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Formula One to return to BBC TV

news.bbc.co.uk — The BBC has secured the television rights to Formula One from the 2009 season. The five-year deal marks the return of the sport to BBC screens 12 years after ITV began broadcasting Grands Prix. Hopefully they leave James Allen with ITV

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  • mrmuttley, on 03/20/2008, -1/+21TGFT no more commercial breaks and missing important stuff in the races. And as for James Allen.............. :-) Well done BBC for taking on F1 again
    • Teej, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3The interesting part about having no commercial breaks in the UK is that there are foreign station(s) which use the ITV feed complete with commentary and cut in their own commercials (Canada's TSN being one of them, I don't know if there are any others.)

      Since next year's British feed with commentary is going to have no natural breaks in it or "welcome back" etc commentary when coming back from commercial, I wonder what TSN's going to do.
    • DeFex, on 03/20/2008, -7/+2the whole race is just a big commercial break.
    • Ataxia2008, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1Anyone else think that this has only really happened because there's such a good chance of Hamilton winning this Season?
  • TonyBLiar, on 03/20/2008, -0/+16I think James Allen and Martin Brundel are the least of ITVs worries. In fact I'd like to see them move to BBC and continue what they're doing. But those FRIGGING adverts are the biggest pain in the neck and that BLOODY "Vewm, vewm, vewm" music they add in between as an added interruption where non is needed. As if you need reminding with flashy graphics why you enjoy motor-sport, while all the while you're missing it BECAUSE OF THE FLASHY GRAPHICS.

    Anyway - this is the BEST news I've had all year so far!
    • dignews, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5I agree with you, why does everyone hate James Allen. I think he's a good commentator.
    • kalkin, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2yeah let's hope they drop him but dear god i hope this doesn't signal the return of jim rosenthal!

      this is excellent news though. cannot wait for an ad-free race! generally i think the itv show is pretty good but i think the commentators could give a better picture of what's going on in the race. the in-race graphics could be improved in that regard also.
    • BelatedHero, on 03/21/2008, -0/+3They better keep Brundle. He's the reason I download the ITV broadcasts.
  • uselesstosser, on 03/20/2008, -3/+4This is fantastic news, not only do we have uninterrupted coverage but hopefully - and this is the killer - no more ***** doing the commentary. Martin Brundle is OK, not good, but OK. James Allen is a nob. I reckon someone like Charlie Cox should do it as he is a great commentator.

    Best news I have had all day, and I have been up almost half an hour!
    • davidrools, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3Your commentators are still probably better than the crap we get here in the States. We've got one guy who covers everything from Tour de France to the Olympics and another guy who mainly covers Nascar, neither of whom know dick about road racing. And we'll always have long commercial breaks at the most inopportune times. At least now we can get it in HD.
      • mindbender9, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I'm sorry, we're getting SpeedTV in HD? When is this going to happen? All right!

        Edit: Oh... you must have DirectTV. Cable customers (like me) will probably never see F1 in HD. Dammit! I hope we get that soon.
      • n3tfury, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2what one guy? if you're referring to Bob Varsha, then you're an idiot. Mr. Varsha is the most knowledgeable racing commentator in the States.
      • SonicAD, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Erm... I disagree. Varsha, Matchett and Hobbs are pretty much the best commentary crew on F1 I've heard, by far. Very informative, but still entertaining. The main focus for all 3 now is F1, Varsha's called F1 races for at least a couple decades, Matchett won championships in the pit lane, and Hobbs was a racer for 30 years, including a few F1 starts. And he's damn funny in the booth.

        Actually, I don't know who the ***** you're talking about that "covers everything from Tour de France to the Olympics". As a keen watcher of both, that sounds more like Al Trautwig, who certainly isn't calling F1 races right now.
    • mcmlxxii, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Brundle is not just ok, he's great. If he didn't have to spend half his time correcting James Allen it'd be more noticeable.
  • ButchersBoy, on 03/20/2008, -1/+9OMG when I hear that classic theme tune pumping out of my 5.1, lager in hand on a Sunday afternoon I'm gonna be rushing on petrol fumes. Awesome. I hope we get to keep Brundle's grid walk. He shows no fear in pushing other contenders out of the way to get straight to the celebs and drivers.
    • Teej, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Brundle's grid walk is great! I'd be sad to lose that, although the latest one in Australia wasn't that good. We'll chalk that up to temperature conditions.
    • Teej, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1And yes, let's bloody well hope they use Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. It would be sacrilege to use anything else.
    • remlap, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1BBC HD rarely gets 5.1 right on their HD channel.
  • fungke, on 03/20/2008, -0/+15Does this mean Murray's coming back ;)

    I'm glad we're loosing the adverts and that bloody music. Fingers crossed for HD coverage too.

    Great news!
    • ivantalboys, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6As much as I loved Murray at 84 he should probably be enjoying his retirement. That said I hope they can get him on the the first show back.
      • koltregaskes, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Formula One. Murray Walker. The BBC. Excellent. ;-)
  • Whingered, on 03/20/2008, -1/+7Personally, I like ALL of the ITV coverage, including the commentators (but, I must admit I can live without James Allen). Since ITV took over, they have improved the sport in many ways for the viewer, with their in depth reports and behind the scenes insights. From what I can remember the BBC used to just give F1 a slot in Sunday Grandstand, straight into the racing with hardly any introduction.
    Hopefully this time round the BBC can follow on from ITV and give us the coverage we have come to expect with the added bonus ('because of the unique way in which the BBC is funded') of no commercials.
  • goodhorsehymn, on 03/20/2008, -0/+12Charlie Cox + Martin Brundle + no adverts + no James Allen = very good news. If they managed to make the coverage a little less biased, it will be damn near perfect! And being able to watch the race or perhaps even practice sessions on iPlayer would be fantastic.
  • Kohai, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6Hope this means HD and the classic Fleetwood Mac - Break the Chain theme tune :)
  • Gullop, on 03/20/2008, -10/+3BBC provides a public service, this service was already provided by ITV, what a waste of our money.
    • dignews, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3You do realise the BBC have to pay for every single program they show, dont you? Ok they will have payed a hell of alot more for F1 but still it will be worth it. Do you also moan about the BBC paying for all England matches to be shown on their channels.
    • Gullop, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1Yes I realise and I also think the same of football games. I think the money could be put into something interesting, educational, entertaining that other channels would not produce/buy because they are not profitable. Not saying F1 or football isn't interesting or entertaining, but it will be just as on ITV1, except you could get a beer in the ad breaks.
  • gutterboy, on 03/20/2008, -0/+12This doesn't affect me at all, but I must digg anything F1. Wooot! Malaysia this weekend.
  • chris9902, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4No more adverts! hooray!

    Now if only they could stop putting the 10 o'clock news in between films.
  • Acronym, on 03/20/2008, -3/+0O RLY?
  • sagat, on 03/20/2008, -1/+19F1 without ads? Win, Win, Win.
  • Spetz, on 03/20/2008, -0/+12F1 news on digg. :D I hope they keep the original BBC theme, it certainly got your blood going. I also hope they keep Brundle, which is likely, given as he's won multiple well deserved awards for 'Best Pundit'.
  • kneelB4zod, on 03/20/2008, -7/+1So glad I don't have a TV
  • dontaskagain, on 03/20/2008, -4/+3I don't share the optimism expressed so far...Undisclosed fee sounds expensive to me and what value is added to it being on the BBC, no adverts? Well... I'd rather see the licence fee money spent on new shows than removing adverts from F1 racing. If they spent a fortune and brought premiership games to BBC i could accept it, it's providing non sky/ cable customers with some entertainment they probably couldn't otherwise afford. But this, just a waste of money.
  • RRRobotHouse, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Now can we have WRC in America? Pretty Please?
    • miles32, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2Check speed channel they probably got it
    • tomj88, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I wish they had more coverage of it over here, we basically get an hour long show every week and occasionally live coverage of the super specials but no great coverage of it :(
  • Otto-Mate, on 03/20/2008, -0/+11No ads - great news. Now the BBC need to secure Martin Brundle, who is an Awesome commentator!
  • gerjomarty, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I am very much looking forward to this, but I do wonder why ITV accepted this - they were in the middle of their contract and ratings could only go up with Lewis Hamilton's chances of winning this year. It makes me wonder who instigated this change and why.
  • mindbender9, on 03/20/2008, -1/+5As a longtime F1 fan in the States, I will be the selfish American who will publicly state that I am very worried that we will lose either Steve Matchett or Peter Windsor to the BBC when they begin broadcasting in 2009. We actually have a great source of coverage currently, and these two Brits are an unbelievable source of knowledge (both technical AND historical). And yes, Varsha and Hobbs are also excellent broadcasters as well.

    I would be devastated if we lost them to the Beeb. That would mean we would be forced to listen to ignorant Nascar commentators who annoyingly compare everything in F1 to Nascar, like we had to endure back in the late 90's.

    I'm happy for the Brits, but I'm worried my fellow US F1 fans.

    Oh, and Go Lewis GO!
    • deadsenator, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1The Speed crew is awesome. So informative. If I have to listen to Ralph Sheehan anymore than I already do (motocross and CBS F1), I will be very irritated.

      Go Kubica!
    • spiffae, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Oh my god if we lost windsor... That would be just awful. His gridwalks are great, and his insider views... always interesting. He knows EVERYBODY.

      Why don't they take David Hobbs? They can have him - he talks about racing in the 60s - and almost nothing is relevant from the 60s. Remember when he was off last season for a race and they had a new young guy who had tested in an F1 car? I want that guy back.
    • HappyScrappy, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1I don't think they care about Matchett. There are plenty of ex-pitcrew for them to field.

      But I could see them running at Windsor.
  • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 03/20/2008, -17/+2NASCAR FTW. You love it, you know you do. Don't try to deny it.
    • mindbender9, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1uh, no. No I don't love Nascar. Never have, never will.

      I remember watching Prost driving the Ferrari on ESPN, and loving it back then as I do now.
    • bigbadgoat, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6I'll love NASCAR when their races involve more than turning left and turing less left.

      I can appreciate the difficulty and skill required to race one of the cars, but sweet jesus man, the technology in those cars is for the most part so old and out-dated its not even funny.

      F1 is the pinnacle of car racing. Nothing compares to it, not even close.
    • BelatedHero, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1Nascar = Boooooooooooring!
  • carrotmadman6, on 03/20/2008, -5/+8Yeah... finally uninterrupted F1! :P

    I vote JEREMY CLARKSON for commentator!!! (supported by Captain Slow & Handy Hammond if you want!) :D
    • fry15, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2why is that getting dugg down! that is an amazing idea!
    • tomj88, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Not for commentators, did you see the episode of top gear where they tried to be radio broadcasters for the day? They failed. But as reporters Jeremy Clarkson would be almost certainly funny, Hammond would be terrible because he has openly stated he doesn't care for F1.
  • LogicBomB, on 03/20/2008, -9/+1Cars going in circles is not exciting.
    • alex1015, on 03/20/2008, -0/+7Then you've clearly never watched F1. There are no ovals. And why did you even click on the story?
  • alex1015, on 03/20/2008, -0/+8We want Murray back!
  • mentari, on 03/20/2008, -0/+0I thought I was still dreaming when I woke up to this news on my radio alarm clock this morning. I then had to check that it wasn’t April 1st! It’s after 7pm and I’m /still/ stunned that the Beeb has won this five year contract.

    I’m shocked because ITV Sport have done a stellar job with their F1 coverage. The only fly in the ointment have been the ad breaks – I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve missed a crucial race event due to those breaks.

    It’s a clear indication of the rude state of F1’s financial health when Mr. Ecclestone is prepared to take less money for a BBC license. It’s a shrewd move – the ad breaks were hindering the growth of the F1 TV audience (and were probably eroding it).

    It’s going to be interesting to see how they cover F1 in ’09. One thing’s for sure – they won’t be permitted to return it to a /Grandstand/ level of production.
  • wbtn, on 03/20/2008, -2/+3No more Louise Goodman and her stupid questions, thank *****.
  • Spankypoo, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2http://www.sniffpetrol.com/AllenCampaign01.gif
  • tomj88, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3I hope they bring this in HD and 5.1, especially seeing as the BBC (and iTV) are launching a free HD satellite service later this year.
    • mooninite, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3It won't. The global feed is still 480i stereo. They have all these fancy HD cameras recording, but only the local coverage gets it. The FIA is retarded.

      The USA has only had *one* 16:9 480i race and that was just last year on CBS. I doubt we'll be seeing them again until the FIA can make it cost lots of money.
      • hardstyle, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1The FIA are the governing body. It is FOM that handles all production (bar two races) and have stated they hope to have HD broadcasts soon.
        FOM are doing extremely well hence they accepted a lower price from the BBC than ITV.
  • SydneyHopper, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2The Times are saying that Richard Hammond is the new face of Formula One
    • BelatedHero, on 03/21/2008, -1/+2He'd be great!
      • SydneyHopper, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1Further rumors abound that, not only will he be taking over, but the show will some how be linked to the Top Gear program. As in- unleash the Clarkson
  • SydneyHopper, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/a ...
  • lionslair, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1In Australia we are lucky to see it 14+ hours its actually run and over. Full of ads and we miss interviews the list goes on. In Australia the coverage is *****!
  • marcomc2, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1Thank god
  • OffPiste, on 03/21/2008, -2/+1No thanks. I'll stick to NASCAR. Better drivers, better venues, and actual passing. God forbid if someone actually passes another car in F-1.
    • jacksewell, on 08/01/2008, -0/+0Formula 1 is better than NASCAR. I do like NASCAR alot but i think that F1 is better. :)
  • mcmadhatter, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1BBC should be able to recover some money from the deal by selling their feed worldwide to other networks or showing it on bbc worldwide (obviously not in countries where pre existing rights between bernie and other broadcasters exist) plus with the internet rights they can recover quite a bit in advertising outside of the UK.
  • nascapper, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1Great news, love the bbc. Should be a good feed.
  • habenneas, on 04/16/2008, -0/+1Fast text mirror: http://www.lynxcache.org/usr/1/BBC_SPORT_Motorspor ...
  • jacksewell, on 08/01/2008, -0/+0It should be better now it is on BBC becuase there will be know adverts. Hopfuly they keep Martin Brundell and hopfuly the rumors about Richard Hammond doing it is try. I would love to see Richard Hammond do it. Also I would love to see back Murray Walker. And also I would love to see Damon Hill or David Coulthard do it no that they both have retired from racing, or even Nigel Mansell.
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