[QXCharles]

I am slightly more tempted now, as I had been considering upgrading to Sky+HD anyway.

However I have a nagging suspicion that F1 is just a loss-leader to push HD uptake, and after a year or two the packages will get "re-organised" so F1 ends up in the full-price Sky Sports package.

Quite possibly but you only have to take HD for 12 months after which you can cancel so you can reassess if the situation changes

[adesseridopaw]

With exception of Canada its nice to see Sky have all the less interesting races with all the best races shown on the BBC. I still won't be signing up to Sky as its still paying for something I've never had to in the past. It'll be possible to watch the races for free on the internet (admittedly at lower quality) but its better than supporting Sky IMO. I was a bit disappointed to see Red Bull advertising Sky in practice today and thought the teams would distance themselves from the deal knowing how unpopular it is. I know they have all accepted the deal and stuck their fingers up at the British fans in effect, but openly supporting a viewer slashing deal is a tad too far IMO. Nevermind eh.

[rojettafoxx]

Still not impressed, no matter how Sky/F1 dress it up, it's still £30+ per month (£360 per year) more than it should be to follow F1. So no thanks, might catch the highlights next year but I've really gone off the sport since this was announced.

[FelicitaJ]

If I want to watch ONLY SKY F1, I'd still need to pay the licence fee and then Sky's fees, and on the basis that the BBC had an exclusive contract ya da ya da etc..........

I have to pay the licence fee to watch the drivel on commercial tv too BTW.

I didn't know, I thought the licence fee was only for the BBC.

[Gvadelunar]

I upgraded to HD with a deal to get a Sky+ box which has now expired, I was considering what to do but seeing as I can get F1 without any MORE money to Sky I think I'm pretty happy with the status quo.

What they did not put in that annoucement is that they are going to show all, or at least most of the support races from the Grand Prix weekend which will be good too.

And if they do have David Croft and Martin Brundle as their commentary team that is obviously a very strong line up.

[ChexEcodece]

Australian GP SKY
Malaysian GP SKY
Chinese GP SKY & BBC
Bahrain GP SKY
Spanish GP SKY & BBC
Monaco GP SKY & BBC
Canadian GP SKY
European GP SKY & BBC
British GP SKY & BBC
German GP SKY
Hungarian GP SKY
Belgian GP SKY & BBC
Italian GP SKY
Singapore GP SKY & BBC
Japanese GP SKY
Korea GP SKY & BBC
Indian GP SKY
Abu Dhabi GP SKY & BBC
US GP SKY (if it happens)
Brazilian GP SKY & BBC

There is no point in BBC showing the early morning races like Australia, Malaysia and Japan.

[ChexEcodece]

I'm more interested with 'Sky Go' as my brother and my sister both subscribe to Sky Sports.

[KellyMP]

i wont be paying sky to watch it, ill stick with BBC live and highlights.

[12dargernswearf]

Quite possibly but you only have to take HD for 12 months after which you can cancel so you can reassess if the situation changes

Yes true, but I think they'll be counting on most people not doing that. The marketing department know it's much harder to give up a luxury you've become accustomed to, than to forgo the same luxury when you've never had it.

[12dargernswearf]

I didn't know, I thought the licence fee was only for the BBC.

It's a bit misleadingly named. It's really a television tax, that's then to fund public service broadcasting.

Looking it up on Wikipedia, I was surprised to find that actually most countries in Europe have a TV licence. Your own country is in the minority in not having one. I don't know why I'd always had the impression it was unique to the UK, maybe we just complain about it more Ours isn't even the most expensive: Germany, Switzerland, Austria and all the Nordic countries all pay more.

[Switiespils]

I didn't know, I thought the licence fee was only for the BBC.

Yes it is, but stupidly, even if you never watch BBC, you still legally have to have a licence if you want to watch the telly. Welcome to Grand Britagne (nil points!).

[12dargernswearf]

Welcome to Grand Britagne (nil points!).

And, as I mentioned in my previous post, most other countries in Europe

[hauptdaunnila]

Yes it is, but stupidly, even if you never watch BBC, you still legally have to have a licence if you want to watch the telly. Welcome to Grand Britagne (nil points!).

There are plenty of public services you pay for even if you never use them. The BBC1 and BBC2 have by far the highest reach of any channel (source), and taken together with their other channels and radio stations there can't be many people who never use any BBC services.

Whatever, I still think £145 for such a broad range of channels and services is phenomenal value, especially when you look at what some other countries charge and what you get for your Euros.

Like I said, I face a potential cost of £120 just to watch 9 or 10 races next year, that's on top of the £20 per month I already pay Sky. I almost certainly won't bother: the in-laws have Sky Sports so if we time our visits correctly I can probably catch the majority of the season live with no additional costs.

[QXCharles]

Just subscribed to Sky HD

tbh getting a box upgrade was on the cards anyway but the F1 thing sealed the deal.

[hauptdaunnila]

Just subscribed to Sky HD

tbh getting a box upgrade was on the cards anyway but the F1 thing sealed the deal.

I cancelled my HD pack when the 12 months ran out as we realised that >90% of what we watched in HD was on a free channel like BBC or Channel 4. It was nice to get a subsidised HD digibox but simply not worth continuing to pay a tenner per month for the occasional documentary on Discovery or whatever.

In all honestly we're probably going to buy a non-Sky PVR after xmas and not bother subscribing to any channels - the box should have paid for itself by the summer.

[adesseridopaw]

I think I'll just go back to being a casual F1 fan from next year. Thirty quid a month is still too much to pay on top of the license fee, and my wife is already rubbing her hands together as it means I'll have no excuse to watch half of the races now. She's also hoping my forum time will decrease too lol.

[imawlBoli]

I'm on Virgin, I take all the HD avvailable, but not the sports, does that mean I will get the F1 for no extra cost (its plenty of cost already), or do I have to take some sort of sports package (which i won't)

[12dargernswearf]

I'm on Virgin, I take all the HD avvailable, but not the sports, does that mean I will get the F1 for no extra cost (its plenty of cost already), or do I have to take some sort of sports package (which i won't)

It's still undetermined whether it'll be on Virgin at all.
https://my.virginmedia.com/customer-...rticles/SKYF1/

[amberamuletuk]

Never thought I'd ever move over to the 'dark' side but we have just signed up with SKY for a package that includes a free SKY HD box + free installation, telephone and broadband (connect from sky as we are out in the sticks and so have to have BT wholesale and so are not eligible for "cheap" deals. grr), entertainment extra, HD package and free 2 month movies trial and a £100 M&S voucher all for £45 a month.
Living where we do, broadband and phone usually costs around £40 per month (before charged calls) from most providers so all in all it's a great deal for us.

[QXCharles]

I suspect the channel will be on Virgin. OfCom might have something to say if it's not. How much it will be is another question.