This is fantastic news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7306123.stm I don't think that ITV did a bad job. When they had Murray Walker their coverage was an improvement on the BBC, but with this announcement it means I'll be able to watch F1 without ad breaks and hopefully without James Allen commentating. I really hope they manage to hang on to Martin Brundle though.
IMO - reunite Steve Ryder, the 2 MB's and try to repatriate Calvin Fish or Alain de Cadenet from Speed as the key commentator. Invite Murray or Stirling or Black Jack or comparable along periodically for a "blast from the past" spot. No more adverts or James Allen.
If by the 2 MB's you mean Brundle and Blundell I must disagree. Mark Blundell is not great. His grasp of the English language is quite weak! I know this is satire, but it's only funny because it's true: http://www.sniffpetrol.com/category/detective-inspector-blundell/
12 months to wait till we hear more class commentary like this:.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnXDEw3gqhk
12 months to wait till we hear more class commentary like this:.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnXDEw3gqhk Thanks for posting Steve.... E
Just read in a paper Top Gear's Richard Hammond maybe presenting F1 when it's on BBC..... Back of the net ,wicked ,he probably knows zip about F1 but I like him..
Thank god that geezer Blundell will be gone but I hope Martin Brundle stays on. The best was Murray Walker and James Hunt though.
i scared the sh*t out of my m8s when this was announced with a massive yell of "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS" i'll add my support to the hopes that Brundle is kept by the Beeb, but the sooner they get rid of that loser Blundell the better. watching qualifying yesterday i was cringing at his dreadful grammar and moronic thoughts. roll on "The Chain"
I need to ask a dumb American question. The BBC is a 'government owned channel', correct? I'm just amazed/thrilled at a race that will not have commercials. It's very interesting that a government owned channel can compete with a private entity live ITV.... Thanks in advance. Kevin S. Orchard Park, NY
In the UK they have "TV licenses". That's right - to own a TV you must have a license for it And they actually have trucks that drive around with TV detection equipment. They drive around the streets trying to detect people using/owning TV's that don't have licenses. It's sort of funny eh? I remember putting the word out to the 'hood that the TV snoopers (I forget the word we had for them) were in the area. The BBC is government funded - sort of like the post office in some ways. They don't run advertisements. Even on 'regular' channels over in the UK the ads aren't 1/10th of what they are here. I believe when a movie is on ITV they have an ad break every 30 minutes or so? Here in the USA during a 30-minute sitcom we have a commercial break just after the show starts, two in the middle, one before it ends, and then lots more commercials between shows. Probably 10 minutes of ads for 20 minutes of content. In the UK it's much less (maybe has gotten worse since though)
I swear to god! http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/index.jsp ...and check this out! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom How'dya like these quotes - how would this fly in the USA? "TV Detector vans have in the past featured heavily in TV licensing advertising and literature, implying that technology capable of detecting signals from operating TV sets is employed, and on the 4 February 2008 the BBC announced a new generation of TV detector vans[20]." "Regardless of whether or not occupants advise TV Licensing that no licence is required, if no licence is purchased then "enforcement officers" will make unannounced visits to the address on a somewhat periodic basis..." "If an agent has reason to believe that a television receiver is being used to receive broadcasts without a licence but is denied entry by the occupants so that (s)he cannot verify this suspicion without trespassing, then (s)he must apply to a magistrate for a search warrant" They are hard-core about it over there. I remember the little white vans driving around and parking for a few minutes in various spots. I wonder, looking back, if they really do have detector equipment or if it's just a scare to make people think they do... but I had a friend who worked for them and told about how they can absolutely tell if one has a TV. Nuts, huh?
As much as we hate the license fee it means that the BBC stations don't have advertising. The advert breaks in the F1 races drive me mad. I'm hoping that Jeremy Clarkson fronts the BBC's F1 coverage purely for comedy value. I suspect after one or two races Bernie will ban him from every F1 event for life!
I also read that if DC's contract is not renewed with RBR for next year, he will become an F1 commentator for BBC. Carol
The BBC getting the F1 back is good news for non advertisement coverage ONLY. Its the way that the BBC is funded that is a travesty. TV licensing is and out of date tax that the British public is bullied into paying. No other TV channels are funded by the stick weilding bullying way and they are all better than the BBC. Though i am glad that the SKY pay per view channels owned by Murdock did not get it. Now he is one greedy SOB And the fan base would surly dro of in the UK, i mean look at how unpopular A1 is in the UK. Hardly anyone i knows wants to pay to watch it.
Everytime I think of TV licenses I think of the episode of the Young Ones when the unexploded atomic bomb lands on their place and that tv license collection man comes around. Man, that show was hilarious. FWIW, NHK in Japan operates under the same sort of system. One is legally "required" to pay if they have a tv, but the law doesn't have any specification for penalties if you fail to do so.
