Got/bought/upgraded Sky in the UK? Or staying with the BBC?

[chromatic9]

I think its best not to mention these ways of getting it as I fear it will disappear if too many jump on.

Not sure if I'm going to listen to 5live commentary, James Allen has got the job.

I wonder if my old box still carries sound only. I remember eurosport and some others back in the day used to carry multi language options and just sound no commentary.

 

[daan]

I think its best not to mention these ways of getting it as I fear it will disappear if too many jump on.

Yeah, Bernie will soon put a stop to that.

----

An so far, the poll stats do not make good reading for Sky's accountants...

 

[Froudeybrand]

In Australia and channel ten will have rubbish commentators they aren't using the bbc like previous Years.

Miss the days of Murray walker

 

[joetoml1n]

An so far, the poll stats do not make good reading for Sky's accountants...

I'd disagree with that..
At the minute, the stats show that 19 People have sky and 22 don't. That just under half, a pretty good share i'd say for a pay service. 5 people will still be paying Sky each month, but not an extra tenner for HD, so that makes 14 vs 27 watching the F1 channel, which is over a 1/3 share, again not too bad.

 

[daan]

ATM, they're only getting extra money from 6 people. 35 people are not giving them any money, or any more money.

 

[FahrerGott]

In Australia and channel ten will have rubbish commentators they aren't using the bbc like previous Years.

Miss the days of Murray walker

You're a bit behind in the news. Australian FTA TV (CH10/One HD) will be using the SKY commentary for all qualifying and race coverage this year.

 

[joetoml1n]

and the 8 that already pay them enough... Either way out of the 41 people that have voted, they're getting atleast £20 but more like £30-£40 a month from roughly half..

 

[DQuaN]

I'm a Virgin subscriber and bought the Sky Sports package to watch F1. Can you add that to your poll?

I also bought the Sky Movies package as it made sense to the the whole lot.

 

[Ardius]

and the 8 that already pay them enough... Either way out of the 41 people that have voted, they're getting atleast £20 but more like £30-£40 a month from roughly half..

But it does cost Sky money too - to broadcast the extra channel, to actually film and produce the content and of course the rights fees (even if they are split with BBC). So those that already paid Sky the money don't really count as they are not covering the additional cost of the channel - the whole point is to attract more users.

 

[daan]

I'm a Virgin subscriber and bought the Sky Sports package to watch F1. Can you add that to your poll?

I didn't want to make the poll any more complicated so, for the purposes of the poll, I think you fit in to option 2 (Have paid TV, will upgrade to watch F1)

 

[joetoml1n]

But it does cost Sky money too - to broadcast the extra channel, to actually film and produce the content and of course the rights fees (even if they are split with BBC). So those that already paid Sky the money don't really count as they are not covering the additional cost of the channel - the whole point is to attract more users.

Yeah, true.. But a nice chunk of that money will come back to sky through advertising. I imagine that a 30 second ad immediately before or after a race/qualy would be significantly more than average.

 

[TyrrellRacing]

Remember that the poll only accounts for users on a motorsport sub-forum. Generally, the poll results account for serious motorsport fans. Think of the millions of casual sports fans who watch the odd race now and again but are probably more interested in football etc. and certainly won't be upgrading.

I'm not upgrading because it's expensive for what it is. They charge hundreds of pounds but it's still full of adverts. Murdoch is a pig and I can't wait to see the day when this is dropped. Instead I'l be making more of an effort to get into BTCC, whcih I think a lot of others will too seeing that it's the only form of motorsport (excluding bikes) left on FTA.

I'll still follow F1 through the BBC, the radio and "other ways". I haven't really tried the "other ways" so I don't know yet if it will work.

 

[Robin]

They charge hundreds of pounds but it's still full of adverts.

This is something I especially could never understand, paying quite a lot of money every year for something littered with adverts is beyond crazy in my opinion. When I pay the BBC licence it means I don't get adverts yet Sky double dip and get money both ways and I don't particularly think their programming is any higher caliber than the other free broadcasters.

Also the way they apply one model of presentation to every sport they broadcast is pretty off putting, they think everything is premiership football! and they sure cover F1 that way (from what I have seen so far).

 

[Seismica]

But it does cost Sky money too - to broadcast the extra channel, to actually film and produce the content and of course the rights fees (even if they are split with BBC). So those that already paid Sky the money don't really count as they are not covering the additional cost of the channel - the whole point is to attract more users.

I'm subscribing as for the past few years, watching every F1 session live has been great. As you know yourself, having watched most of not all practice/qualifying/races live, it if a great way to spend your weekend if you cannot afford to go to the races themselves. Theres something so satisfying about getting up early in the morning to watch the practice coverage before a race weekend.

My problem with sky is not their broadcasting style, their adverts or anything like that; my gripe is the cost. The rights for football alone are into 10 figures. There is no option to subscribe to F1 without contributing the majority of my subscription payments to other sports which I will never watch. Their TV packages are over-simplified, I should be able to select them on a channel by channel basis if I want to.

I'm in a lucky position in that my mum loves F1 almost as much as I do, so she's going to subscribe and i'm going to contribute a little towards it and then i'll use the online login to watch it. I'll still have to pay a TV license but at least i'll be paying less than for the full package. The only problem is, the cheapest package is the HD package, and my mum lives in 1998 and has a 32" CRT

Do you get the non-hd F1 channel if you subscribe to the Sky HD package, or do you just get the HD version?

 

[hawkeye122]

My Dad kicked in the extra $15 a month to Paul Allen's "Charter Cable" to be able to watch F1 this season. I know this isn't Sky, but I didnt want to start another thread.

 

[Ardius]

Instead I'l be making more of an effort to get into BTCC, whcih I think a lot of others will too seeing that it's the only form of motorsport (excluding bikes) left on FTA.

You should watch BTCC because its a great little series and because ITV put in quite good amount of effort and time in broadcasting not only all the races live but all the support races too! Can't complain much with 11am-6pm coverage of a live event(s)! Not just because its the only motosport left on TV - its good in its own right with or without F1 or WRC.

 

[TyrrellRacing]

I watched it last season although my TV reception was poor so I lost quite a bit of interest in it. Much better now though. I like the tight racing, very different to F1. Also Plato going mad over the turbos every race

Love the coverage of it. The bumper cam springs to mind as a high point as do the interviews with drivers when there's a safety car.

I've bought tickets for Donnington in April. Never been to a proper motor race before so I can't wait for it. Anyone else going ?

 

[joetoml1n]

Great job sky! Brilliant coverage, the beeb was really good last year, but in my opinion, sky have just topped them.. Also, its live and in full

 

[TypeRDC5]

The first GP of 2012 is finally here and after 25 years of watching f1 i was dreading the new sky/bbc deal, i have the standard sky package (£25) mainly for eurosport/motorstv and sky sports news but don't see the value of paying an extra £120 on top to watch effectively only 10 exclusive races as the other 10 are on BBC anyways, that works out at £12 per exclusive race which is not value for money IMO.

Although saying all that i was very close to giving in and signing up for the HD package but after seeing what SKY had to offer i think i can do without, it's all a bit too corporate and gimmicky for me i prefer the BBC's laid back approach.
I know sky have a lot of technical features but i'll live without them to save myself £120 a year, plus there are other ways to watch the race live anyway and that will do for me.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Where on earth are you getting £120 from?

 

[Tired Tyres]

I take that as meaning £10 a month, therefore £120 per year.

 

[TypeRDC5]

Where on earth are you getting £120 from?

Sorry should have explained better.

HD package is an extra £10 a month with a minimum 12 month contract
£10 x 12 = £120 extra a year

 

[C-ZETA]

What would not having Sky but accessing it normally through the channels count as?

 

[Bigbazz]

Not a fan of the Skys "Now lets go to 2 people standing infront of a big tv in a studio", as if we're watching the weather forecast, followed by another 3-4mins of adverts. Martin Brundle is probably the biggest attraction to the sky footage, presenter wise the BBC still has a much much stronger lineup, in a different league even.

I do enjoy the commentry team on Sky though, David Croft and Martin Brundle make a great team. For me where possible I'm going to watch the BBC preshows and Sky race footage for the commentry.

 

[ExigeEvan]

From what I've seen of the sky footage, and I've not seen all of it, the adverts seem minimal. They didn't cut to them at any point that I thought was inappropriate or were they too often.

And I quite enjoyed the coverage too. Though I think we'll see Sky and BBC pumping into each other post-race a few times, could be a few awkward whales for Brundle.

 

[TheCracker]

Though I think we'll see Sky and BBC pumping into each other post-race a few times.

Well, that would certainly make Sky's coverage more watchable.

 

[Liquid]

I do enjoy the commentry team on Sky though, David Croft and Martin Brundle make a great team. For me where possible I'm going to watch the BBC preshows and Sky race footage for the commentry.

This. This is exactly how I see it. Brundle and Croft get the job done with the on-track action but EJ and DC are the masters off it.

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

I'm waiting for the moment when MB is doing his grid walk pre-race (assuming he still does it for Sky?) and EJ is doing it for the BBC and they come together trying to interview the same driver. I don't think Eddie would stand for any nonsense

 

[Liquid]

I'm waiting for the moment when MB is doing his grid walk pre-race (assuming he still does it for Sky?) and EJ is doing it for the BBC and they come together trying to interview the same driver. I don't think Eddie would stand for any nonsense

Earmarked; British Grand Prix. Button & Hamilton interviews.

 

[Pagey279]

After watching it over the weekend i don't think i can justify getting sky sports just for F1, the BBCs coverage was good enough. Although Brundel leaving is a bit of a bummer, the banter between him and Coulthard was quite funny at times, also who will do the grid walk?!? Eddie Jordan......it won't be the same . This new bloke Edwards is quite annoying as well, when the smallest thing happens on track he gets all excited, cuts across anyone who's speaking and shouts down the microphone for half a minute.

Also employing Gary seems to be a waste of money, what does he know that Coulthard doesn't? There wasn't 1 question that was put to him that David couldn't answer.