Club Arnage

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9550930.stm

Bang there goes the casual viewer like me  ::)

Same here,  I'm not paying even more money to Sky!  I have it for Motors and Eurosport,  but I'm not going to pay even more money!  SkySports is bound to go up to cover the cost...

Wonderfull statement on Autosport....

Williams chairman Adam Parr said the key was understanding the finer details of the arrangement - because what teams lose in widespread television viewing figures could be gained in an increased revenue from Sky.

Just lost a load of Williams fans I think!

I would rather seen the BBC give up the MotoGP as their coverage of that is pitiful at best and let Eurosport have the full coverage back again.
At least with F1 they put in a half decent effort and provided a reasonable show, but even so, when Eurosport had it along with BBC they covered all practice sessions from Friday on, lets hope Sky do the same.

Out of 15 people at work not one of us have sky and won't be getting it.
I imagine the future of f1 is to be played at empty circuits with a minority watching on tv.

It was probably inevitable.  So good to see though that the supposed pinnacle of the sport recognises that it needs to give something back to the enormous pyramid of various racing series and fans that underpin it, even if some can only scrape together the cash to attend a single F1 race in their own country.  So gracious of them to now demand so much that free-to-air cannot afford to screen the whole series.  But then I suppose that it is just about advertising and branding these days, rather than sport.   

MG Mark

It's a shame :(

I have only just begun to endure oops, enjoy F1 now it is a BBC production after the ITV rubbish in the past

Now I get to lose it and I will NOT be upgrading my minimal Sky subs just for the F1 business.

I lose.

Most of the rest of us lose.

And presumably Bernie and Rupiebaby will lose too…


Now then, when's LM on next

I'd rather they scrapped EastEnders which would save about £30M.

It is a public disgrace that licence payers fund rubbish like this which clearly belongs on ITV - the tabloid channel. Sadly it goes back to a Government wish that the BBC compete for ratings, rather than demonstrate broadcasting quality, which it did admirably until the '70s.

Well, unless it's on Sky Sport 3 (I think that's the free one), I'll not be watching them. Sky already extract far too much money from me without paying for the sports package as well. I wonder if any of the current BBC team will be switching channels?

I wonder if this is just a start, will other countries be forced into following & put F1 on a subscription channel where it has been on free to air previously.
For a sport soo reliant on sponsors will the teams loose out when the viewing figures drop  ::)

If it will be aired in the Netherlands on a channel that I don't already have, I won't be arsed to try and find coverage. I'll read about the standings on the internet afterwarts then.

I too will not be paying anymore to sky dick turpin, albeit I have watched more F1 this season due to better entertainment factor on BBC and the rule changes have given back the art of overtaking on the track, not only will a fair number of people will not be able to afford potential hike in subs also sponsors will fade as well.
I have bee given the bad news that Virgin do not see our area economically viable to cable our street. ??? Gutted

I can now foresee the starting grid looking like this

On pole  Red Sky Bull
Second  Sky McClaren 
Third     Sky Ferrari
Fourth   Mercedes Sky
Fifth     Sky Renault
Sixth    Williams
Seventh Sky Sauber
Eighth   Forced Sky Indiana Jones
Ninth    Sky Lotus
Tenth   Toro Sky Roso
Eleventh Sky Virgin
Twelth  Hormone Replacement Sky

I've had Virgin TV broadband etc for years and always found them very good, not sure why they come out so badly in the customer satisfaction surveys  ???

We've just had the new TIVO box installed all in all very good  :) few things I don't like, 1 big one the BBC red button doesn't work  :(  hopefully they'll get sorted on later software releases.

  To be honest I don't really care. It's F1 after all. Was it fair to the Licence Payer that the BBC  blow millions on a minority sport- and a dull one at that? Yes, there is a lot of interest in F1 at the moment due to the new rules, but it's just really fake racing. Dodgy tyres and push to pass?? Its all a little artificial. I have better things to do on my one day off than watch F1. Let's see what the beeb do with the money they have saved before condenming them further.

They are not saving money to spend elsewhere, they are just saving it to cut costs!

I don't have a problem with this as I already have a sky subscription for football, rugby and golf.
Nowhere has it appeared that the BBC already have to pay off Bernie for not showing GP3 & GP2 (given to British Eurosport!)

Isn't about time the license fee was scrapped??