This blog closed down on the Monday after the Hungarian Grand Prix and (oddly) I went off on holiday to a place called Plogoff, which can be found way, way, way out there at the end of Brittany.
The only link I could figure to motor racing was that it is where Edouard Michelin, the boss of the tyre company bearing his name, drowned in a fishing accident back in 2006. To say that it is remote is a bit of an understatement. The local supermarket claims (quite rightly) that it is the last supermarket before America. While I was gone the world of motor racing did not do a great deal, although some of the websites did their best to peddle some fairly half-arsed stories to keep up their reader numbers at a time when there was really nothing happening in the F1 world.
I preferred to have picnics, and walk on the cliffs and I feel much better for it.
However, for the junkies out there, here is a round-up of the things that I would have written about if I had not been away on holiday:
The America’s Cup World Series, a new sailing championship, kicked off successfully in Cascais, Portugal (an old F1 haunt in Estoril days). This is significant in that the yacht clubs involved are now chasing the same sponsorship dollars as Formula 1, and have a structured championship on which to build. The series will build up to the Louis Vuitton Cup, the winner of which will go on to fight for the America’s Cup. In recent years the yachting has had to be funded by wealthy entrants but now sponsors will have the chance to get involved again…
Over in the US Danica Patrick will soon confirm that she is moving to the world of NASCAR in 2012, depriving the IndyCar series of its primary promotional asset. NASCAR received another boost when Australian Marcos Ambrose became only the fourth ever foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup race… Both these events will add to the international appeal of the stock car championship, making it more of a rival to F1… On the other hand, there were reports from the United States that Bernie Ecclestone is continuing his quest to get a race with the New York skyline as a backdrop. The latest idea involves a street race on the banks of the Hudson at Weehawken, New Jersey… And south of the border in Mexico (but in the US timezone) Carlos Slim Domit, the patron of the Asociación Mexicana Automovilistica and a member of the FIA Senate, said that Mexico is considering a bid for a Formula 1 race, for the first time since 1992. This will likely be in Mexico City and will be promoted by the Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento (CIE)…
Meanwhile Turkey has announced that it is bidding for the 2020 Olympic Games, which means that it has given up on F1 after a pretty poor effort in recent years… The Volvo Golf Champions event in Bahrain, which was to have featured all the winners from the PGA European Tour in a one-off 72-hole competition, was called off because of the situation in Bahrain…
More than 700 disgruntled farmers around the Buddh International Circuit in India say they are going to disrupt the forthcoming Indian Grand Prix in any way they can. There have been a series of violent battles between the farmers and police in the last two years because they want more compensation for the land that was taken from them. The race track could become the focus of their struggle… It was also announced that Bharti Airtel,India’s biggest mobile operator, has cancelled a sponsorship deal in the world of cricket and will become the title sponsor of the Indian GP. The decision to go with Formula 1 probably has something to do with the success of SingTel’s sponsorship of the Singapore Grand Prix, as Singtel is the largest individual shareholder of Bharti Airtel… Another Singapore story was that billionaire invester Peter Lim has made “a significant investment” in McLaren Automotive, the high performance sports car company which is part of the McLaren Group. This is an interesting development as it could help the McLaren Group reduce its borrowing, opening the way for investment in other areas. One might even speculate that there will now be money available for the team must start work on its own engines for 2014. Time is short but McLaren could always commission a design from an engineering firm and then put together a team to develop the McLaren-badged unit…
European circuits are working out how to compete for F1 races with wealthy nations from afar. Silverstone said that it is pushing ahead with its planning permission for the next phase of its redevelopment, which will include facilities that will create an astonishing 8,400 jobs, in addition to around 550 short-term construction jobs. The circuit said that at least 4,800 of these jobs are likely to be entirely new to the area… Belgian Grand Prix promoter Etienne Davignon says that there are talks going on which could result in the race alternating with a revived French GP. He said that the idea would guarantee the race’s continued appearance in the Formula 1 World Championship and explained that a year-on, year-off pattern between events would help Spa to generate the money that is needed to sustain a Formula 1 race, without the need of more government money…
The FIA announced plans to establish a new FIA Formula E Championship, for electric cars, to be launched in 2013… Toyota Motorsport GmbH, which used to run the Japanese company’s Formula 1 operation, announced that it will attempt to set a new electric vehicle lap record on the Nordschleife, the old circuit at the Nürburgring…
Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes remained busy: he took a significant stake in the loss-making Malaysian Airline System, the state-owned national airline, which is one of his principal rivals in the region. The plan is to push the flag carrier upmarket, while handing over other routes to his airlines AirAsia and AirAsiaX… He also acquired the Queens Park Rangers soccer Club for $61 million from Bernie Ecclestone. Mr E made a substantial profit… AirAsia rival Kingfisher Airlines, owned by Force India F1 team owner Vijay Mallya was in the news after it delayed salary payments of its employees for July because it dit not have the money to pay them…
Bernie Ecclestone went on holiday but remained in the news with a legal action against him in the High Court in London from Constantin Medien (a company formerly known as EM.TV), which alleges that he and others sold the Formula One business at under its real value, and by doing so deprived EM.TV of a share in the profits of the sale. The claim is based on an agreement made in 2002 when Kirch had gone bankrupt. Constantin had given its minority stake in F1 as collateral to the banks involved, in exchange for an agreement which guaranteed it a share of the profits when the Formula One company was sold. One of the members of the Constantin board is Dieter Hahn, who was one of the key players in the Kirch empire. The claim could be for as much as $100 million…
Lotus Renault GP boss Gerard Lopez merged his Genii Capital with a Brazilian company called WWI. It remains to be seen whether this will have any effect on the fortunes of the F1 team…
In the immediate F1 world, Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko said that Mark Webber would stay at Red Bull in 2012, with Daniel Ricciardo replacing him in 2013… The Spanish got very excited by the news that Lotus Renault GP tested Spanish lady racer Maria de Villota in a 2009 car at Paul Ricard. One imagines that money must have changed hands for the event to take place (in one form or another) as de Villota has not figured strongly in the Superleague Formula, which is not highly regarded as a route to F1. De Villota is the daughter of a well-connected Spaniard who rented F1 cars on occasion back in the 1970s… Ferrari driver Felipe Massa ran a couple of practice sessions in a Fiat Linea touring car event at Interlagos, while on holiday in Brazil. This led to speculation that he might be headed in that direction when he retires from F1… Michael Schumacher says he is not retiring at the end of the season and says he will be racing for Mercedes in F1 in 2012. Schumacher believes that he can still be competitive, although few in F1 circles agree with his assessment… Pirelli says it will consider designing a special tyre for qualifying in Formula 1 in 2012 if that is what the teams want to have…
And, finally, looking to the future, the FIA Institute has announced an expanded Young Driver Excellence Academy for 2012, following its successful debut year. The Academy helps outstanding young drivers from around the world to hone their skills in a training programme led by two-time Le Mans winner Alex Wurz and former World Rally Champion co-driver Robert Reid. The Academy is open to drivers of all nations that have FIA member clubs. They must download an application form from www.fiainstitute.com. and submit this to their national sporting authority. Clubs will then chose the best two candidates and submit them to the FIA Institute for consideration before September 23. Drivers will be chosen from five regions: North, Central and South America; Western and Northern Europe; Central and Eastern Europe; Middle East and Africa; Asia and Oceania and 30 participants will be shortlisted for the selection event, including a minimum of five drivers from each region. Eighteen participants will then be selected for the 2012 Academy, including at least three drivers from each region. It is a great opportunity for up-and-coming racing and rally drivers.
That’s about it, really. The world of F1 is spooling up again this week with the teams heading to Spa for the forthcoming Belgian Grand Prix. The circuit is famous for its changeable weather and givcn that it has been pretty dreadful across Europe for much of the summer, it would be a glorious irony if the usually-wet Belgian GP took place in dry and sunny conditions.
Brittany was very agreeable for its peace and quiet, but the weather was not always wonderful – although on the sunny days there were wonders aplenty to enjoy, without noisy racing cars… Now, fully-rested, it is back to the fray.
Autosport etc have online sponsors to please, if their clicks fall then so does their revenue and importantly their retainer agreements.
James Allen took full advantage of the break by blogging a handfull of stories. Sure they were features rather than news but I’ll bet his hits were damn high.
Josh,
I am sure you are right, but I prefer to take a thorough break and enjoy my nearest and dearest for a short period – because doing this day-in, day-out for years on end is not good for the health, and for the things that really matter in the Real World.
Great breathless summary!
However, no mention of the wool being pulled over the eyes of UK F1 fans with regard to the TV deal. The leaked C4 bid shows a FTA option was available but rejected. Bernie Ecclestone says his hands were tied and the BBC “made him do it”, Martin Whitmarsh, on behalf of the teams, said that fans would see full delayed races on BBC, which contradicts most other evidence. Various governments have used the TV licence fee to pay over £1bn for rural broadband and the BBC move to the north of England, which has weakened FTA TV and played into the financial hands of the Murdoch/Sky alliance. The sponsors must surely be aware that F1 viewers in the UK will be decimated, but nothing has been said openly.
While you were on holiday, most other F1 journalists were pretty quiet on this moving topic, and appeared to not want to touch it with a bargepole. Perhaps it requires too much analysis. Anything you can shed on it would be welcomed.
AT,
The TV deals are done. They are not going to be changed and I am sure that Bernie did the best deal available for himself and for the teams. Channel 4 may have bid but the BBC had a perfect right to do what it did because it wanted to continue to enjoy not only the prestige of being an F1 broadcaster but also the viewer numbers that the sport produces. If the Channel 4 bid had been better for the sport I am sure that Bernie would have gone down that route. No-one wants to take the blame for the races that will be shown on Sky, but the British market is not the only one in the world (contrary to what some fans seem to think). In reality, nothing on TV in Britain is free-to-air because you have to pay your licence fee to watch F1. If you do not pay that you can end up in jail. British F1 audiences have long been fortunate to enjoy free-to-air coverage of the sport whereas many other countries have not. In many places and in many other sports, fans have to pay for coverage. Perhaps British fans should consider how lucky they have been up to now, rather than how unfair it is that things have to change. We will see if the sponsors rebel, but I doubt that will happen. F1 remains a powerful marketing tool, even if some UK fans are unhappy.
James Allen gives you the red-top headline. Joe Saward gives you the real story behind the news.
Glad the break was refreshing and thanks for the roundup of the news Joe. Can’t help but wonder why you missed out the “big” news regarding the BBC and SKY scandal. Robbing us UK fans of 50% of the live races next year, absolute disgrace. The BBC are joke.
tom adams,
See my comment to AT
Joe is right that the UK F1 market isn’t the be all and end all of F1, however it is about a 6th, and has a reach of 54%, and it’s the reach that sponsors will have a keen eye on.
Taking the 2010 UK brand exposure figures into account, and assuming that Sky achieve less 1million viewers, the loss in UK exposure will be £3.4million per race for the combined sponsors, (excluding the FIA charity ‘Make Roads Safe’ campaign).
Of course ‘brand exposure’ isn’t sponsorship money, but it’s what the sponsors pay sponsorship money to achieve.
“the British market is not the only one in the world (contrary to what some fans seem to think)”
Is that what they think? I’ve not seen evidence of that myself, and am interested to hear it said by a reputable journalist. Do you think British fans differ greatly from other nationalities when it comes to feelings of self-importance?
It is true, we are being given the clear message that we’re not important to F1. The teams, the broadcasters, the commentators, and now the journalists (even the one who I had most trust in) are telling us that we’re not important. They don’t care if numbers fall, as long as enough punters are willing and able to watch the revised coverage and subscribe to their business.
Fair enough, it’s a business model. It does seem rather strange though, that everyone involved in the business thinks they can get away with insulting the punters and making it clear we’re a) not important and b) rather ridiculous for thinking that we were.
If we’re not that important then I guess no-one will miss our custom. Out of interest, what proportion of British fans subscribe to your e-publication? Presumably, from what you said (see above), not enough to worry you or anyone associated with it. But even if you’re not reliant on our money, I’m sure there will be others who are. But everyone is staying quiet over this. I wonder why??
AT,
I think that British fans have had it very easy and are complaining because reality has finally intruded.
Good to have you back Joe.
Just reading Tom Bowers book about Mr E at the moment. He’s give a pretty good account of what happened between, Kirsch, EM.TV, Bernie, Bambino, G Gribhovsky etc.
Reads to me as one of the mother of all stitch ups!
Joe,
A fine digest of the last 3 weeks. And there was me thinking nothing was happening!
Been a fairly regular follower of your blog for a year or so now. I like your direct style, I can imagine it winding some people up, yet it’s clear you don’t set out to do that and as a Scot, I appreciate directness
Have missed the “new update” alerts in my feed reader this month, I’m glad they’re back, and I’m looking forward to watching Spa very much indeed. Even if it could be for the last time, for more than one reason…
Campbell
Linlithgow, Scotland
Welcome back Joe
I’m not sure why everyone is so upset about the new British TV deal. Whilst we may only get half the races ‘Live’ on the BBC, at least we still get to see the highlights (or delayed full coverage, depending on who you listen to….) of the other races. It could have been far worse, with all the races going to Sky, and nothing on any FTA channels. I think the new deal is a good compromise.
Nice to have you back online Joe and I hope you hade a good break. I (hopefully) clicked on your site almost daily whilst you were away just in case you were bored! – just shows how sad I am!
James Allens stuff was okay – but just seemed to have been teed up to be drip fed out in his absence – not moaning or anything about that – after all he should have a break as well!
On the subject of the TV deals I am not going to subscribe to SKY (sharp intake of breath by Bernie and Rupert) – and will watch what I can on BBC. I don’t think I’ll be the only one.
Here’s to the rest of the season and someone catching Seb
I’m disappointed by your attitude towards the TV Deal Joe.
There was a TV deal before this that was “done” too. With the bbc supposedly having the contract until 2013. If that deal could easily be reneged on I don’t see why another one would be any different.
With regards to UK viewers not being that important. With average viewing figures of 5 Million a race and Formula 1 claiming 600 Million viewers per season (not per race) maths would say that at 120 million viewers per season we were a pretty big percantage of their viewers.
There are so many things that don’t add up about this deal the only party who seems to gain anything from it seems to be Sky. Fota will lose money, FOM loses money, fans lose money or interest, bbc loses money. I can’t see Bernies motivation for the deal at all, unless its to get rid of the FTA clause in the next concorde agreement.
Usually you’re the man for figures and behind the scenes motivations but on this subject your attitude seems to be shut up and pay up.
Hi Joe, great to have you back, hope you enjoyed a well deserved break.
About the Spa/France swap idea, I don’t really understand how having a race every second year would help the circuit. Surely if the circuit is run as a private business without government investment then they need the GP to turn a profit, and if the GP turns a profit then wouldn’t holding it yearly benefit them more? If it’s every 2 years then wouldn’t they have to factor an extra year’s circuit running costs into the cost of each GP?
Also, on the whole BBC/Sky thing, I can’t understand the attitude of people who don’t seem to realise than F1 is a product of a privately owned company, and if they want to charge you for enjoying their product they are perfectly entitled to do that. And everybody saying there’s absolutely no way they can get Sky and they’ll never watch a race again, if you’re not enough of a fan to fork out the 12p a day that Sky costs then you’re no loss to the sport imho.
It’s sad the BBC coverage won’t continue as it is because it’s great, but it’s not the BBC’s fault. If anybody’s to blame it’s the Murdoch papers and the Daily Mail for trying to shut down the BBC and the Tories for totally capitulating. Nobody at the BBC will have wanted this to happen and the abuse they were getting from ‘fans’ was shocking to me.
Jack
Good for you then Joe, I hope you enjoyed your well earned break.
Joe
We may have had it “easy”, but to us that has seemed like the norm. And the “ease” of watching F1 has resulted in record audiences here in the UK. If F1 doesn’t want that audience, or can manage without it, I can understand how this isn’t an issue for them or for anyone else who makes their living from the sport.
As for me, I have other things I can do with my time and I’m sure others aren’t spoiled for choice. In many cases it may just be the push we needed to make more of our weekends. But the fact that we’ve been fed bullshit by all the parties involved is insulting. It makes me wonder how many will come back to the sport if the business model doesn’t work, and we’re suddenly important again. Do we really need to be treated this way?
@Jack
I’m not sure where you get your maths from, if Sky did cost as little as 12p a day (which equals £43.80 a year) then I doubt too many people would have a problem with it.
For the record, the cost of receiving all the basic TV packs plus both Sky Sports HD options is currently £55 per month, which breaks down to £1.81 (rounded up) per day:
£55/month x 12 months = £660, divided by 365 = £1.81 per day.
I would rather do without that cost, but then I would use the service for more than just watching F1. The missus quite likes the idea of being able to watch Eastenders in high definition as well, so I, like a few others I suspect, will be giving Mr Murdoch a call sometime before March next year.
Is it just me that thinks its a bit crazy that Spa needs two years of running lesser series in order to afford a Formula 1 Grand Prix?
Come on, how can that be right…
Joe, I think many people appreciate that ‘free’ F1 is not a God-given right, to either British fans or anyone else. And while acknowledging that up till now we’ve been “very lucky”, can you blame people for being annoyed if they have to pay up for something that up till now was effectively ‘free’? Are we supposed to just doff our caps and say to Bernie and Murdoch ‘thank you m’lud for bringing us F1′? There is also a wider point also that reflects the frustration that there seems to be – as ever – to be a degree of smoke and mirrors as to how this deal came about and who its good for, and even how it will be rolled out on the BBC. From Martin Whitmarsh’s about turn from “FOTA will never accept pay TV” to “Its an interesting deal we need to look at” and Adam Parr’s arrogant suggestion that fans ought to shut up and cough up, to Bernie’s evasiveness and the ‘leak’ of the ditched Channel 4 bid, its clear that many facts remain unknown to the fans. Is the relative silence of a number of previously reliable journalists on this topic indicative of a fear of criticising Bernie? That’s why I think a few people have commented on your blog: we don’t expect you to wave a magic wand and make nasty ole Mr. Murdoch go away, but your usual in-depth exploration of what has been the biggest story of the past weeks would be nice, along with a suggestion as to who the deal is good and bad for.
Moving on, as for us Brits ‘being lucky’, in my experience (albeit in some cases going back a few years) Spain, Germany, Austria and Italy all enjoy free-to-air F1 – the UK is not a unique case and fans in other countries would do well to note what has happened here.
Joe, I think you’re being very short sighted about the BBC/Sky issue. Going by Martin,Uks figures the UK market is in fact 20% of F1s viewers, so not quite as insignificant as its made out to be. I will continue to watch the BBC coverage next year but cannot guarantee that I will not become bored with only highlights for half the season. I was an avid fan of WRC and never missed a race but this year the coverage has only been available on Eurosport and has been patchy at best, guess what, I dont bother trying to watch it any more. Also have you thought about the knock on affect for the likes of your GP+ e-zine. If I lose interest in F1 I will cancel my subscription. How many of your subscribers are in the UK? Can you afford to lose them? or a portion of them?
How many other countries viewers would continue to watch F1 if they were suddenly told they would have to pay £30 per race extra for the pleasure of watching the entire season.
@Jack, can you please tell me where I can get Sky for 12p per day. By my calculations Sky currently costs me £1.50 per day and I dont have the Sports package, which would cost me another 75p per day. If your going to try and put people down at least get your facts right.
Welcome back, Mr. Saward.
I back your view on the BBC/Skye ‘deal’, from the vantage of N America… completely, and admire your succinct, incisive explanation. Your Brit fans should realize this is yet another of why we read you. Truth without spin.
As for NASCAR encroaching on world motorsports, I give the rest of the world more credit. It is a national embarrassment for me. As an F1 and sports car racing fan and driver for four decades, I yearned for motor racing to become popular here (beyond the Indy 500), and look what we got. Professional wrestling on wheels.
I am thrilled at your return, share your appreciation of spending time as you just have, and look forward to continued blog entries, and your e-mag in just less than a week.
Viva Spa!!!
Also, will miss the Turkish course. One of the best of the rest.
12p a day Jack? What planet are you on where Sky is that cheap?
It will cost me £600 a year to save the BBC £5 per viewer per year.
If it was a reasonable amount and it was actually going to the sport then i’d stump up, but it isn’t.
The teams are only getting a million a year out of this deal from FOM and if the figures i’ve seen are correct FOM will actually have to stump up £3 million a year more than previously to give the teams that money (FOM are only getting £9 million more than previous BBC deal). Teams also have to worry about sponsorship, especially back of the grid teams. You still see a bit of the HRT’s and Virgins on tv in races, qualy, practice at the moment, when it goes down to a highlights package they’ll be just about non existant, unless they crash.
In the mean time the good old Murdoch empire have the potential to take 100′s of millions in profit if the fans do capitulate. Funny you slate the Murdoch empire one minute but demand the “true fans” hand over their money to him the next.
As for the BBC, they did the deal that suited them not the fans. If they couldn’t afford it, it should have gone back to open FTA tender rather than some back door deal with the most hated person in the UK right now.
Nice summary (with some news that I had missed).
Imagine an airline that can’t pay the salaries on time…
A month off in the middle of the season is the weirdest thing Ive ever seen in sport.
What a bunch of sissies.Im TIRED! I need a month off!
Then as a team Im going to complain that the rest of the races are so close together.so many back to back flyaways.Bwaaa
ram,
You have no idea.
Welcome back Joe: are you sure you were in France and not pretending to be a Russian Oligarch to have some fun at Flavio Briatore’s expense?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/22/russians-bill-sardinia-billionaire-nightclub
People do seem to have an impression that the 5 million UK viewers will be reduced down to 0.5 million Sky viewers, with essentially none on the BBC?
To me this seems obviously wrong, there’ll be the hardcore on Sky (who will be the most valuable, as they’re the hardcore who’ll buy products because of a specific team), and there’ll be a large number on the BBC who’ll continue to watch it because it’s a good TV show, on for about 90 minutes on a Sunday evening when nothing else is on.
I won’t be subscribing to Sky, but then I rarely got to watch the race live and in full either. Instead I’ll be doing the same as 4.5 million viewers of Match Of the Day viewers last week did – avoided the results until the evening, then enjoyed the show. Since I won’t have to wait until 1030pm at night, we’re actually getting a much better deal than football fans.
“I think that British fans have had it very easy and are complaining because reality has finally intruded.”
Probably true, Joe. But it cuts both ways. F1 has generated very large viewing figures via the BBC and ITV before them, without the sport making very much effort (the channels themselves have made great efforts). While not the whole picture, the UK figures are a significant part of the whole and they will now drop noticeably.
F1 may find it has to work rather harder in the long term if it wants the same kind of viewing figures and the advertising income they bring. Football fans are usually dedicated to their club and will tend to follow them whatever. The F1 fans I know are quite often motorsport fans first and foremost and follow various drivers, series and teams according to their interests. It may be the case that casual fans will be put off by even quite a low payment barrier to entry and ‘proper’ fans may prefer to get their fix via another series.
F1 and the BBC are perfectly within their rights to sell to Sky, I just wonder what the long term outcome will be for the UK. Twenty years ago, who would have thought France would have lost almost all involvement in F1 by now…
Reality intruding hmm . As a fan of F1 I will probably have to take up a sky subscription at quite a cost I believe but it does mean cutting back ,so no more F1 racing mag (have every issue) ditto Motorsport news, don’t think I can afford silverstone next year (after 16 years ) and last but not least I shan’t be renewing to graandprix plus next year . How’s that reality for you ?
Chris,
You get what you pay for…
Eddie Jordan announces Bruno Senna to take Quick Nick’s seat at Renault for the rest of the season… any truth Joe??
If James Franklin’s numbers are correct, that is about the amount we pay in Canada for tv. All our F1 broadcasts are live, commercially mutilated versions of the BBC/ITV (we will hit minutes with no sound or be stuck looking at a mud puddle during rain stoppages) and we only get that with a premium sports package subscription. The Americans pay a little less, but similar numbers for their tv programing.
A lot of the anger around the tv deal is directed at the BBC who have decided that they will spend our £12.37 per month on new offices studios etc and moving expenses, no doubt fully paid for the most excessively salaried ethereal god like creatures that impose their will on the mortals that actually run the service. (Hope we have all been watching “The Hour”) They will not be slumming it on concrete floors and orange boxes but only most lavish is good enough.
They have made some incredibly stupid programming decisions this year which have upset a lot of viewers. (Dropping Zen) The partial loss of F1 is the latest and the most frustrating, particularly when they do it so very well. They also give us some wonderful stuff like Poliakoff’s “Glorious 39″, an aspect of the WW2 preamble that I never knew about. Can these be the same people? Moving the BBC up north to save money is like me spending £30,000 (Which I don’t have) on solar panels which will pay for themselves not too many years after I die.
Nice to have you back Joe, any news on the next series of Merlin , have they finished with Camelot yet?
Knives out for Bernie, can he bring Max back or is he goin’ dahn?
rpaco,
The village of Pierrefonds still has its permanent Merlin set under the castle ramparts and so I guess that they will be back soon. I believe that the fourth 13-episode series was will be broadcast from October. Filming for the fifth series begins March 2012. Another 13 episodes. I went for dinner the other day in Pierrefonds and there was a medieval festival going on and the place was packed with English, so it is obviously having a positive effect on the tourist trade in this quiet part of La France profonde.
Hey Joe, glad to have you back with some recharged batteries. And what a serious photo! Blimey! Also, in the break, I found the “World Atlas of Motor Racing Circuits” in my parents loft that was bought for me as a 6 year old, written by a Mr. Joe Saward. Who’d have thought that 20 years later I’m still an avid reader of your material. Although back then, I was only interested in the photos and painting of the circuit! Some might say I’m still the same. Oh well…
PNJ
PNJ.
A great book to write. I must update it one day.
Suppose to say “paintings of the circuits.” Mmm…words not my strong point…Perhaps I should have been a Circuit design with all of that studying…
As I commented over at James Allen’s, this isn’t about getting (or no longer getting) something for nothing. You said it yourself, Joe: British TV isn’t free anyway. What we’re facing here is a fee of £145.50 – a fee that we surely had some justification in assuming was fixed (inasmuch as the licence fee ever is) until the end of the BBC’s contract – going up to at least £600, or more if we want continued HD coverage. I don’t care what you’re selling, any market would balk at that. And I’m sorry, but anyone who professes surprise or disdain at that reaction clearly has more money than sense.
I’m a fan. I’ve followed F1 for nearly 30 years. But, as you’ve illustrated well with your summer break, it’s not everything. People who start wittering about “true fans” who’ll bend over and take whatever the Lords of Sport dole out to them have lost all sense of proportion. £750 for a full season’s F1 on telly? Naaah, I’ll pass thanks.
Welcome back Joe, glad you had a good break. Best headshot photo yet, by the way!
Was disappointed to read that Tony Fernandes was seen schmoozing with Flavio Briatore at QPR. Let’s hope it’s purely a professional thing and that they don’t actually get on.
Also, it now seems that, contrary to what Martin Whitmarsh said that Bernie had assured him, the evening reruns on the BBC will NOT be full race reruns, but merely highlights after all. Now I really don’t know what I will do next year, but all I *can* say is that I shan’t be getting a Sky subscription. What else I do, I shall have to see.
Have a great second half of the season, Joe!
A question for someone with access to viewing figures: Of the races coming from outside Europe, how many viewers are watching the current BBC coverage live and how many are waiting for the replay?
For every race where more people are watching the replay, there is little lost (to the BBC) by having the race on Sky.
I’m not in the UK, so this deal isn’t going to affect me (depending on what happens with commentary) but I do know that for many years, we in Australia had a much crappier deal. All bar 3 or 4 races were delayed – of which those not delayed were the Aus GP and those in the US timezone (i.e. 3am race start, and sometimes this was delayed too). No qualifying coverage at all. 5 minutes of pre-race, rarely post-race press conferences. Thankfully that’s now changed and we have live racing, 1 hour pre-race, qualifying (live about half to 2/3rds of the time).
Would I be upset at a similar deal if it was implemented in Austrlia? Yes, but not for the same reasons as many UK viewers. Firstly, if the current free-to-air channel delayed the races to “prime time”, it would be approximately 20 hours later (they actually show a replay at this time already), not 4 or 5 as it would be in the UK. Secondly, and this is my situation specifically, though others also suffer, I am unable to receive any PayTV signal. I don’t live in a remote town in the middle of nowhere, I live in the middle of Sydney. PayTV is not connected to my building and I’m not allowed a satellite dish.
If the BBC show full races rather than highlights, then there isn’t much that can be complained about by the average viewer. The fanatics will complain loudly but then a reasonable percentage will then just go out and get Sky, if they don’t already have it.
It’s not a perfect deal but it isn’t exactly a kick in the teeth either.
Hi Joe,
you do realise that your new picture at the top of the page makes you look like you’re on the run from the local Gendarmerie…
Or maybe you are…
Simon.
Ah, Plogoff, that takes me back to childhood holidays in Audierne. Thanks for reminding me :=D
As for the Sky deal, being primarily on Sky doesn’t dampen sponsorhip deals for Premier League football teams. nothing will change. I’m still surprised it went to Sky after BernieVision back in the 90s though.
@elephino
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A question for someone with access to viewing figures: Of the races coming from outside Europe, how many viewers are watching the current BBC coverage live and how many are waiting for the replay?
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Average reach live = 53.5%
Average reach re-run = 23.5%
Obviously reach will be higher for early morning races than afternoon re-runs, but the weighted all viewers % (non-reach) is on average 15% higher for live races.
elephino
I’m not sure how much you actually know about what is going on in the UK but your average family over here is having their monthly budget squeezed tighter than ever and even fanatics such as me can’t justify £50+ a month to watch F1 at a time when most families are looking at ways to reduce their food budgets and electricity/gas bills. Not to mention a complete hatred with anything linked with Murdoch at the moment.
The bbc have stated it will be a highlights show not full grand prix. The viewing figures in the uk are for the live races, the highlights show at the moment doesn’t even register on the listings.
I watch live races and live quali because theres access to live pit wall chatter, live timing and live tweets from within the team. It makes you feel involved and you get caught up in the excitement. You lose that in a highlights package. Someone compared it with people watching match of the day, but i’ve never felt anywhere near as excited watching match of the day as I have following the full 90 minutes of a match.
I’m sure some people who are already fans who can afford it will switch to sky, other fans will make do but be unhappy with the highlights. The problem with Sky and Highlights though is the new viewers. Without the current level of involvement the audience will decline and interest in the sport and careers within it in the uk especially from potential engineers, drivers, designers currently still in school will decline.
Joe – I would like to hear if you have anything more to say about the potential of a Weehawken race as I am a NYC resident. Do you think this is just Bernie stirring up noise for leverage in renewal negotiations for other current F1 circuits? Or is there a good chance finally a NYC metro area race is possible? I think Bernie has made it clear over the years that a NYC area race is one accomplishment he would like to achieve before he goes. Also, It is encouraging that the mayors of West New York (NJ) and Weehawken publicly support it as well as positive noises coming from the office of the NJ Governor initially being supportive of the idea. In addition, it potentially has funding from wealthy media entrepreneur Leo Hindery Jr. of the Yes Network here (since it is a proposed street race I assume the initial funding required is very little compared to a bespoke track). I have been checking the local news post “announcement” and I haven’t seen any negative public backlash against it. I know the area/proposed track well, I think the track could actually be quite good with some flowing right/lefts (even a bit Massenet, Casino, Mirabeau ish if you will), a long high speed straight, and big elevation change. There are unbelievable views of Manhattan, probably one of the best vantage points to see the entire Manhattan skyline anywhere. There is light rail that would take you directly to/from the track to the NJ/NY Path train and straight to Manhattan plus direct access to Manhattan ferry service at Port Imperial. I can’t help but think a night race there would be incredible, views are beautiful at night. Thanks.
you can “walk” the proposed track and see the views via google maps street view – (there are outlines of the proposed track that have been in the media) – its from Port Imperial Blvd., to Anthony M. Defino Way, to JFK Blvd E. and around.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=galaxy,+west+new+york,+nj&hl=en&ll=40.778998,-74.012296&spn=0.000016,0.026994&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=49.089956,110.566406&vpsrc=6&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.778923,-74.012381&panoid=vt71MHMQpKZ_4hZDFRzr5A&cbp=12,125.07,,0,13.88
Hi Joe,
did you anticipate that BBC/Sky backlash? If I’m honest, I’d say you were too flippant with a nationality that is presumably the main consumer of your (very good) e-magazine.
I’m with most of the fans on here…I can’t justify the cost of Sky Sports just for F1…and if I tried, my subscription to your magazine would be straight on the chopping block as it would represent nearly 10% of my Sky fee.
Sorry fella, but you can’t have it all ways…trivialise our viewership and then ask for our money for your product?
Nope, I’m with a lot of folks on here who are about to find out what else happens on Sunday afternoons…
Simon Fehr,
I was just being realistic, at least in my opinion.
Hi Joe,
that sounded as if it went with a tired sigh! Realistic is good…tempered with a little humility is even better.
I’ve had my say…here’s to the remainder of the last full season for me…let’s hope it’s a blinder. Have fun in Belgium and I look forward to the magazine. Cheers. Simon.
Joe, welcome back – the wheel starts turning again until the end of the season…
Regarding Sky/BBC, I think there is a middle ground where most of us will be. I dislike most things Murdoch and after recent events, feel very disinclined to pay any money to his companies.
Martin Whitmarsh stated non-BBC races would be full race re-runs but most other things I read appear to contradict that with highlights being the BBC offering. After all, we will need the repeats scheduled in somewhere and F1 wasting 1.5 hours of primetime will not sit well with the suits who remain in London, I presume, as opposed to moving to Manchester.
So from a simple economics point of view, I cannot justify paying money to Sky, leaving aside any Murdoch sentiments, so that will be it for me. Watch it live if I can, do something else if not.
It is sad because the BBC coverage has been fantastic and that is going to collapse – Brundle will be poached by Sky and we will probably end up with Legard again.
Maybe I should take up ballroom dancing and get into Strictly – I presume the exceedingly old and past it host earns more than the entire BBC F1 staff put together.
Ahh, here’s where the current Sky chat is at . .
The problem is entirely the PR fail, the total lack of sell going on, and the technology platform, and zero information about pricing, aside from the known Sky Sports plus bundle cost. That and the commentary and coverage team question: will BBC really let Sky borrow their team? Will Sky want that?
It really is so much about the insulting presentation, which has serious fans upset. Not for the sake of a Sky subscription, but because I for one started wondering if the team bosses themselves give a hoot. There really isn’t anyone to choose from of retired team owners or big names who can speak independently. Minardi speaks well about bring up the kids into motorsport, which i think would be solved in F1 by culling expensive dulling older drivers and possibly this weekend’s biggest plonker, but he isn’t likely to have the very british love hate relationship with Sky on his mind. Sauber likely would have said something, but he’s back to mind his name isn’t spoiled. Eddie J, oh, well, he can’t speak. Flav, nah, no thanks, don’t want to hear. Stoddart? Not exactly an authority. I’m a little surprised Jackie S has not had a word on this subject, though again it’s not his particular interest. It has undertones of omerta. Or maybe some enterprising journo has got the word but off the record. I imagine a lot has been spoken privately. I expect this to break after season end, because i imagine a scramble to fix in sponsors will be a little more heated.
Let me explain that last point. I sell ads, as i keep mentioning, but in particular one project, long in gestation, depends heavily on the state of the “luxury” market, which in turn is a indicator correlated with big sponsorships, though those are not my game. Since Lehman went down, there has not been a blip in advertiser confidence. If anything, there has been a advertiser push. Some of this is a decoupling of the economy, literally haves and have nots. Presently a “have” is someone with a mortgage enjoying historic low interest rates (do not get jealous you are paying 4pc when banks get loaned at 0pc or next to it, they won’t lend *to eachother* at the rate you pay, which is being funded by a dwindling national tax base, and theft of retiree savings, as a subsidy) but, . . . but, that is looking like it will finally invert. Debt is not a good thing for health, long term, worse than smoking. There is definite nervousness there. Had i got my project to print (it’s a biggie, long history would put it mildly) end last year, i’d have cruised it. Not this year, my dear. There is a sense of twitchiness. Not as bad as anyone being reluctant to pick up the phone knowing i want to hammer them, but a decided sensitivity. I don’t personally mind, i got more game to play. My models were conceived in recession and mostly i am bucket shop bunker mentality, to the point my partner and i used to rain dance for recession. But if this does not feed in to F1 sponsorship at some stage, and i am selling at exec levels smack bang where such sponsorships get done, i’ll be pleasantly surprised. The Sky deal is not a biggie on its own. But it is something big brands are aware of. Gently, it has rocked the boat, though not capsized it.
My mum caught up with this news, or rather quizzed me about it yesterday (she had thought the Sky deal meant the second season leg wasn’t on this year and was pleasantly surprised to see Spa . .). She asked why i had not been storming around livid at it all. Was i going to get a Sky box? Not very likely. Am i going to watch the highlights or whatever the BBC offer? Not very likely. You have to imagine a very skeptical elderly lady looking at her son as if he is trying to convince her he is really an alien abductee and was stolen into the cradle.
But you see, i have an evil plan, so evil it will even counter Murdoch’s most dastardly grasp: I’m going to hit up some races in person, and drag along my cousins, if not a mate or two, depending, which will be cool if goes to plan, because not seen a lot of them lately. (One is such a ManU fan, i worry about him, he gets sent some GP+ from today as inoculation).
Unless i am in MY for other reasons (and if i can be, then whoopee, because they’re all a hop away then), or Austin can be yet woven into family things, flyaways are out. But i am taking a gamble, and so there will be some hits and some misses.
Reality is, this is not affordable to most people. Neither would it be for me, save that i have never, not once, taken a holiday for myself, and am single, probably because married to my desk almost last decade, which starts to pay off, though anyone with the same job in a big corp would laugh at my take home (which is not the point when you’re in it for yourself, but it stings every now and then .. my choice so mustn’t moan).
Perversely, the Sky deal has had a profound effect. The cost of a year of that might pay only one or two race meets at current prices, if you are thrifty, but that idea sounds far more real to me. More . . sociable. Yup, that’s the idea i was looking for. Don’t get mad, get even. If Sky denies you a race, go get a race, and give Sky nothing. You get more, they get less. Racing, not mindless over promoted failed middle managers with some internecine political game, wins.
(Incidentally, a great book by Andy Grove – he of Intel’s massive fame – seems to have hit public domain, called High Output Management. It’s a cracker, i’d not heard of it, Only The Paranoid Survive being better known. This one was written before or rather as he became top. It’s on archive.org, which is usually strict about rights, you will want a free app called STDU viewer to read it. Management from the start of serving eggs on toast in a caf, all the way, in plain speak.)
That’s plenty from me,
incidentally IIRC Dieter Hahn was the guy who got Kirsh into EM.TV, and has been described as Kirsh’s annointed son. That’s the link, and the bad blood which still exists. I almost thought at the time EM.TV was sane, dealing in sporting rights, where they made money. Then they bought the Henson outfit – muppets and all that – for shy of a billion, and i realised they had gone silly, knowing nothing about the US market for that (as neither do i) that dragged them down, and somehow they managed to bail out selling to Kirsch.
little link on the relationship:
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,226108,00.html
and another backgrounder:
http://www.forbes.com/2001/01/18/0118faces.html
Bernie may have done very very well for himself during this period, but boy was everyone else shooting themselves in the foot . . to be frank, my take is age alone made him immune, whilst younger men became infatuated with the then bubble economy (i mean, the still present bubble economy, but whatever) though strictly that theory fails when wondering about Leo Kirsh. The latter can only be explained by Hahn’s presence. This could be very interesting, given where Kirsch banked and did business . .
Gah, i forgot my main point:
with enforced or rather circumstantially enforced blackouts for some fan rave viewers, proper journalism will be at a premium. Someone above said they’d drop GP+, which seems to me to be false (or insufficient) economy, but i’d love to know if Joe gets an uptick in subs, because if we are removed from the action, my guess is good reporting counts even more.
– j