F1-Blog

F1 goes Home to BBC (UPDATED)

The BBC have announced a 5 year deal to show the Formula 1 show on the BBC.

The deal that starts next year, and give the fans what their crying out for, F1 without the bad timed adverts.

The Beeb also get the right’s for online broadcasting and keep their radio licence as well, so all bases covered.

Bernie had this to say about the deal, “I think it will be good, a fresh face. I’m not complaining about ITV, I’m not saying they did a bad job or anything like that. But with all the other things they are loaded up with – and who knows they will get some more stuff – maybe it will be a bit more difficult to spend as much time on us. I think the BBC will do that.”

Dominic Coles (BBC Sport director of sport rights), “The biggest motorsporting event in the world is returning home after 12 years. We were delighted when Bernie Ecclestone approached us about the return of F1 to the BBC. F1 is a crown jewel of sports broadcasting, so to bring the rights back to their traditional home from 2009 is tremendously exciting. Fans will be able to enjoy uninterrupted, state of the art and innovative coverage from BBC Sport, across all of our TV, radio and new media platforms, for the first time since 1996.”

The question on everyone’s lips must be however why the ITV have stepped away from their current 5 year deal half way through (they were scheduled to broadcast till 2010), Roger Mosey (BBC Sport Director) said “Our understanding is that F1 did have a termination right at the end of the 2008 season, and that appears to be what has happened, and we’re absolutely delighted F1 will be back on the BBC this time next year.”

Murray Walker had this to say “I’m absolutely flabbergasted – I was lying in bed listening to the news this morning and I almost fell out of bed when I heard it. It’s an amazing development because I think ITV did and do a superb job, and I think there is more to this than meets the eye.”

BBC sports news correspondent Adam Parsons said: “ITV are saying it was a straightforward commercial decision. A lot of people I have spoken to today have queried that. Within ITV, what they are saying is that even though Lewis Hamilton is great, even though the Brazilian Grand Prix got a huge viewing figures, that actually over the course of a year viewing figures are not that impressive, they’re not that great. A lot of races are happening at night, they’re not happening at peak time. That it is not particularly good value for money. The other side of that is the BBC is saying, Lewis Hamilton and the ripple effect of that is wonderful, millions of people tune in and the Brazilian GP was the most-watched sports event of last year. You might say ITV would rather bad-mouth it because they’ve just lost the rights but on the one hand they’re saying straightforward commercial decision. But on the other plenty of people are saying that having spent a decade broadcasting when a German, a Finn and a Spaniard were winning world titles, it seems a bit curious to pull out when a Brit is on the verge of winning it.”

Who from the current comentation crew will come over to the Beeb, please tell me James Allen will not!

Update – The Times have an article up quoting Dominic Coles “When Lewis Hamilton did a test lap on Top Gear it got more viewers than the Brazilian Grand Prix. Bernie was very impressed with the Top Gear proposition and there will be cross-fertilisation between the show and the races.”

So it looks like the Top Gear crew could be involved with the Beeb’s broadcasting of F1, and Hammond in particular. I can’t say that would be a bad thing, the only worry would be that in making the sport more open to non F1 fans, they could dilute it too much. One of the reason’s I watch F1 is for the engineering and developments that go on. I love Top Gear don’t get me wrong, but I’m not 100% sure the two would marry up. But hey, time will tell I suppose, and as long as James Allen is not part of the commenting crew, all’s good!