Formula 1 2020 - General Discussion Thread (See MOD warning on first post)

Finished watching Drive to Survive. Not as good as Season 1 but still a decent watch. Yeah, it was a bit dramatised but that's the essence of making it interesting. Not sure why people have issue with how Will Buxton speaks, he's always been like that and that's why I think he's watchable to a lot of other people. I do enjoy his Paddock Pass as he's not constrained, and he's had that cheeky grin plenty of times before.

Anyhow, all in all, still watchable so I'd recommend. Even the better half sat through it with me, so it must of ticked a box!

muckwarrior wrote: »

A couple of friends in work watched it and asked me how they could start watching F1. I gave them the sky link and their response was "Lol **** that! I could buy like five Netflixes for that!".

I imagine that will be the response from a very high percentage of the people who could otherwise have become new F1 viewers due to Drive to Survive.

I'd imagine anyone with any interest would find a way to watch it without paying Sky subs if they really wanted to.

muckwarrior wrote: »

A couple of friends in work watched it and asked me how they could start watching F1. I gave them the sky link and their response was "Lol **** that! I could buy like five Netflixes for that!".

I imagine that will be the response from a very high percentage of the people who could otherwise have become new F1 viewers due to Drive to Survive.

I haven't paid a penny to watch F1 since 2014.

Inviere wrote: »

Same. Though that's not on principle. If Virgin Media carried Sky F1 & offered it as an extra, I'd likely pay for it. OR, if Sky offered it as a single add on, & I didn't need to subscribe to an entire Sports bundle of channels that I'd never watch, I'd strongly consider that too. But the way it is, it's nowhere near worth the price imo.

I got it in sky by subscribing to the hd package €15 a month, every year ring to cancel and they know 50% off so €7.50 a month

At the time they were promoting the hd package so not sure if still available but worth a check

I'd love to know how people are watching this, as my sources are pure crap

Wanderer78 wrote: »

I'd love to know how people are watching this, as my sources are pure crap

Sky sports F1. Simple. There are no other legal “sources”.

You pay your money and enjoy.

Can not wait for Australia!!!

g1983d wrote: »

I got it in sky by subscribing to the hd package €15 a month, every year ring to cancel and they know 50% off so €7.50 a month

At the time they were promoting the hd package so not sure if still available but worth a check

I had it for €5 a month, on top of the sky basic package but they were trying to take it off me at any opportunity. If I wanted to add broadband they would take it away because thats a new contract, if I wanted sky to fix my dish they would take it away because I'd be on a new contract. I can't remember why I lost it but cancelled sky the same day.

murphyebass wrote:

Ah here if you enjoy the sport pay your money.

I don't as much as I use to, I think big money is killing sport in general, and subscription services are playing a major role in that. I'm amazed of the amount of sports fans flocking towards alternative sources to view, I wonder will live sport fall faul to its own 'success'. Don't blame people moving either, it's just too damn expensive

murphyebass wrote:

Is it though?

Yes, sports subscription is too expensive, hence the increase in alternatives

murphyebass wrote: »

Is it though?

If you’re going to watch it alone you’re paying what €40 a month for sky sports? So if all you watch is 2 races a month that’s less than a price of a pay per view.

I can’t go to every race so as a fan I would happily pay that.

Just like I can’t get to every boxing match so I’d happily pay €25 or whatever the PPV is to see the likes of Wilder V Fury.

A ticket to the actual stadium along with travel etc to see these events would cost exponentially more.

I hope to go to a race this year but I outside of that will more than happily pay for sky.

I just wish the F1 channel would do a bit more with it than repeats etc. Could be so much more for the fans.

If Sky didn't have exclusive deal, we'd be able yo pay €50-100 for the entire season on F1TV Pro. So compared to that it is too expensive. Too much of the money that you pay sky going in footballers pockets, and I've no interest in paying for that.

Also, I did manage to subscribe to and watch F1TV Pro last year for just about €60. But it was cumbersome (due to the geoblocking) and could not put it on TV, but worked quite well on phone/laptop.

murphyebass wrote: »

Not everything is free in life.

Who said people want it free though? People are noting it's priced quite highly, and that's a valid observation. The best I can see here is a basic, one tv sub to Sky TV, with the Sports add on, in HD, is €63 per month. Now for you, that might seem like value if you watch a lot of sports, and you'd get the value out of it. Imagine though there are people out there who would literally only be interested in turning that Sky box one for a few hours a month. The value proposition drops sharply. That's a basic package, one tv, no broadband, either.

Channel 4 do highlights for fair weather cheapo “fans”.

What a knob thing to say :rolleyes: F1 throughout its history has been legally free to watch, until the Sky deal. There are people out there who've watched decades of the sport, and who might struggle to find another €60 per month to keep watching it....and in your eyes they're now 'fair weather cheapo fans'? Feck off outta that.

murphyebass wrote:

€60 is €2 a day approx so for less than the price of a daily newspaper you could watch the sport you supposedly love.

So when you pay more for something, you love it more?

murphyebass wrote: »

Just because something was free in the past doesn’t mean it always will be.

Once again, nobody is asking for it to be free.

€60 is €2 a day

If there was a race every day, yeah. That's not how it works though. Not only is there a race every two weeks usually, there's a near x4 month gap in the off season too! Let's break it down:

€63 per month, so €756 for a year.
21 races for the 2019 calendar.
€756 into 21 races equals €36 per race

That's for x1 tv in the house, with no broadband (a far more important utility than broadcast tv these days I would say). In comparison, F1 TV is .50 cent per week for the year. Granted it's replay based, not live, but considering the savings...Sky is insanity if you only want F1 imo.

murphyebass wrote: »

€60 is €2 a day approx so for less than the price of a daily newspaper you could watch the sport you supposedly love.

I can't afford to pay for a daily newspaper either. For probably half the population €60 a month is the difference between being able to fix your car when it breaks so you can still get to work, being able to buy that thing your kid wants, not being cold for the winter, or even for the 20% on the poverty line just being able to eat. Plenty of things are worth more than an hour and a half of watching Hamilton and whoever is closest behind him while the TV director ignores everything else.

I had a subscription when it was €31 but not at €60. And I still get bombarded with the advertising at the race, I buy a Red Bull now and again instead of Monster or another brand, I have a Red Bull hat, I have a Ferrari backpack, I sometimes buy the games, I bought some tech made by Trust over another brand because they sponsored Minardi back in something like 2002, I've been to Monza not too long ago. They definitely get their money out of me, and if asked I'm sure they wouldn't say I should stop watching F1.

GarIT wrote: »

I can't afford to pay for a daily newspaper either.

Even at that, it's like buying a newspaper every single day of the year, and only reading 21 of them.

murphyebass wrote: »

If someone wanted to watch a major heavyweight fight they pay for it or stream it illegally with a poor connection or watch a crappy version on YouTube the following day.

Options are there for people to cheap to buy it. Use them or pay the money. It is what it is and isn’t going to change any time soon.

What was once a free to view sport is not anymore. That’s capitalism for ya.

I stream it in full HD at a higher bitrate than a Sky HD box can deliver. Not sure about Sky Q.
The only think I miss is being able to pause it, that works sometimes but it's not always consistent.

Liberty have said they wanted to make it FTA worldwide but existing agreements prevented that.

murphyebass wrote:

If someone wanted to watch a major heavyweight fight they pay for it or stream it illegally with a poor connection or watch a crappy version on YouTube the following day.

Maybe you need to see cheaper alternatives, some are almost as good as sky, there's no need for those sky prices.

Capatalism has been around a lot longer than sky, we ve just entered a potentially dangerous phase of it, whereby monoplies try to extract more wealth by rent seeking activities, as companies such as sky are doing, there's really no need for it, potentially very dangerous also

GarIT wrote: »

Liberty have said they wanted to make it FTA worldwide but existing agreements prevented that.

I'd actually prefer F1 not to go back FTA as mad as that sounds. It just reeks of advertising breaks, and F1 really doesn't handle advertising breaks well at all. A small premium to keep the race coverage ad-free is something I'd prefer.

skipper_G wrote: »

That last line is just fundamentally wrong, if Liberty wanted to make it available FTA there would be no such thing as F1TV. They wanted to roll out F1TV worldwide but existing agreements mean they can't.

I can only quote what they have said. Their actions may not line up with their words. F1 TV is compatible with it also being free to air, ad supported. If I'm recalling correctly it is currently free to air in the US with no interruptions just a sponsored by Mother's oils logo in the corner for the whole race.

I have been watching F1 on TV for up to 2 decades. If people back then would have said to you that you would need to pay to watch every race via a paywall. You would have been classed as a spoofer. Sky's subscription prices for these F1 GP's at the moment are eye-watering for a casual consumer living here in Ireland. Lewis Hamilton even said last year that he did not like the fact that all of the races apart from the British GP shown on a paywall in the UK.

I think when the Sky deal ends in the UK in 2024. The amount of price increases required from Sky to all of the F1 fans in Ireland & the UK would go into an unpalatable territory for a lot of them. If people are not watching enough of the other sports just to pay & see F1. They will be more likely to try other legal alternatives for viewing the GP's in future. There has to be a point in time where any of the F1 fans don't get accustomed with too much subscription fatigue to watch their favourite sports among with the other optional streaming services they like to use in their spare time.

dublinman1990 wrote: »

I have been watching F1 on TV for up to 2 decades. If people back then would have said to you that you would need to pay to watch every race via a paywall. You would have been classed as a spoofer. Sky's subscription prices for these F1 GP's at the moment are eye-watering for a casual consumer living here in Ireland. Lewis Hamilton even said last year that he did not like the fact that all of the races apart from the British GP shown on a paywall in the UK.

I think when the Sky deal ends in the UK in 2024. The amount of price increases required from Sky to all of the F1 fans in Ireland & the UK would go into an unpalatable territory for a lot of them. If people are not watching enough of the other sports just to pay & see F1. They will be more likely to try other legal alternatives for viewing the GP's in future. There has to be a point in time where any of the F1 fans don't get accustomed with too much subscription fatigue to watch their favourite sports among with the other optional streaming services they like to use in their spare time.

No new deal will be signed that doesn't allow for F1 TV at least, so Sky will have one reasonably priced competitor.

load of italian provinces have just gone into lockdown including modena

murphyebass wrote: »

Options are there for people to cheap to buy it.

Get off your high horse there fella! :rolleyes:


I can afford it, but considering our tv might get turned on maybe twice a week, I'll be f**ked if I'm giving Sky over 700 a year for minimal viewing. Many others have mentioned (and you conveniently keep ignoring) that they're not necessarily looking for it for free, but for a reasonable cost. The value for money just isn't there for an awful lot of people.