05/09/2011
NEWS STORY
Reports on Friday suggested that the BBC will broadcast full re-runs of the 10 Grands Prix which it isn't showing live next year. However, an article in today's Independent, by Pitpass' business editor Christian Sylt, reveals that this is not the case.
From 2012, Sky Sports, a subscription channel will broadcast all races, practice and qualifying sessions live whilst the BBC's live coverage will only stretch to 10 of the 20-race calendar, including Silverstone, Monaco and the season finale.
When the deal was announced in July, F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone confirmed to the sport's teams that the BBC would broadcast every race in full after it has taken place. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said "Bernie assured me, and I asked him several times, the deferred coverage will not be highlights, it will be a full race. That, to some fans, will be very important." Since then Ecclestone seems to have done a U-Turn.
"The BBC will broadcast 75 minutes of every race," he says, adding that this "will (be) broadcast at 6 o'clock at night." Last year's races lasted on average one hour and 39 minutes each with the shortest being the Italian Grand Prix, at one hour and 16 minutes, and the Korean race the longest at two hours and 48 minutes. Likewise, the shortest race so far this year has been last month's Belgian Grand Prix which took a total of one hour and 26 minutes from start to finish.
The new deal has incensed fans since it costs around £480 annually to subscribe to Sky's sports package. In turn, the teams are concerned that this could lead to F1's viewing figures falling in the UK, which is a key market since 8 of the 12 outfits are based in the country. A drop in viewing figures could dent the teams' income from sponsorship which depends on wide exposure and brings them a total of around £540m every year.
In May Ecclestone told F1's official website that "Sky is doing an incredible job but if you look at their audience they are nowhere. With these figures it would be almost impossible for teams to find sponsors. That would be suicidal." He now says that what he meant "was that with pay television throughout France, Germany and so on you are never going to get sponsors. Not just one country."
He adds that the competition between Sky and the BBC could actually attract more fans than there are at the moment as it may drive improvement in the quality of broadcasting. "What I think might happen is Sky might be a bit more aggressive because the Beeb are very cautious and maybe Sky will steam into them. They could do it and they don't have to be cautious."
There's no question about that because as recent events have shown, News Corporation, the media company which controls Sky, is anything but cautious.