time to the real race...the pit stops

ggg

[marcos]

The best way to alleviate the probs of ads during F1 races is very simple and quite technically feasible.

When the first commercial break starts, the local broadcaster starts recording the unbroadcast part of the race and then starts the tape to show the continuation of the race uninterrupted when the ads end. And so on when the second and third and following breaks start.

So that viewers view the race in its entirety, albeit in "live on tape" mode.

Viewers would be get their money's worth (we DO PAY for cable) and advertisers would not be boycotted (I have vowed NEVER to buy a product or service advertised during an F1 broadcast under the actual colonial and commercially-centric conditions and to badmouth them until my last breath).

But this scheme is far too simple for those money-grabbing fat ass jerks who control electronic media. Duh.

F1 couch potatoes, rise from you sofas and revolt ! Don't spill any beer on your mothers' carpet..

Mass E-mail your local broadcaster, write to Bwana Bernie or start an "F1 Viewers Liberation Front" in your part of the asphalt jungle.

Hasta la Formula Uno siempre !

[The Swerve]

I'm afraid that's a daft idea.

While it is technically feasible to do it (using Profile - a digital storage device), no broadcaster is going to buy the rights to show F1 live only to delay the coverage every time there is an ad break.

Following on from what someone else said about having 'picture in picture' adverts - where the advert runs with a inserted frame still showing the race - this has never been a satisfactory way of doing it for the companys running the adverts.

They are filmed and designed to run as full frame 4x3 commercials, if you take up half the picture with another frame it will ruin the advertisers expensive production - added to which it will distract you from focussing your attention on their product. Not a happy situation for the advertising companys and keeping them happy is what commercial television is all about, I'm afraid.

[Pascal]

Max, the ones I remember for sure are Germany, France and Sweden. But you may want to go to the Atlas F1 TV broadcasters page for further details...

As for the way to access the channel, the TV decoder is equipped with two slots, one of which being occupied by your unique identification smart card. When you want to buy access to a Grand Prix, you have to connect the decoder to a phone line, and either ask it to add this price through your monthly bill for digital TV, or charge your credit card (if it is equipped with a chip) that you can put in the second available slot.

[marcos]

[Reply to The Swerve's post]

I don't think my idea is stupid (or daft as you say). In our highly commercialized media environments, the concept of "live" broadcast is not eliminated just because the total broadcast time of a sports event is extended by some 20 or 30 minutes.

Professional football, baseball, hockey and basketball have all been denatured, their rules bent to accomodate the broadcasting of commercials : have you ever sat in a stadium or arena waiting for the commercial pauses to end ? F1 Racing and Soccer (ie, real football) are the only two remaining professional sports which offer continuous uninterrupted action.

Your point would be valid if viewers had any other way of getting a race description (ie radio which is non-existing in F1, or "Live on Internet" word description).

We are continually asked to buy the concept of "live" by broadcasters who show us delayed "live" programming, sometimes by hours and by a day, if the viewers are in a faraway Time Zone. They dilute the term by admitting it's a "same day broadcast".

So there.

ABC Sports (USA) last Sunday showed the CART Elkhart Lake Race at least 2 hours after it had been over, NEVER mentioning that it was "live on tape". Duh.

Daft idea, no. Too good to be true, maybe.

"Time is an invention of Man"
"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
[Einstein]

[The Swerve]

I can't speak for US sports coverage but here in the UK we don't normally pretend something is live when it obviously is not. We also do not stop sports just because the tv coverage is off on a commercial break. In fact, I think that F1 is the only sport shown live in the UK that has commercial breaks. For example, if a sport overruns it's slot on BBC TV then most of the time we just delay or drop the next programme. We would never just cut away from a live game to run trailers or whatever.

If a broadcaster is forking out millions to show the race live and they have advertisers queuing up to buy air time then they aren't going to want to show the race delayed (and I don't think Bernie would be too happy about it either.) As soon as that happened another broadcaster would make a bid for the coverage on the basis that they would really show it live instead.

You're idea may work fine in the US if that is what you are all used to but it would never work here.

And I am more than qualified to comment because I work in Network Television.

[doohanOK]

Australia's F1 coverage has 5 ad breaks within the race from a length of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. 3 1/2 minutes is too long, and we are slowly getting Channel 9 to lower the ads to 2 1/2 as per ITV's broadcast.

regards,
doohanOK.

http://www.f1fansvschannel9.com

[The Swerve]

.....and F1 does exist on the radio, at least it does here. Talk Sport and Radio 5 Live cover the races live.

[Huw Jenjin]

In New Zealand our commercials are interupted by some boring racing cars which all look the same droning round what looks like the same circuit every week with some demented pommy git freakin out on the microphone. Is he watching somethin else ? I get up to make a cup of tea and that pommy git is still freakin out and the cars are in exactly the same place as when i left, but the adverts still haven't come back on. Oh, here we go "O 800 Chat up Line" this is more like it, christ can i get a girl like that to talk to me...wheres the phone, Oh **** that bloody cars back on the screen again. Now its standing still behind the lollypop man, the kids ain't crossin the road they are just pinchin his tyres while he's forced to stop. Kids these days. When's the rugby on?

[OssieFan]

The length of commercials in Australia is pathetic, like DoohanOK said, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes in length. They're still this long even when the race is live which is just effing stupid because cricket and football never have ad breaks that long during the telecast.

[AlesiGOD]

No

[FX]

Lamont are you sure about that Friday coverage? And are you talking about F-1 practice? Since I can't stand Fox Sports, but still watch them until I figure out what I'll do for the next year, I just tape their broadcast and then fast forward the commercials. Even if it means waiting a couple of hours - at least I don't have to deal with stupid commercials (and they are usually ugly - like "duralube" or something)

I'd ban commercials that interrupt any type of programme. But since I can't, I just make it a point that if the show I taped has a commercial break I will NEVER watch the ads, but will FF, and if it's live, then I switch channels ,and switch back 2 or 3 minutes later. Usually f1 breaks on Fox are 3 minutes - 6 commercials x 30 sec.

Those words like "stay tuned" are like "Go to another channel for a couple of minutes" for me.

[tigraine]

I can only say; Thanks Heavens for non-comersial TV. Norway isn't that bad a country to live in... At lest we can watch F1 without interruptions. Swedish TV isnt bad either, just one "other sports and news"-brake.

[TMG]

The commercials in the UK don't bother me...it really all depends on how good a race it is...like for Hungary (yawn) it was more of a case of the race interrupting the commercials if you ask me.

TMG

[Samurai]

In Japan yes they have commercials, but since almost all the races are taped with a slight delay of 1 or 2 hours,
except for the really late ones due to timezones, like Canada (and of course Suzuka!;) )
no action is missed (I think).
This is concerning free TV of course.

[dopesmuggler]

They do in India. Sometimes it's a good thing, 'cos when the breaks get long a lot of suspense builds up which blunts your experience of how boring some of the races are.

[wiligates]

Just to add to my Australian compatriots on top of commercials the coverage is also delayed at the TV stations discretion which is all to often an hour to two hours later .At least during the ads i can flick the channel and check out what there flogging on the shopping network,you can never have to many ab sculpters .

[toofani]

USA - Fox Sports Detroit - they show the video for one advertisement and play the audio for another. Makes it very entertaining. I wonder if the advertisers still have to pay for it.

[marcos]

If anyone is still reading this thread, I'd like to verify if Europeans (German and French, I understand) can, through cable TV, subscribe to a special Formula 1 feed, "pay-per-view" satellite dish type thing, which allows subscribers to select the camera shots.

These are all the camera angles taken by the local host broadcaster which are shown in the press room at the F1 circuits during qualifying and race.

Apparently, the more you pay, the more cameras you have at your disposal. Most countries only get the official feed but some are better "fed" than others.