Championship is “Rosberg’s to lose” – Horner

65 comments on “Championship is “Rosberg’s to lose” – Horner”

1. 

   Tyler (@tdog)
   25th October 2016, 0:54

   As someone who moved to the States last year, I can only second COTD.

   The coverage on NBC is truly awful. Never complain about Sky F1 folks, it is light years ahead of the dross served up here.
   1. 

      bull mello (@bullmello)
      25th October 2016, 1:03

      @tdog – I don’t mind Matchett and Hobbs with their commentary. Diffey is not as bad as some who had that role here previously. The amount of ads that are served up borders on robbery for pay tv. F1 is one of the few reasons I have for keeping cable, but I’m rethinking that once this season is over. If Sky was offered for F1 coverage here at a reasonable cost, I would consider it.
      1. 

         mateuss (@mateuss)
         25th October 2016, 9:37

         Stream it.
         1. 

            JungleMartin
            26th October 2016, 11:38

            Or look into VPN/DNS so that you can watch other coverage. UK coverage for example: the Sky coverage is available on a pay by the day/weekend basis, via NowTV; there’s also the Channel 4 coverage which is free, but only half the events live. I know this works as I’ve done it myself.
      2. 

         Mashiat (@mashiat)
         25th October 2016, 16:03

         @bullmello Sky is offered for free, on something called livestreaming.
   2. 

      Sean Doyle (@spdoyle17)
      25th October 2016, 1:10

      This. I’m even more screwed, as my cable provider, (SuddenLink) messes with the zoom from all over-the-air NBC broadcasts. I lost all the live data because of this. The fact that they did NOT broadcast on NBCSN screwed me over.

      I don’t mind the commentary much, but when I DVR races, (like this one, being only a few hours drive away from the track means nothing when on shift work), I usually take barely over an hour watching the race because of all of the fast-forwarding.
   3. 

      Cyberaxiom (@dave-m)
      25th October 2016, 7:45

      I watched the Singapore GP in the USA while on holiday. The NBC coverage cut away so often I gave up and managed to find a Spanish-language channel on the hotel TV to watch it on.
   4. 

      Andy
      25th October 2016, 8:40

      I watched it on Sky – who have no control over the direction during the race. Dear idiots at FOM, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN VENUS WILLIAMS!!! She was on my screen every 10 minutes. Sheesh.
      1. 

         GeeMac (@geemac)
         25th October 2016, 9:30

         Couldn’t agree more. Celebrities exist and some of them occasionally attend F1 races. As nice as that is for some people, I don’t care. We could do with seeing less hangers on and more of the on track action.
      2. 

         Tristan
         25th October 2016, 14:49

         Oh agreed whole heartedly, this was quite possibly the worst direction of an F1 race all year. And that’s saying a lot. They actually had me quite loudly shouting at the screen when they cut away from Alonso at the end. The exact opposite reason for why you want to shout at your screen during a race!
      3. 

         Dom (@3dom)
         25th October 2016, 18:54

         What really gets my back up is when after the opening laps a driver starts to make a move that they’ve been lining up for a while, and just as they start to make their move, the race director cuts to extended multiple views of the start of the race!
         Surely they could show these clips gradually at a time when there aren’t close battles taking place up and down the grid!
2. 

   bull mello (@bullmello)
   25th October 2016, 0:58

   This article from arsTECHNICA backs up the COTD with some rough, but solid, data.

   The races shown on NBC vs. NBCSN show no difference in amount of ad time and B roll footage. NBC is essentially free tv, but the majority of the races are shown on the cable only sports network NBCSN which is pay for tv. That is the rub for me. On pay tv it should be ad free like SKY. For a while when I could not justify cable tv it was fairly easy to find streams with SKY’s F1 coverage and it was such a relief to sit and just watch a whole race without constant interruption. Here in the US we do not have that option since NBC/NBCSN currently have the contract and they make money from ads.

   I concur with @Slowhand in the COTD and the linked article that this type of coverage is not conducive to bringing new fans to F1 in the US.
   1. 

      Phylyp (@phylyp)
      25th October 2016, 4:20

      @bullmello – came here to mention Ars Technica, only to see you beat me to it ☺. +1 to CotD.
   2. 

      pastaman (@)
      25th October 2016, 13:06

      Standard fare here in the US, every channel (including “pay TV”) except “premium” channels (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, etc.) has commercials. This includes every sporting event. In fact, basketball even has “TV timeouts” that are part of the rules. After 4 minutes of game clock have elapsed, the next break in action is designated a TV timeout.

      It’s only been in the past few years that NBCSN has used a “side by side” format where during a race, commercials are shown on their regular interval, but the race is shown “side by side” of the commercial in a smaller window of the screen (with audio for the commercial, of course).
   3. 

      Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
      25th October 2016, 15:13

      @bullmello @pastaman I believe Sky often crowbar ad breaks into a lot of their other sports coverage. The only reason they (and Channel 4) run with an ‘ad-free’ mantra is because F1 doesn’t have genuine breaks in the action. When F1 in the UK was on the commercial ITV, they frequently ruined races with their adverts – if they [Sky] took the sport from the BBC (ad-free) then proceeded to return to the ITV days of ruining races, the house of cards would collapse quickly.

      The relative cost of the NBCSN sub vs. the minimum cost of a Sky Sports sub should probably be considered – The cheapest package including SSF1 is currently £570 per annum.
   4. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      25th October 2016, 15:39

      Good point made from all of you about bad quality viewing being a real damper on any possible fan interest. While Sky has gone down in level ever since taking over from the BBC, the overall quality (and especially the fact that they have no ads during races, as one should be getting for Pay TV) still is clearly above the footage other places in the world get, including one of the biggest potential markets out there (RTL in Germany is pretty bad with ads too, but still a lot more reasonable than the US footage)
3. 

   Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
   25th October 2016, 1:19

   The article from Duncan Stephen is spot on.

   “when Jeremy Clarkson is on Amazon Prime, old-fashioned linear TV is running out of steam.”

   Absolutely right. I recently cancelled my satellite TV service simply because I couldn’t justify the cost for something I hardly used. I now watch F1 via my android box and I get the EPL for free via my internet provider. I haven’t even got my TV hooked up to an antenna!

   The era of TV programming dictating your viewing patterns are well and truly over. We live in a world where people can watch what they want, when they want and where they want. The TV companies need to re-asses their approach. I honestly think PPV via the likes of Netflix and Google Play is the future of sport broadcasting. In the case of F1, imagine if you had the following choice on say..Netflix (highly vague pricing):

   1) 3 day Weekend Pass Full Coverage – USD 20
   2) 3 day Weekend Pass (On track action only – no pre/post session content) – USD 15
   3) Free Practise 1,2,3 Full Coverage – USD 5
   4) Free Practise 1,2,3 (On track action only) – USD 3
   5) Qualifying Full Coverage – USD 7
   6) Qualifying (On track action only) – USD 5
   7) Race Full Coverage – USD 15
   8) Race (on Track action only) – USD 12

   I would love to have these options. I hardly get the time to watch FP. I most definitely don’t get the time to watch all the pre and post content either. Most times, if not always, I just make it to my couch just before the formation lap gets started. So why should I pay for all the content that I can watch?
   1. 

      Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
      25th October 2016, 1:19

      Meant to say “Why should I pay for the all the content that I CAN’T watch”
   2. 

      Tristan
      25th October 2016, 3:07

      I’d stick to pirating with those prices…

      By contrast WWE network has an exceedingly fair price (US$10/mo) for all you can watch of not only new original programming and live events but also their entire archive.

      It’s not all sunshine and roses either, even at that price WWE have struggled to gain viewership compared to their televised offerings. While I’m definitely a huge advocate for switching to some method of digital distribution, it should be well thought and with a keen eye towards added value and taking advantage of what the medium can offer.

      I even think offering a (heavily) ad supported free stream with the option to pay instead for an ad free, optional self-directed camera, live replays, multiple languages or commentary tracks and telemetry would be the smartest course of action.
      1. 

         Tristan
         25th October 2016, 3:20

         PS I just wanted to mention again how important I think a free offering is in this day and age. Entertainment is not expensive in the slightest, getting the initial eyeballs on the screen is paramount. That’s the hardest part.

         Once an ad comes on at the end of the first lap, with a little pop-up box in the bottom corner to “remove all adds for $20/mo and get this, and this and this extra!” those with the money will be hard pressed not to click if they like what they see.
   3. 

      Timorous
      25th October 2016, 11:20

      Now TV in the UK offer a 1 week pass to all of the sky sports channels for £10.99.

      The prices listed are far too high for just F1 coverage.

      I would probably pay £5 for 3 day access to Sky Sports F1 only and then I would probably opt to pay for it over watching the races on Channel 4. As it is I only pay for the 1 week pass if the race is not on C4.
4. 

   Edsel Ramirez
   25th October 2016, 2:30

   Here in the states there one other option of watching F1 without ads and completely legal. Of course it’ll help if you can speak español. Anyway they show it on UniMas commercial free. But those commentators can be annoying most of the time since they only talk about Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez.
   1. 

      Gabriel (@rethla)
      25th October 2016, 10:51

      Well thats a nice change from only hearing about Hamilton and Button
   2. 

      Chaz
      25th October 2016, 18:53

      It’s how I watch it in the States… no cable…. UniMAS on Sling via Roku… Can’t keep up with español so I turn the audio down and run the F1 app audio commentary and team radio through the Bluetooth sound bar… sometimes the delay from pic and sound is out of sync by a few seconds but for the most part… non-interrupted races… Awesome.
5. 

   Tristan
   25th October 2016, 2:37

   Regarding Kvyat I can’t see it being anything other than wanting the home driver for the Russian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s in this for the marketing and having the home driver for a specific market (if the Russian GP is similar to the Australian GP anyway) is huge in that regard. He’s clearly not on par in terms of pace or race-craft.
   1. 

      Jayteeniftb
      25th October 2016, 5:37

      Demotion: Red bull gains, Kvyat loses.
      Fired: Red bull loses, Kvyat gains.
      Simple politics
   2. 

      GeeMac (@geemac)
      25th October 2016, 10:10

      Either that or you have to assume that Helmut Marko thinks Kvyat is quicker than Gasly. Gasly has done enough testing for RBR recently for them to be able to make that call.
      1. 

         BasCB (@bascb)
         25th October 2016, 15:55

         And given that Gasly is currently only 2nd behind his rookie teammate in GP2 in the (this year) all conquering Prema team, I can see where that belief comes from.

         Sure, he did step up from last year by getting a bit of winning done, but he really should have been further ahead.
         1. 

            MattDS
            25th October 2016, 17:04

            @bascb be fair to the guy, he would have the title pretty much wrapped up if not for a good amount of very bad luck.
   3. 

      Miguel Sampaio (@gordess)
      25th October 2016, 10:24

      That’s also why they chose him over Da Costa, in my opinion..!
6. 

   NinjaBadger (@ninjabadger)
   25th October 2016, 4:04

   The US GP, in the UK, always appears stuck between a rock and a hard place, because of its time of broadcast.
   Does the free-to-air broadcaster show it live [race start: 8pm], and have it up against prime-time?
   Or does it show it later [11pm], and compete against the free-to-air round-up of the weekend’s football matches?
   Or show it even later, when the majority of people are asleep to be up for Monday?

   It stands to reason that, since Sky’s coverage received more viewers, it’s better to compete with prime time to at least offer an alternative, and also not complete with another sports show that probably shares a greater proportion of your demographic [than prime time programs].
   The Mexican GP will be a good comparison, with it being shown live on free-to-air.
7. 

   GeeMac (@geemac)
   25th October 2016, 8:36

   I think people are reading way too much into the “declining viewer numbers” thing. As far as I’m concerned, the numbers were low because the race was on free to air TV at 11pm on a Sunday, which is ridiculous. I had to make a conscious, irrational decision to stay up and watch it. I’m sure lots of people chose not to do the same and watch it at their leisure the next day.

   Everyone with a voice in F1 keeps banging on about the “need to attract a new audience”, which is fine. But they also need to understand their existing audience. Most of us have watched the sport since we were children and now have grown up stuff like families, jobs, mortgages and children in our lives, but it doesn’t mean we don’t still follow F1 with the same passion we did when we were 10. The powers that be just need to understand how we “consume content”. I still watch every race, but most of the time I have to watch it “as live” after a media blackout due to family commitments. I end up doing that because my family time is precious and I can’t justify spending 3 hours in front of the TV when I could be enjoying my wife and child’s company. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who does this, and I don’t know if my view gets counted in the overall tally when I watch the race this way.
   1. 

      Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
      25th October 2016, 10:57

      You have F1 on Free to Air TV? Why didn’t you record it?
      1. 

         GeeMac (@geemac)
         25th October 2016, 11:25

         Because I can avoid F1 news for the whole day on Saturday or Sunday, but I can’t on Monday. I use my commute to work and lunch hour to catch up on the F1 news (and the other dull stuff happening in the world).

         It’s also hard to avoid checking F1 Fanatic when there is a lull at work…
         1. 

            spoutnik (@spoutnik)
            25th October 2016, 18:40

            @geemac digging all day long to avoid news on the grand prix you missed is always a prowess!
         2. 

            Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
            27th October 2016, 18:00

            @geemac I am surprised you don’t record the races, then you can watch some of the race before you go to work and the rest of it when you get home. Recording the race won’t stop the race result being a surprise. You can even go back to watch the race again and again. I pay $55 per month (New Zealand dollars) for the privilege of watching F1 races, and I have only a 24 hour window within which to watch the race. That is the cheapest legal way to watch these races here.
            We lost F1 from the Free to Air TV about a decade ago, and race viewership here is so bad the brand recognition here is fairly close to non-existent. When the races were on Free to Air TV the presentation was excellent and the impression I got was viewership was increasing every month even though people had to get up at midnight to watch the races.
            1. 

               GeeMac (@geemac)
               28th October 2016, 8:50

               @drycrust I can (and do) record races, that’s what I meant when I leave it to later in the day to watch them “as live”. As I said I can avoid F1 news for the whole day on Saturday or Sunday, but I can’t on Monday. I also can’t watch a race piecemeal, I get too into it and have to watch it to the end.

               I grew up in SA and F1 went on to pay TV very early on in my life as an F1 fan (around 1994 I think) and I also had to pay to watch F1 in the Middle East, so I’m not anti paying to watch the sport. It is also not the quality of the broadcast I care about either because the teams discussing the races in SA where (and still are I understand) incredibly poor. The point I was making was that the lives of F1 fans change, so there is probably a more nuanced reason for the fall in viewers, so we can’t all just throw our hands in the air and use viewing figures as an excuse to say “it’s all horrible and nobody likes it”.
   2. 

      Retired (@jeff1s)
      25th October 2016, 12:06

      +1
   3. 

      Duncan Snowden
      25th October 2016, 12:15

      Excellent comment. I’m certain the shockingly low figures for C4 had as much to do with the scheduling as anything else. (I almost forgot it was on.) It’s interesting that for Quali, C4 easily beat Sky by more than 3:1. That, on the face of it, bears out your story: it’s easier for most people to “blackout” on a Saturday, watching on PVR the next day, or simply watching “live” late at night, than it is on a Sunday.

      But less than 2m in total for the race is pretty awful, whatever the reasons.
   4. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      25th October 2016, 16:02

      This is exactly why I prefer my races early in the morning @geemac – then I can get up before everyone else, enjoy a race with my first coffee and breakfast and when it is over, I can sometimes even manage to prepare a family brunch and/or go out for the day with my family.

      I am sure that the had the race been about an hour earlier, and the highlights at the earliest time possible (now from about 22:30, with an earlier race maybe from about 22:00 PM) there would have been a lot more watchers.

      Also, am I alone in finding that the times get more and more confusing? The race used to be at the same start time as qualifying. Nowadays it often happens that the races are either an hour later or an hour earlier than qualifying, and I have a hard time getting the race start right (either being ready an hour early, or making it only just in time/shortly after the start because of a random tweet or something).

      It really shows that the timeschedule as well as how and when what is broadcast where needs a rethink to make it easier to follow live or easier to just record it and watch it later, or to watch it later “on demand” depending on one’s schedule (and timezone relative to where the race is).
      1. 

         Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
         26th October 2016, 0:03

         @bascb one of the measures brought in after the Bianchi crash was that some of the flyaway races now start an hour earlier than quali for safety, as drivers had been complaining about low light and/or glare, due to starting so late in the day to chase the European morning TV audience
         1. 

            BasCB (@bascb)
            26th October 2016, 6:47

            I know @fullcoursecaution. But to me, that is no good reason not to move the action on saturday as well to keep those times consistent (and make it easier to tune in on time). I rather question the whole idea that moving the times to a later window in Asia, getting low sun and darkness towards the end of the race, not to mention frequently hitting a prime time for monsoon rains to “appease” the European audience at mid day works.

            To me there couldn’t be a worse time of day to watch an F1 race, because it means that I have to put all other plans for that day (or the weekend) aside, to “cash in” favours from my family, just to watch the race. Instead an early morning race is great, leaving time to do things during the day.
            And an evening race – although i admit starting after 10 pm it does get somewhat late for a sunday, especially if you have to wait another hour and a half for the highlights – still works for me, as I just watch it after dinner and some time with the family again.
            1. 

               Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
               27th October 2016, 13:22

               I agree @bascb it seems like a no brainer to just move the quali time to match. As far as I can remember that’s always been the case since I started watching in the early 90s. Funny how quickly ‘the DNA of the sport’ can go out the window when there’s a quick buck to be had!
   5. 

      Dom (@3dom)
      26th October 2016, 18:32

      This perfectly describes my situation @geemac , I’m lucky enough to have a wife that is also a massive fan of F1 so we share it together, but with two young kids, there’s always some event on (christenings, parties etc) and if not then entertaining them is high on the priority list. We can’t just dedicate any old time to it and so 6 times out of 10 we end up watching the recording on the sky box, we just can’t watch them all live anymore. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be counted in the rating but for some reason live viewers are only counted in the stats
8. 

   PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
   25th October 2016, 10:06

   I don’t understand the Kvyat decision too. STRs main target is to feed top line drivers to the RBR outfit. Kvyat has had his shot at that team and has proven not to be ready and by Marko terms never will be. Both Ricciardo and Verstappen have a long way to go and won’t go anywhere in the near future. That means STR isn’t really the place to be for any driver right now and for the coming few seasons. No surprise they locked Sainz so early to make sure nobody would steal him from them. Thus giving Kvyat another year also makes no sense. Gasly might become GP2 champion and without a drive for 2017, give him that year in the STR then.
   1. 

      DB-C90 (@dbradock)
      25th October 2016, 10:50

      I get the feeling that Red Bull are considering a possible 1 2 in the manufacturers next year and want to arm up with the best 2 choices in both teams.

      Kvyat has the experience and is quick, whereas Gasly’s form has been a little up and down and would be an unknown.

      I figure that Marko etc know all the data and details and have made their decision based on merit. Don’t be surprised though if either Kvyat or Sainz for that matter are put under pressure/replaced if they don’t perform next year right from the start.
   2. 

      WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      25th October 2016, 11:22

      @xtwl Gasly has been testing F1 machinery for two years now – I’m sure if Red Bull had seen a future champion in the data they would have made the switch. I actually think there is cause to suggest Gasly is no better than Kvyat – whilst Daniil was a rookie champion versus a formidable roster of rivals in GP3 in 2013, it took thirty-six races before Gasly claimed his first win in GP2 (Vandoorne won his first race).

      When there is no guarantee that the promotee will be better than the incumbent, what is the point of an eternal conveyor belt of drivers that destabilizes both driver and team?
      1. 

         PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
         25th October 2016, 15:27

         @william-brierty Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure Kvyat has more potential than Gasly. That doesn’t take away what the purpose is of STR and a switch to another driver be it Gasly or Pete would make more sense to me.
         1. 

            WilliamB (@william-brierty)
            25th October 2016, 15:57

            @xtwl – Well then maybe STR needs to define its purpose more in terms of what it can do in terms of results rather than what it can provide for its sister team. And I don’t agree that STR is just a continually mutating, bubbling cauldron of young driver hell. Speed, Luizzi, Bourdais, Buemi, Algersuari and JEV were all replaced because a supposedly better driver was available, a driver that, in theory, had a better chance of headlining the top squad. None were replaced until that driver materialized, so it would be odd if Kvyat was removed from F1 altogether only for the crime of getting in the way of Verstappen’s career juggernaut.

            If STR is anything more than a holding pen for future Red Bull drivers, then it should realize it might just be looking down the barrel of one of the best opportunities in its history. With a great chassis already, the promise of a coming aero formula, the gradual trickle of Red Bull developmental DNA and a quite simply terrific driver in Sainz, STR could have a corking season next year. If he is so besotted with the idea of replacing Kvyat, the onus is now on Marko and his talent spotters to find a driver up to the job, and to stem the tide of phenomenal talent like Vandoorne, Ocon, Stroll and Leclerc pinched by other teams.
         2. 

            GT Racer (@gt-racer)
            25th October 2016, 16:00

            @william-brierty @xtwl

            Gasly may be the obvious choice to those looking at the GP2 standings & STR’s ‘purpose’, However as I said a few days ago there are a lot of people at Red Bull & STR who are starting to feel that Gasly isn’t as good as it was initially thought.

            The fact he’s been at the GP2 level for 4 years & didn’t win a race until half way through this year gave cause for concern at RB, However the fact that his rookie team mate Antonio Giovinazzi came into GP2, Won his 3rd race weekend & has been generally faster & more consistent than Gasly & the fact that Gasly apparently didn’t impress during his recent F1 test’s have added onto that.

            Helmut Marko is apparently still a fan & was pushing to get Gasly in the STR earlier this year but others within the Red Bull program & STR pushed back & Kvyat was allowed to keep the seat. Marko does want Gasly in F1 but as I say others within that program are less impressed & in this case it seems that they won out.

            If Gasly wins the GP2 title & doesn’t end up somewhere in F1 (It would take Red Bull buying him a seat somewhere as I gather other teams are more interested in Giovinazzi) then he’ll likely be in Formula E or DTM (Perhaps in place of Da Costa) & in that scenario he’ll seriously have to impress to get a shot at F1 in the future.
            1. 

               BasCB (@bascb)
               25th October 2016, 16:16

               I am sure that the facts that he has taken until mid this season to actually win a race despite the team hitting the ground running, and that he has been largely outshone by his rookie teammate play a very large part in the reasoning.

               Maybe Gasly will end up in a test seat at either Red Bull or STR? That would keep him on board a bit, be around the paddock and maybe get a chance if/when Sainz gets an offer from a manufacturer team @gt-racer, @william-brierty, @xtwl?
            2. 

               WilliamB (@william-brierty)
               25th October 2016, 17:26

               @bascb – A reserve role would definitely make sense. He might not be quite good enough to warrant standing Kvyat down, but there have been plenty of F1 drivers worse than Gasly, and he would certainly be an appropriate substitute if Sainz gets pinched.

               Actually as @gt-racer discusses, the rookie season successes of Giovanazzi are an interesting comparison. Post-GP2 he looks to be eyeing an LMP career with his recent outing for the ESM LMP2 team and with an upcoming LMP1 test, but to lose such a clearly gifted driver just because he slipped the radars of the F1 teams earlier in his career would be an immense shame.
9. 

   NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
   25th October 2016, 11:09

   Nico can loose, Hamilton can win it… It is by no means a done deal. One DNF and it is all to play again. And Mercedes has issues this year…
   1. 

      Robbie (@robbie)
      25th October 2016, 12:31

      No LH has told us that Nico hasn’t a single worry, so…
10. 

    petebaldwin (@)
    25th October 2016, 11:54

    This made me laugh….

    “I don’t know why anyone thinks the race in Austin could be in trouble. The great relationship that we set up with the state of Texas, as long as the state of Texas is willing to write a $10 or $15 or $20 million check, there will be a race here.”

    Followed by……..

    “The numbers are Sky’s lowest for USA since 2013 when the championship was already wrapped up.”

    “In an era where TV viewership is declining as a whole, these sports are at risk of becoming irrelevant.”

    Oh…..
    1. 

       montreal95 (@montreal95)
       25th October 2016, 13:26

       @petebaldwin Yes it was funny to see those one after the other. But in the context of yesterday’s news of record attendance at the Circuit of the Americas, I don’t see an immediate threat to this particular GP’s future either
       1. 

          Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
          25th October 2016, 15:32

          @montreal95 @petebaldwin Yeah, but if you read Joe Saward’s Austin Notebook, there’s genuine belief that the number of people who paid for a weekend pass to go to COTA did so just for the Taylor Swift concert and didn’t pay any attention to the racing, not even staying for the Sunday event.
          1. 

             BasCB (@bascb)
             25th October 2016, 16:13

             The funny thing is, that to me that one is a very clever one. Swift fans (I guess mostly female) would want to go, and if they can get their boyfriends to go along by promising a bit of car racing, that feels like a good deal. It did work for CotA to get a solid boost in visitor numbers, meaning a boost in tourist numbers for the Austin area, which helps them haul in that tax cut to pay towards the race fees @optimaximal, @montreal95 @petebaldwin.

             It shows that the future should be looked at by finding solid weekend filling events that offer more than “just” racing, instead giving a nice weekend of entertainment for a broader audience.

             Off course that still begs the question of how to go forward with TV rights, because I would be surprised if Swift would ever be inclined to have Sky F1/NBC/… broadcast her show without paying a rather significant sum to her too!
          2. 

             montreal95 (@montreal95)
             25th October 2016, 19:00

             @optimaximal @bascb @petebaldwin I’ve read Joe’s notebook. Don’t know how many of those in for the Swift concert didn’t stay for Sunday but I’m sure quite a few did because of, as JS said, “the males in their lives”. With whom they used the race as bait to make them come to the aforementioned TS concert. Some of those might be back next year, even without the girls.

             Whatever, this was a genius idea by the organizers. In an era of endless entertainment opportunities, you have to think outside the box to make a profit. The fact Austin promoter had done so, indicates that they know what they’re doing down there
11. 

    Miguel Sampaio (@gordess)
    25th October 2016, 11:59

    Thanks for the mention, @keithcollantine!
12. 

    Corey (@dragon86)
    25th October 2016, 13:57

    Unfortunately, without all those ads during the F1 race on NBC, we wouldn’t have the ability to watch F1. That is how they make their money to buy the rights. NBC.

    As far as the celebrity shots go, isn’t that under FOM’s control, which NBC (like Sky) has no control over.
    1. 

       Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
       25th October 2016, 15:34

       Surely it *is* under their control. :)

       Interestingly, the only race that FOM doesn’t direct is Monaco, which is just as bad for the celeb watching.

       That said, I do wonder if FOM under Chase Cary will fawn over Putin when he arrives 10 minutes from the end of the Russian GP quite so much.
13. 

    btcamp (@btcamp)
    25th October 2016, 16:10

    When NBCSN goes to commercial I switch to UniVision. I don’t know a word of Spanish, but at least they don’t have commercial breaks. I usually end up forgetting I’m listening to Spanish language commentators half the time, mainly because I’v become accustomed to tuning out Matchet going on about tires and Diffey praising Hamilton any chance he gets… I actually welcome the dead air they pepper in.
14. 

    stefano (@alfa145)
    25th October 2016, 19:15

    To COTD: from what I understand of what you wrote it seems to me like te opposite, with a good, shiny product but badly covered and sold. But maybe I misunderstood.
15. 

    NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
    25th October 2016, 21:09

    F1.com :

    http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2016/10/watch–button-makes-up-8-places-on-first-lap-in-austin.html

    Check it out! :D

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