BBC Gives up F1 Rights

[vegster]

Amazing isn't it?, the bastion of the British sporting calendar, and for so many years proudly served by the BBC . . . The Grand National, The University Boat Race, Test Match Cricket, and now Formula 1, all hived off to independent channels.

I think they are sharing England Rugby internationals now, that will probably go too. Don't forget they only have radio rights for Ryder Cup Golf ... It's a sad world when they can't compete against commercial telly.

 

[luge]

It's not though. The BBC has been run by lefties for years

As an ex BBC employee I can tell you this is shite. The staff may be relatively left wing (and it's not a cut and dry case), but those in power certainly are not.

 

[luge]

The loss of sport from the BBC is very sad. I grew up watching it all, in awe of the amount and quality of the sports they put out. Unfortunately, this was inevitable, and it doesn't end here - the 35 million they've had to cut this year will likely double, if not treble next year in order to keep costs down.

Losing the F1 made sense, ultimately the commercial nature of the sport is always slightly not at ease with the BBC ideals ("And Mercedes have beaten red Bull, with Ferrari in third")... It is a sport that is huge branding exercise, that sells cars.

The F1 back on the BBC was revolutionary - an exciting time for the sport, mixed with an exciting combo of presenters - who made it almost like an entertainment show. Sadly, the loss of exclusive rights to sky, followed by Jake Humphrey going to BT meant that it took a large hit.

The good news is that Channel four will mean that the sport is advert free - and the likelihood is that the same/similar team who were behind the recent BBC shows will be doing it again - not a loss for the fans of the sport, but probably a loss in ratings - generally for sport, the ratings go down when on a channel that is not the BBC.

 

[drew]

It's not though. The BBC has been run by lefties for years

Is that right?

Chairmain of the board of trustees - Rona Fairhead. Former CEO of the Financial Times and now on the board of HSBC
Deputy Chair - Sir Roger Carr. Former chairman of Centrica, former deputy Governor of Bank of England and now Chairman of BAE

As left as they come.

As for former members, Michael Grade, Conservative peer
Lord Patten, say no more.

Only a selection and of course there have been some from the left side of the political scale but you can hardly claim it has been run by lefties for years.

 

[dazzer6666]

As an ex BBC employee I can tell you this is shite. The staff may be relatively left wing (and it's not a cut and dry case), but those in power certainly are not.

Is that right?

Chairmain of the board of trustees - Rona Fairhead. Former CEO of the Financial Times and now on the board of HSBC
Deputy Chair - Sir Roger Carr. Former chairman of Centrica, former deputy Governor of Bank of England and now Chairman of BAE

As left as they come.

As for former members, Michael Grade, Conservative peer
Lord Patten, say no more.

Only a selection and of course there have been some from the left side of the political scale but you can hardly claim it has been run by lefties for years.

Fair enough, was just a perception.....

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

A real shame that the BBC has given up on F1.

Soon all they'll be covering is tiddlywinks, and pro-celebrity wiff waff [emoji38]ol:

 

[Machiavelli]

Fair enough, was just a perception.....

I'm intrigued just where this perception has come from. I have my suspicions.

 

[dazzer6666]

I'm intrigued just where this perception has come from. I have my suspicions.

Haha, let me know if you can because I'm not even sure myself (don't credit me with intelligent analysis because it hasn't happened....). Maybe from reading random stuff I guess. Certainly recall quite a lot of noise about LW bias in the Beeb over the years if not leadership. Sounds like I need to do more reading.....

 

[clapham_gull]

Amazing isn't it?, the bastion of the British sporting calendar, and for so many years proudly served by the BBC . . . The Grand National, The University Boat Race, Test Match Cricket, and now Formula 1, all hived off to independent channels.

Channel Four is publically owned.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Some of the sports themselves have a lot more to answer for than the BBC themselves. A lot have sold their souls to the devil at the expense of wider audience exposure. Id be amazed if cricket in this country (participation levels) wasn't dying on it's arse.

I don't know what the crowd is like at the County Ground for Championship games, as I can't get there anymore (I know they weren't impressive in 2003, the year Sussex first won the Championship), but if you ever see a county game from Lord's or the Oval, the stands are 90% empty. Considering the commitment you need to give - I can only speak from experience at Ardingly - I was nowhere near good enough for the 1st XI, but a mate was, and their games would start at 1100, in an A-Level year, I wouldn't be surprised if participation levels were very low and getting even worse.

Sadly, the BBC is never going to be able to compete with Sky. I don't know what they can do - perhaps look to link up more with Channel 4. Mind you, they did spend millions on moving sport to Salford, as shown by the sports presenter on the news always being on a separate screen. Maybe it's good to get the work out to the regions, but was it well spent compared to trying to hold on to rights?

 

[Hampster Gull]

On C4 so same thing really. Just a bit crapper

 

[Machiavelli]

Haha, let me know if you can because I'm not even sure myself (don't credit me with intelligent analysis because it hasn't happened....). Maybe from reading random stuff I guess. Certainly recall quite a lot of noise about LW bias in the Beeb over the years if not leadership. Sounds like I need to do more reading.....

You probably need to do less reading. Most of the press are extremely hostile to the BBC. In part this is because they are competitors, but it is also because the BBC is a different model of organisation to the one they think should be the only one around, and hence they seek to undermine it by planting certain associations in people's minds. It is also because the BBC is just extremely good at what it does.