Following Channel 10′s announcement that they are effective this weekend going to downgrade their F1 coverage, I would like Australian F1 viewers to help me gather what information and support we can in order to try and reverse this decision.
Channel 10 announced on their Facebook page a few days ago (link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=209160422520832&set=a.118759851560890.12404.113049405465268&type=3) that F1 broadcasts are moving from the HD channel “OneHD” to the SD channel 10. Channel 10 have stated this is to allow a “wider audience” of F1 fans to view the broadcast. In addition to the channel swap, the programming itself will start from 9.30PM in all time zones – this effectively means that viewers in SA and NT will be delayed by half an hour, and viewers in WA delayed by up to two hours. This is apparently also an attempt to get F1 viewers to a “wider audience”.
How cynical you are will determine the kind of theories you have about the true motives behind these decisions. Channel 10 have stated they want F1 to be part of their “Super Sunday” broadcast – effectively a marketing push to collect several hours of popular programming into a prime-time slot of Sunday afternoon through evening. This was first done for the broadcast of the Australian GP due to its convenient broadcast time smack-bang in the middle of “Super Sunday”. My guess is that the “success” of the Australian GP broadcast has prompted this move to shoehorn all other F1 broadcasts into this time slot. Not only were more ad breaks than ever before seen on the Australian GP broadcast, more vapid talking heads than ever before seen were also present, thus making the broadcast “family friendly” and apparently helping it to appeal to a wider audience.
As you can see if you have clicked the link to Facebook above, nobody is happy about this decision. Approximately 150 negative comments were made on their post in the first day. Channel 10 seemingly doesn’t care, they posted this message in response:
“We are wanting to bring F1 to the widest audience possible, which is why it is on Ten. This allows all Australians to access the Formula One coverage in a consistent time slot every Sunday night. Sorry, guys. This is locked in.”
Since that post, several hundred more comments have been posted. The most poignant of which states “your schedule might be locked in, but your viewers aren’t” with several people posting references and links to online streaming of the F1 coverage.
What I want to do is send a message to Channel 10 to let them known this is simply unacceptable behaviour. I am annoyed personally because I am losing HD broadcast, most certainly gaining many more ads, and for some races throughout year will also be delayed. I live on the East coast of Australia, but it’s worse for the people on the West coast: all of the above, plus a two hour delay! What is the point of F1 live timing, F1 twitter accounts, and following each team’s respective ‘live postings’ on websites etc if there is no live coverage?
F1 broadcasting in Australia has always been terrible due to the structure of our commercial television networks and the timezone difference between here and where F1 happens. For a short while (2010, 2011 and the first three races of 2012), OneHD for the most part did a good job of broadcasting – all races live, almost all qualifying sessions live, and contrary to many complaints, I do feel they took minimal ad breaks.
We were given a bone, and now they’ve taken it away.
I would like all Australians to help me boycott Channel 10 and their sponsors. The following is a list of sponsors of the F1 on CH10/OneHD:
- Mercedes Benz
- Ashley & Martin
- TAGHeuer
- Swisse
- Harvey Norman
- Pedders
- Shannon’s Insurance
- Colli Hardware
I will provide contact details for these companies later.
Here are Channel 10′s contact details: http://ten.com.au/contact-us.htm
Sydney
1 Saunders Street
Pyrmont, NSW 2009
GPO BOX 10, Sydney, NSW 2001
Ph: 02 9650 1010
Fax: 02 9650 1111
Melbourne
Como Centre
Level 4, 620 Chapel Street
South Yarra, VIC 3141
Private Bag 5000, South Yarra, VIC 3141
Ph: 03 9275 1010
Fax: 03 9275 1011
Brisbane
Sir Samuel Griffith Drive
Mt Coot-tha, QLD 4066
GPO BOX 751, Brisbane, QLD 4001
Ph: 07 3214 1010
Fax: 07 3369 3786
Adelaide
80 Hutt Street
Adelaide, SA 5000
Locked Bag 10, Adelaide, SA 5001
Ph: 08 8225 1010
Fax: 08 8225 1011
Perth
Cottonwood Crescent
Perth, WA 6062
PO BOX 10, Mirrabooka, WA 6941
Ph: 08 9345 1010
Fax: 08 9344 8076
A list of their Twitter accounts:
One HD: @onehd (https://twitter.com/#!/onehd)
Ten Sport: @tensporttv (https://twitter.com/#!/tensporttv)
Craig Baird: @cbairdo (https://twitter.com/#!/cbairdo)
Greg Rust: @Thrusta1 (https://twitter.com/#!/Thrusta1)
Darryl Beattie: @Hanginfive (https://twitter.com/#!/Hanginfive)
Their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/TENsportTV
And a link to a discussion on Ten’s own forums about this very topic:
http://community.ten.com.au/community/other-ten-tv-shows/f/69/t/26774.aspx
Please can you all make every effort possible to contact Ten and let them know your displeasure at this move. Australians and non-Australians alike, please descend upon Channel 10′s contact points and overwhelm them with negative feedback. I would encourage people not to be vulgar or aggressive, merely state your displeasure and suggest you will be using alternative ways of watching the F1 coverage in the future.
