Formula 1 TV BBC
After 12 years, Formula TV will no longer be showing Formula 1 in the United Kingdom, and the rights have gone back to the BBC. Obviously this means no more races interrupted by advert breaks, but what else are the BBC planning to do? And more importantly, could they do a better job than TV?
The BBC, who have been perceived as under delivering on biggest international sport over the past decade, get a high-profile series with burgeoning British interest. Formula TV, who need to husband resources with care, save money which could be used to expand coverage of football. They're released from a scheduling nightmare too, with races run at all times of the day and night, United Kingdom time.
Formula 1, as usual, gets many money, with some suggestions from BBC correspondents of around 150 million euros for the 5 year deal. It was suggested that Bernie Ecclestone too, Formula 1 TV rights holder, would be happy to see his sport uninterrupted by advertisements, and on a channel that didn't pay so much attention to football.
Ecclestone told: "I'm delighted to conclude this deal. I thank Formula TV for their commitment to Formula 1 and the high quality of their coverage. It's an exciting time in Formula 1 and the BBC have some innovative ideas to consolidate and expand our United Kingdom fan base."
The main advantage that I could see is the use of the BBC interactive service, which can easily be used to show lot of more different features from the race, such as live timing screens and on board cameras. This interactive service proved to be very popular with their coverage of the Olympics and Wimbledon, and I think it can work just as well for Formula 1.
There can be an option to switch between the main commentary and commentary from Radio five Live too, and possibly no commentary at all if you like hearing the engines and the racing instead.
Rumours are already circulating of a Formula 1 themed "warmup evening" before the 1st race in Melbourne to get viewers ready for the action, and maybe to tempt you to get up at ridiculous o'clock to watch the 1st race of the season.
The BBC recently confirmed their Formula 1 team for next year, with Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard as the major commentary team, with Ted Kravitz and Lee Mckenzie reporting from the pits. But the BBC have revealed that they will have a London-based studio too, from which we'll hear the thoughts of David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan, along with Jake Humphrey.
Of course all of these ideas sound impressive now, but this has been done before. The Formula 1 Digital Channel from 6 years ago offered a similar sort of service, but ultimately failed. This time, but, it is available for nothing, and it could be a lot more popular than it ever was before.
Obviously we'll have to wait until March to see whether these ideas are actually implemented, but from what I have heard, the BBC coverage sounds jolly exciting. Formula 1 should sound better now James Allen is out of the picture too.
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