Post by Sir TimPost by ~misfit~Post by ArThe race will have lots of long ad breaks, the commentary will be
in German, it will not be in HD, BUT, you will watch all the races
live.
An listen to BBC R5 commentary?
How many people can be arsed? Wouldn't it be simpler just to get Sky
- or give up watching F1?
Spoken like a person who's never had to worry about paying the bills.
What on earth makes you think that?
"Wouldn't it be simpler just to get Sky" No talk of affordability tends to
make the reader think that it's not an issue to be considered.
Post by Sir TimI won't bore you with a sob story
but I can assure you that for many years I most certainly had to
worry about paying the bills. Now I *can* afford to watch Sky, so I
do.
I suspect that most people here could afford it but choose not to,
which is, of course, their prerogative.
Post by ~misfit~Speaking for myself I can't afford Sky - and don't want to give up
something that I've been enjoying for decades. 'Simpler' has to take
a back-seat to what's (im)possible.
I followed F1 keenly for many years when there was virtually no TV
coverage at all in the UK. Admittedly the motorsport print media
carried much more detailed race reports, lap charts etc. in those
days (and also had brilliant journalists like Denis Jenkinson).
Before my back crapped out and I was running my own business I had Sky and
*only* used it for F1 (oh and sometimes Indycars / Champcars / whatever they
were calling themselves at the time). That said, even though I was making a
good living it still wasn't an insignificant amount of money to get Sky /
Sky sports. I would record every race (to VHS) and leave it in the porch for
my retired uncle to pick up the next morning (and leave another tape for the
next race). Races are, or were then, almost always on in the wee hours here
in NZ. He would then pass the tape on to my cousin to watch on the Monday
night.
Previous to Sky picking up the rights here in NZ it was shown free-to-air
live on the state broadcasters channel and my uncle and cousin (and many
many others) followed it religiously. I could have many informed and
interesting coversations about F1 in the pub or when meeting friends.
Post-race Mondays were great for bleary-eyed F1 chats. However within a
couple of years of Sky picking it up I could only talk about it with my
uncle (and a little later on line).
Now I don't know anyone (in person) who follows F1 (though I must admit my
social circle has shrunk along with my income). I think that even if I was
still socialising as much as I used to I'd still struggle to find someone
who follows F1 to the point of watching every race. Here a lot of people
access Sky sport through 'sports bars' which is fine for rugby (union and
league, if you're into that sort of thing) but good luck finding a sports
bar that's open (when the races are live) and showing F1!
--
Shaun.
"Humans will have advanced a long, long way when religious belief has a cozy
little classification in the DSM*."
David Melville (in r.a.s.f1)
(*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)