FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[myownalias]

If you wanted to be able to watch live, then yes.

Maybe you could try contacting F1TV, explaining the situation and they might be able to upgrade you, billing the difference in cost, or maybe cancel, refund and start a new subscription of Pro.

https://f1tv.formula1.com/en/contact-us

[sagi58]

Will do, thanks!!

Mind you, I did download the app correctly....
and, I'm able to log in...
I'll try calling in the morning!!

Thanks, again!!

[easytarget]

I'm contemplating getting this streaming service so I can watch F1 in the US. What I wanted to know from people who actually have it is: have they worked out most of the kinks from launch last year and is it working reasonably well in 2019?

I saw a lot of internet traffic after launch in 2018 around it not even working properly and you spent most of your time waiting for it to cache and stuff.

Is that still a thing? Because to give you a comparison streaming service I'm also using I'd be comparing it to is MLBTV which pretty much works flawlessly. You can pause, rewind, fast forward with no problems.

Thanks in advance for replies!!

[myownalias]

Hello easytarget,

I was one of the early adopters last May and frankly, it was a massive sh*tshow last season and I feared it would be the same this season after multiple issues with connectivity during FP1. But qualifying and the race was spot on, no issues. I watched qualifying on demand after the session and the race live. I am not willing to say that they have fixed all the bugs after just one race, but the omens look good, based upon a single race this season. My subscription runs out in May, I will reserve judgment and my money until that time.

[easytarget]

Thanks man, appreciate the input. I watched the netflix show on last season and it reignited the bug. Hadn't followed in years at least not on TV because it had become near impossible to find in the US, and being that I've only got internet and cut the cable cord years ago this of course peaked my interest if it was in fact anything like MLBTV.

Now at least I know it's worth mulling over for 79 bucks and not the utter clown show it sounds like it was at launch, that's encouraging news.

[darwin dali]

Thanks man, appreciate the input. I watched the netflix show on last season and it reignited the bug. Hadn't followed in years at least not on TV because it had become near impossible to find in the US, and being that I've only got internet and cut the cable cord years ago this of course peaked my interest if it was in fact anything like MLBTV.

Now at least I know it's worth mulling over for 79 bucks and not the utter clown show it sounds like it was at launch, that's encouraging news.

You could sign up for a packet that includes ESPN+ and simply watch their live broadcast on their WatchESPN site or app. All practice sessions, quali and race are then also available to view at a later point in time.

[easytarget]

Thanks for suggestion, I tried to check out ESPN+ website for viewing F1 info but don't see F1 listed, they've got a few sports up there but not F1. The main ESPN site shows a schedule that lists the various ESPN channels covering it and when, is that a stream option and I'm just missing it? Because it looks to me like you'd have for example, Sling Tv to get ESPNs channels to make it work. The 5 buck a month ESPN+ doesn't list F1, least not where I was looking, maybe I missed it.

[darwin dali]

Sorry, I've got access through my cable subscription - don't have ESPN+, which is a stand alone service.

What you want is WatchESPN:

http://www.espn.com/watch

And this is what you need:

Simulcasts of the ESPN channels available on the WatchESPN app and website (including ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater) are only available to subscribers of pay television providers AT&T U-verse, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Dish Network (including subsidiary Sling TV), Google Fiber, Grande Communications, Midcontinent Communications, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and Xfinity TV (formerly Comcast Digital Cable); Atlantic Broadband is set to begin allowing access to the service for its customers by the end of 2014. In 2015, as part of a new agreement with The Walt Disney Company, DirecTV (the largest holdout among major pay TV providers) added authentication rights to WatchESPN for its subscribers.

The two major IPTV providers, Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, also offer authentication to WatchESPN; the two services, however, offer the same feeds of the ESPN networks that are carried on the WatchESPN platform (including with selected advertisements replaced by the "We'll Back Right Back" message and black screen), as opposed as the cable/satellite versions of each respective ESPN channel.

[easytarget]

Thanks for the additional info, I see thru xfinity the next listing for an F1 race end of the month and it says "live", do you happen to know if that can be played at another time after the live showing or is this a catch it live or miss it thing?

Btw, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions on this.

[darwin dali]

As of right now, all sessions of the season opener plus a season launch event (50 min) are available for replay. From experience, at any one point there should be about 2 previous GP's worth of sessions available for viewing - older ones get taken off as new ones come online.
Word of caution: sometimes (at least in the past), a quali or race might not be available for viewing after they took place for some days - this usually happened when ESPN planned to rebroadcast them on their TV channels and until such rebroadcast, the online video wasn't available. Dunno if they still do this - I guess we'll find out...

[easytarget]

Man, feeling stupid here, I'm not finding these replays. Just wanted to see what this looks like. I follow a link to xfinity streaming and can find a listing for upcoming race end of the month like I mentioned above, but nothing saved you can watch like the Australian GP?!

Got a link or something I can follow to where this might be?

[darwin dali]

Go to the link I posted a couple posts earlier and after you get the credentials through a provider squared away, you should see something like this:

In the search box in the upper right corner where it says Find your team, event, or show... type in Formula One and voilà!

[easytarget]

Ah, very good, found it!

Thanks!!

[darwin dali]

You're welcome!
Keep me posted about how you like it. I'm kinda toying with the idea of cutting the cord and going à la carte myself, but it looks like I'd need at least SlingTV to get WatchESPN service.

[easytarget]

I'll admit I'm a bit floored by what comcast offers just because I have internet with them. I was checking out xfinity streaming and they offer about 30-40 channels for free that would otherwise be part of what I'd pay for as a part of one of their cable tv packages. Plus of course this espn connection that gets me F1. I don't really understand why comcast would do this, it's like there must be a catch somewhere I'm missing. Anyway, started watching Australia GP.

And just because it's not that cheap to get a month of F1 Tv Pro for a month, I mean 10 bucks just isn't that big a deal really, I might check it out just to see how well it works and whether what they provide is worth it. I'm a bit of a fan of putting everything in one place available at anytime for a sport I'm watching, that's worked well for MLB and I suspect if the technical aspects of F1 Tv are worked out it would probably prove of similar value to me. But meanwhile thanks to your help I've got F1 viewing for free.