F1 TV coverage threadFormula 1 

MCFerocious
Also, does anyone also feel slightly annoyed at the fact that an 18 year old kid can just come and drive an F1 car? F1 cars should be hard to drive and hard to set up. It is slightly annoying that an 18 year old can come and drive one so easily. It wasn't like that in the early 80s.
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But he's not just any 18 year old kid is he? He's had a motorsport family and has probably been racing since he first stopped wearing nappies.
 
Nothing much to report viewing figures wise. Still around 40% down in the UK. The casual viewer has not made their way to channel 4 before the break, Sky's small viewership are pretty static. I expect more gardening and shelves have been put up since its move to C4.

Aside from the switch, C4 hasn't lost any viewers during the season and remains a success for the channel. You usually get a slight gain in a lead up to the break and this has held true this year.
 
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I've been "discussing" the TV deal with my wife, since I pay for Sky Sports just to watch Formula 1 (and GP2 + GP3) 21 weekends a year. If I watched football as well it would be an easy call, but I'm curious now how other people get Sky? Discounting anyone who has simply "borrowed" a friend or relatives Sky Go account details ;)

There are 2 real problems for me. I don't want to just watch a highlights package, I want to watch full races, and I don't watch all of the races live so I need to be able to record or playback the program later.

You can get day passes on NowTV but will this allow me to watch races back later and or record them?
 
Pezzarinho17
I've been "discussing" the TV deal with my wife, since I pay for Sky Sports just to watch Formula 1 (and GP2 + GP3) 21 weekends a year. If I watched football as well it would be an easy call, but I'm curious now how other people get Sky? Discounting anyone who has simply "borrowed" a friend or relatives Sky Go account details ;)

There are 2 real problems for me. I don't want to just watch a highlights package, I want to watch full races, and I don't watch all of the races live so I need to be able to record or playback the program later.

You can get day passes on NowTV but will this allow me to watch races back later and or record them?
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I was rather lucky to get SSF1 when it was launched because we already had Sky+ HD or something like that back in 2012. No change in 2016 though.
 
Pezzarinho17
I've been "discussing" the TV deal with my wife, since I pay for Sky Sports just to watch Formula 1 (and GP2 + GP3) 21 weekends a year. If I watched football as well it would be an easy call, but I'm curious now how other people get Sky? Discounting anyone who has simply "borrowed" a friend or relatives Sky Go account details ;)

There are 2 real problems for me. I don't want to just watch a highlights package, I want to watch full races, and I don't watch all of the races live so I need to be able to record or playback the program later.

You can get day passes on NowTV but will this allow me to watch races back later and or record them?
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No. Until F1 do a streaming and on demand service, you need tv package for live races and recording. Your other option is dodgy streams for live races and torrents for past races.
 
You probably could program your computer to capture and record the NowTV stream but that would a) take some work b) require your PC to be on each race c) that everything happens on time and d) no tech issues

The only realistic option except paying for Sky TV is the illegal route, unless as above an official on-demand service appears. It's what I'll continue to do.
 
So Sky have just launched their Sky Sports Mix channel which is available at no extra cost to normal Sky subscribers and some Virgin Media packages (I'm on M+ and get it, ch 517).

www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/11095/10543289/new-channel-sky-sports-mix-to-launch-on-august-24?DCMP=afc-385281&affiliate=true

It launches this weekend and is showing the Belgian GP but obviously this is a race also shown on C4 so we'll have to wait and see whether they show any otherwise exclusive races on it. I would imagine not, or maybe one per season at best. Well, I imagine this is where they'll air the British GP once their exclusive deal starts in 2019 anyway, since they're contractually obliged to at least make that one free.
 
Not sure if this is the best thread for it, as it's not really to do with F1. But as there's no general 'motorsports on TV' thread that i can find, here's as good as anywhere.

Just received this through on email:

Motorsport Network
PRESS RELEASE

Motorsport Network acquires Motors TV
Creating a TV Anywhere home for performance motoring and motorsport
November 18, 2016, Miami, FL. Motorsport Network today announced the acquisition of Motors TV, consolidating the world’s largest automotive & motorsport digital technology business with a global broadcast operation.
The acquisition of the broadcaster that reaches more than 30 million homes with 130 rights agreements and 700 live events annually will become the backbone of Motorsport.tv, a performance motoring and motorsport OTT video broadcast network.
“Today’s news to expand our commitment to automotive from the global digital presence we are building with Motor1.com and our digital motorsport estate including Motorsport.com and Autosport.com into the broadcast arena is a bold step to build a genuinely integrated platform across small and large screen alike. The investment will enable us to create the very first dedicated broadcast ‘home’ in our expert areas of performance motoring and motorsport,” said Zak Brown, Motorsport.com’s Chairman.

Motors TV will be absorbed into Motorsport.tv and provide fans with new original programming formats spanning performance road car content to the live telecast of premier World Championship motorsport. The revised and expanded service will graduate to full HD status in March 2017 and aside from enriching the scope of programming and enhancing the broadcast format, fans will be able to access the home of performance motoring and motorsport via a wide array of platforms from desktop, mobile, tablet, streaming devices, gaming consoles, connected televisions to set-top devices such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire & Roku.

“We have a simple three point mission to deliver new content in better quality available everywhere at any time. This agreement cements these ambitions and Motorsport Network’s huge digital community from Motorsport.com to Autosport.com and Motor1.com will be able to access this enriched service seamlessly. Motorsport.tv will bring road car and racing fans as well as advertisers together in a home for motoring & motorsport in a fashion that has never previously existed,” said Jean-Luc Roy, Motors TV’s Founder.
Motors TV was founded in 2000 and today operates five international feeds in six languages originating in France, the UK, North & Latin America and an international feed. 2017 will mark its transition from traditional linear broadcasting to a Video on Demand (VOD) service with the launch of Motorsport.tv’s new digital platform.

The acquisition of Motors TV follows the recent purchase of Autosport and F1 Racing and is the next stage in fusing the dynamic culture of Motorsport Network with the heritage and provenance of Autosport. The addition of the broadcast capability of Motors TV will deliver a 3600 digitally-connected approach to fuse the passion points of cars, bikes and racing with a global legion of fans.
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I've always liked that MotorsTV shows both top flight stuff, WEC etc, and some pretty mundane club stuff too. But, it's an incredibly poorly presented channel. Advert breaks badly cut into the shows etc with some low rent production values all round. Their scheduling is some of the worst i've come across. Races seem to be regularly not on when the electronic guide shows them to be, which is incredibly frustrating. If they can keep the same spectrum of events plus some others (and maybe drop some, or all, of the motorcross bike events which appear to be on almost constantly these days) then it could be a decent channel. Looks like it will be more widely available through different devices too 👍
 
TheCracker
Just received this through on email:
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Cheers for this. That sounds (potentially) very interesting. Better scheduling would be good, not like at the moment when it's pot luck as to what you'll find. Switching on and finding truck racing when you were expecting WRC or BTCC as you did the previous week can be disappointing to say the least.
 
I prefer C4's coverage (which is what I get in India) by miles. The team of Edwards, Coulthard and Chandhok is just so much better than Croft, Brundle and Kravitz. I hope they continue covering it with the same line up. My only complaint is the way Ben Edwards pronounces "Esteban". Yeah, nitpicking...
 
TRGTspecialist
Jeez. Probably easier to list what Motorsport Network doesn't own these days...........
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It's pretty obvious that they're trying to consolidate everything under one banner. Everything is being overseen by Zak Brown, the one-time heir apparent to Bernie Ecclestone and the architect behind the attempts to expand Formula One's presence in the United States.
 
TheCracker
Not sure if this is the best thread for it, as it's not really to do with F1. But as there's no general 'motorsports on TV' thread that i can find, here's as good as anywhere.

Just received this through on email:



I've always liked that MotorsTV shows both top flight stuff, WEC etc, and some pretty mundane club stuff too. But, it's an incredibly poorly presented channel. Advert breaks badly cut into the shows etc with some low rent production values all round. Their scheduling is some of the worst i've come across. Races seem to be regularly not on when the electronic guide shows them to be, which is incredibly frustrating. If they can keep the same spectrum of events plus some others (and maybe drop some, or all, of the motorcross bike events which appear to be on almost constantly these days) then it could be a decent channel. Looks like it will be more widely available through different devices too 👍
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Motors tv are going hd.finally
 
Can I just say that whoever was in the Sky editing suite this year did a brilliant job and probably deserves a pay rise? All of the pre-race videos were done really, really well and perfectly captured the mood of the season. I especially loved the use of Lorde's cover of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" for Abu Dhabi; in fact, Sky should drop "Just Drive" and use that song as the theme.
 
I just want to say I have watched every race on Sky F1 Channel and it has been brilliant.
Start to finish brilliant. If I had to pick a little fault it would be to get rid of Jonny Herbert he is a bit annoying, and bias at times.
I watch football F1 Darts and loads of boxing so Sky's Sports package is a must have for me.
 
I really like what Foxtel is doing here in Australia right now - they're showing replays of every qualifying session and race, with a new round each day. They're also doing the same for MotoGP and IndyCar, and showed the one-hour highlights programme for each round of the WRC over the weekend.
 
prisonermonkeys
I really like what Foxtel is doing here in Australia right now - they're showing replays of every qualifying session and race, with a new round each day. They're also doing the same for MotoGP and IndyCar, and showed the one-hour highlights programme for each round of the WRC over the weekend.
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We sure do have a great deal here. As annoyed as I was for Foxtel taking the rights for F1 and Supercars a couple of years ago now, I now feel that I'm getting my money's worth with not only extensive coverage of those particular series, but also consistent coverage of many of the most noteworthy series. The coverage has saved me from absolute boredom this last few weeks being stuck at home following surgery.
 
Once Channel 4's coverage ends in I think a year or two's time how can one go about watching F1 if they don't have SkySports F1? Does the F1 App show race action? I am not into F1 as much as say The BTCC or WEC but I can see it going places with the new look 2017 car. I think it could go back to how it was before the FIA diluted the car.
 
Diehardracer
Once Channel 4's coverage ends in I think a year or two's time how can one go about watching F1 if they don't have SkySports F1?
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The contract says they have to make it free-to-air, it's likely that Sky F1 will be broadcast on a Freeview channel at race/quali time with the selling point being a requirement for a full Sky package to see everything else (practice, classic races, F1 programming etc. etc.). There are already a couple of Freeview Sky channels so the infrastructure is there.
 
The broadcast schedule has been released
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127633/monaco-gp-returns-to-terrestrial-tv-in-britain

26 March Australia - Sky only
9 April China - Sky only
16 April Bahrain - Sky + Channel 4
30 April Russia - Sky + Channel 4
14 May Spain - Sky only
28 May Monaco - Sky + Channel 4
11 June Canada - Sky only
25 June Azerbaijan - Sky + Channel 4
9 July Austria - Sky only
16 July Great Britain - Sky + Channel 4
30 July Hungary - Sky only
27 August Belgium - Sky + Channel 4
3 September Italy - Sky only
17 September Singapore - Sky + Channel 4
1 October Malaysia - Sky + Channel 4
8 October Japan - Sky only
22 October USA - Sky + Channel 4
29 October Mexico - Sky only
12 November Brazil - Sky only
26 November Abu Dhabi - Sky + Channel 4

Monaco will be broadcast live on free-to-air channels for the first time since 2012
 
I have to say, i really enjoyed the bbc coverage, then i got sky. Their production i thought was great and wouldnt be outdone. Channel 4 are doing even better than sky, i watched their end of season review, outstanding. It is a dam shame that channel 4 won't be doing F1 for much longer.
 
I couldn't help noticing in the back of the sports pages today, but C4 seem to be crowing over the fact that the Monaco GP is now on their list of live races for '17... even though nearly anyone who's watched F1 over the past few years would say that barring rain, it's one of the most tedious to watch on the whole calendar.
 
Dreadmed
I couldn't help noticing in the back of the sports pages today, but C4 seem to be crowing over the fact that the Monaco GP is now on their list of live races for '17... even though nearly anyone who's watched F1 over the past few years would say that barring rain, it's one of the most tedious to watch on the whole calendar.
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It's certainly a must watch race for me regardless of the weather. One of my favourites and I'm happy C4 got that one back.
 

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