The Future of Formula One TV Coverage

After 12 years, ITV will no longer be showing Formula One in the UK, and the rights have gone back to the BBC. Obviously this means no more races interrupted by advert breaks, but what else are the BBC planning to do? And more importantly, can they do a better job than ITV?

The main advantage that I can see is the use of the BBC's interactive service, which could easily be used to show many more different features from the race, such as live timing screens and on-board cameras. This interactive service proved to be very popular with their coverage of the Olympics and Wimbledon, and I think it could work just as well for Formula One.

There could also be an option to switch between the main commentary and commentary from Radio 5 Live, and possibly no commentary at all if you like hearing the engines and the racing instead.

Rumours are already circulating of a Formula One themed "warm-up evening" before the first race in Melbourne to get viewers ready for the action, and probably to tempt you to get up at ridiculous o'clock to watch the first race of the season.

The BBC recently confirmed their F1 "team" for next year, with Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard as the main commentary team, with Ted Kravitz and Lee Mckenzie reporting from the pits. However, the BBC have revealed that they will also have a London-based studio, from which we will hear the thoughts of David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan, along with Jake Humphrey.

Of course all of these ideas sound impressive now, but this has been done before. The F1 Digital Channel from six years ago offered a similar sort of service, but ultimately failed. This time, however, it's available for free, and it should be a lot more popular than it ever was before.

Obviously we will have to wait until March to see whether these ideas are actually implemented, but from what I've heard, the BBC's coverage sounds jolly exciting. F1 should also sound better now James Allen is out of the picture.

(I've written this article to help me with my preparation for a Media Studies exam in January, so I would be very grateful if you could leave your comments and opinions on the BBC's planned coverage, if you think these ideas are any good, and if there's anything you would like to see from them. Thank you in advance!)