[Aagotiq]

I'll be honest I find it very difficult to enjoy the Sky coverage when I do have to watch it and have only resorted to watching 2 live Sky races this year. I'm still very angry the deal was done with a satelite channel and I don't think my feelings on that will ever change. Having a dedicated F1 channel is great in theory and I'm sure you guys who have it and have paid for it are very happy, but I know a fair few F1 fans who are concerned the whole coverage will end up on Sky which will knock its popularity in the UK and I can't help but think thats bad for the sport. My gripe is I can't record the non BBC races and watch them later. I'm not bothered about watching the races completely live because I often have better things to do in the day on a Sunday but I used to enjoy setting the box to record and watch the race when I get in in the evening. I can only do that for a limited number of races this year and I've missed alot of the action. Trying to argue points on here with people who have watched the race and myself who has read articles at certain points is interesting, but it would be nice to see the race before I discuss it. The highlights on the Beeb are very good and you don't feel they are rushed or shortened when you watch them, but its clear they miss certain things and following strategy is often difficult when 4 laps are jumped.

From what I have seen I would say Sky are doing ok. I'll believe you guys when you say the quality is close between the two and I am very happy with the qualiity on the Beeb and the team are very good IMO. I like EJ alot more this year and feel he adds a relaxed feel to the proceedings and is genuinely a nice guy I think. DC and Edwards have gelled well together and dare I say that I haven't missed Brundle as much as I expected to do. Gary Anderson is brilliant with his technical input and strategy calls which more often than not appear to be spot on. Lee is excellent and always has been but I do fancy the knickers off the woman so thats probably influencing me there. The teams seem to be close to the Beeb and at Monaco we saw them getting preference over the chaps at Sky, but then again its the most watched race of the year and the Beeb have the lions share of the viewers.

I'm not a happy fan this year and can't agree having two channels showing races in the UK is good for the fans because overall its not. Read a lovely article in the Guardian the other day that obviously hasn't been influenced by the Beeb at all concerning the saving they made by cutting their deal. A reported £150m was saved in the 'controversial deal' and this has been gut wrenching for the producers at the Beeb. On a lighter note though they are pumping all their resources into the Olympics to bring us the best coverage ever apparently. I hate the Olympics lol, but appreciate the rest of the country are going to get very excited about it and the money is best shifted to cover that. I'll be avoiding as much of it as I can. Happy days

PS: I also think this forum is a lot quieter than is used to be and I think this deal has gasd a lot to do with that. Posters like 'Sonic' have walked away from F1 and haven't been seen for nearly a year now and most of the threads are made up of 5 or 6 posters when they used to up to 20 posters debating at once. Just an observation.