FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[scotty]

We take a page from MotoGP. Who offer classic races to watch on their site, plus other videos, and an internet podcast "after the flag"

I hate the idea of pay-per-view but having online streaming is a great idea (there was free streaming on the Formula1.com site in 2008, as I remember watching one race on that site when I was away from home). Internet streaming is a wonderful idea as it's available anywhere as long as you have a broadband connection and access to a computer. And with millions of wi-fi hotspots it's a wonderful resource for people who travel a lot. PPV would kill F1, it's not popular enough to command £15/$25 per month.

Thing is, both these things can be accessed in the UK via the BBC which kinda suggests a poor show from the broadcasters rather than FOM or whoever.

[Stealthgate007]

I pay an extra $5 a month on direct tv. So I pay for F1. If I could watch it on my phone for $0.99 or something as a replay I might pay for that.

Media and coverage and getting everything seems very difficult here. I hope USF1 can change that somehow for us here in the state. As long as they are racing and I can watch it I am happy.

[Cubejam]

Yeah it does sound like the rest of the world don't have the commitment to F1 like the BBC does for UK. We get streaming online, classic races, extra footage online & a 'back stage' show after the race, plus a choice of coms, the ability to switch to in car cameras & podcast.

So we have a good service here in UK, the rest of the world im not sure about.

[darwin dali]

Re. PPV: see, e.g., boxing on HBO. Big fights are aired PPV (and make millions), but are then shown a week or so later as reruns on regular HBO (again making money). Could be a business model for F1. If you want to watch it live on a puter or have to for various reasons (travel, etc.), then you probably pay for it. If you can wait (and block any reports on the race for a week or so), you may just watch the rerun on the puter for free later on.

[myownalias]

Re. PPV: see, e.g., boxing on HBO. Big fights are aired PPV (and make millions), but are then shown a week or so later as reruns on regular HBO (again making money). Could be a business model for F1. If you want to watch it live on a puter or have to for various reasons (travel, etc.), then you probably pay for it. If you can wait (and block any reports on the race for a week or so), you may just watch the rerun on the puter for free later on.

I don't believe that will be the case, half of F1 viewers are casual viewers so I doubt they'd want to pay to watch races live and won't think to watch two weeks later, probably a quarter of more avid fans will simply stop watching as they don't want to to pay additional cash on top of their cable bill or want to see delayed coverage of races. It's the same as WWE back home in the UK, loads of people watch the free events and skip the PPV events, I believe it will be the same if F1 went down that route. As for live coverage I am effectively paying to watch the BBC coverage next year as I have purchased a high speed UK proxy to watch iPlayer and stream live F1 races.

[Bubbie]

Many countries already have F1 licensed to their local stations. If Bernie was to embrace a sort of PPV system, he would need to reduce the license fees he charges these companies. They no longer have sole rights in a market to show the GP. Not to mention a week after the event the rights would be worth much less (if the HBO model as described above was used).

I would think that a key piece to making some money from the PPV experience would be the BBC coverage. I live in Canada and on TSN get the race just before the start (after Jonathan, Eddie and David have stepped aside for the race commentators) and it ends shortly after the podium. When I manage to find a BBC feed, it makes it so much more. The full coverage with the intro and outro. Same for qualifying. Makes a huge difference in my F1 experience.

Also you could package it with multiple views, multiple audio feeds (I would love to listen to driver comms on a delayed cast). I could even see myself start to watch the race 30 - 90 minutes late so that I could get the full picture with live transmissions and telemetry - this would avoid the other teams gaining competitive advantage from the telecast (like they seem to do sometimes even now by watching the live BBC broadcast).

I see this as a win for the BBC because they would make some more cash (and possibly use it to make more programming, or reduce license fees for Brits). Bernie of course could work a deal with the Beeb to get a cut of the income from the Formula One webcasts.

The sticky question of licensing fees remains though. Perhaps the guy who said to do the HBO model had it backwards. In the F1 model, have the licensees in the countries still have the same deal but have the PPV with the added content available an hour after the checkered flag or something like that. I am not sure if this would work, but a man as business savvy as Bernie I am sure could make it work somehow.

[darwin dali]

Re. PPV: see, e.g., boxing on HBO. Big fights are aired PPV (and make millions), but are then shown a week or so later as reruns on regular HBO (again making money). Could be a business model for F1. If you want to watch it live on a puter or have to for various reasons (travel, etc.), then you probably pay for it. If you can wait (and block any reports on the race for a week or so), you may just watch the rerun on the puter for free later on.

I don't believe that will be the case, half of F1 viewers are casual viewers so I doubt they'd want to pay to watch races live and won't think to watch two weeks later, probably a quarter of more avid fans will simply stop watching as they don't want to to pay additional cash on top of their cable bill or want to see delayed coverage of races. It's the same as WWE back home in the UK, loads of people watch the free events and skip the PPV events, I believe it will be the same if F1 went down that route. As for live coverage I am effectively paying to watch the BBC coverage next year as I have purchased a high speed UK proxy to watch iPlayer and stream live F1 races.

I don't think this was meant to be an all or nothing proposition. I took it as an additional option for a certain segment of people - the majority would still watch the races in HD on a big screen. Why do you think US TV stations make money with downloadable soap series and that crap via iTunes? So that people can watch those mind-numbing air polluters on their iPods for 99 cents a pop while taking a sh!t Kimi-style and similar...

[headless]

I'm all for new interactive stuff, as long as it is free.

[Cubejam]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... m=facebook

Reading that article at the moment from Nick Fry. He says FOM is working on something ahead of the 2010 season. He says that many fans are young fans that will use both internet and tv, sometimes at the same time. Suggesting that they're planning something other than broadcasting on the internet, cant work out what that would be.... but they're working on something.

The Formula 1 website should have a raw feed open to all countries, in high quality or low quality for poor bandwidth, open it up to everybody too.

Or possibly Autosport, members who subscribe to autosport could be able to access a feed or something? Somethings happening back stage, hope it'll be good!

[headless]

Or possibly Autosport, members who subscribe to autosport could be able to access a feed or something? Somethings happening back stage, hope it'll be good!

Or F1Racing

[Jabberwocky]

I use both at the same time. I watch the live timings and then the tv to see what is happening.

I can not see what else they could add apart from live timings. apart from amybe telemetry from a car.

[Gaz]

I use both at the same time. I watch the live timings and then the tv to see what is happening.

I can not see what else they could add apart from live timings. apart from amybe telemetry from a car.

Yeah i'm addicted to live timings its great to really see whats going on.

who's moving and who's not

[f1usa]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80508?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

Reading that article at the moment from Nick Fry. He says FOM is working on something ahead of the 2010 season. He says that many fans are young fans that will use both internet and tv, sometimes at the same time. Suggesting that they're planning something other than broadcasting on the internet, cant work out what that would be.... but they're working on something.

The Formula 1 website should have a raw feed open to all countries, in high quality or low quality for poor bandwidth, open it up to everybody too.

Or possibly Autosport, members who subscribe to autosport could be able to access a feed or something? Somethings happening back stage, hope it'll be good!

YouTube sponsorship of American Formula One team USF1is reason why FOM and F1 are now embracing the Digital Age. Bernie has been a prick about F1 content on YouTube and lost the Australian court case.

[al4x]

im not a hardcore enough supporter to pay, and i definitly wouldnt watch it if it was PPV live and free later, soon as you click on bbc website youd see it

i really dont think many would pay.. it not like football, rugby etc.. there are far more popular sports that probably dont make much from PPV

[racechick]

Just want it in HD on tele. Not bothered about it on the net and dont want to pay.
If I want to pay, I'll pay to watch live.