Channel 10 fail on Formula 1 broadcast

Channel 10 have announced that this weekends broadcast of the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix is going to be on their SD channel 10 and not on their HD channel 11. Why? No apparent reason – there is no more important broadcast on the HD sister channel, merely old TV episode re-runs and non-HD films. The announcement made on their Facebook page has attracted hundreds of negative comments, the likes of which I haven’t seen made against Channel 10 since … well, since their disgusting broadcast of the Australian GP, but that’s another issue. I have preserved the comments below for posterity – I am certain that come tomorrow morning the majority will be deleted by Channel 10 PR people.

Hi Guys,

Just a reminder that the F1 will be joining @Channel Ten’s Super Sunday line-up from this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix from 9.30pm local time. This will be LIVE in AEST.

Qualifying will be LIVE in all markets on @One from Saturday 8.30 PM AEST.

Check out the schedule http://bit.ly/HJfMDJ for more details.
Like · · Share · 6 hours ago

14 people like this.
2 shares
Paul Fewings Worst decision ever.
6 hours ago · Like · 4
Craig Taylor Why no more live coverage in Perth? And no HD too?

Seriously shitty decision guys.
6 hours ago · Like · 9
Damien Gilcrist Haters gon Hate
6 hours ago · Like
Spasa Pasa No HD and delayed. Terrible programming.
6 hours ago · Like · 7
Anthony Kernich Q live race not
6 hours ago · Like
Adam Flockhart And 10 thousand ad’s when all the action happens.
6 hours ago · Like · 2
David Rees i will be watching
6 hours ago · Like · 1
Anthony Kernich I’m not too fussed its only Bahrain the race that should never have been on
6 hours ago · Like
Craig Taylor The ads ten are running seem to imply this will be a normal thing from now on
6 hours ago · Like
Chris Thorno Any chance for the NBL GRAND FANAL going live? After all it is the GRAND FINAL!!
6 hours ago · Like · 2
Dimitra Treli WHAT! we get a 30min delay? there better not be any of that carp channel one and ten call a preshow and cut straight to the race!
5 hours ago · Like · 4
Rhys James Hillman Guys this is a HUGE mistake, for the sake of a few extra ad dollars you’re going to piss off half of Australia. At a minimum PLEASE at least show the race simulcast on ONE HD LIVE for the rest of us. How do you think all the proud WA viewers feel now that they have to watch their boy Dan on delay and in standard def??
5 hours ago · Like · 10
Rob Golding Remember when OneHD was a pure sports channel? Those were the days… When they actually cared about Sport, not showing rubbish on 3 channels… No wonder they’re loosing money.
5 hours ago · Like · 6
Sadie O’Shea I’m confused… Why is it not on One anymore? Sport should be in HD and the F1 has been LIVE for a while now… Why change something that is working well???
5 hours ago · Like · 6
Rhys James Hillman Why not show it on ONE HD live as well?? That way you can sell ad space on both channels? Seems that’s all you’re interested in – both parties win, you get $ and we the fans get LIVE HD sport like YOU promised.
5 hours ago · Like · 3
Ben Stevens I’m in Brisbane so will have live coverage, but for the sake of the guys who won’t, please cut straight to the race & get rid of the irrelevant pre-race show for them…
5 hours ago · Like · 1
Michael Pipicelli So it is true, we now have lost our only HD coverage of the F1 in Australia and to makes matter worst people in W.A will no longer be watching the race LIVE.

I remember at the beginning of the new ONE HD promise all F1 and Motogp Races live and in FULL HD… so why have Ten change there mind?
5 hours ago · Like · 9
Ryan Kim Hi Ten Sport. Just want to say, this is the worst decision you have ever made. Kind regards.
5 hours ago · Like · 6
Annette Smith For those of us NOT IN THE EASTERN STATES, Please forgo all the Pre-Race CRAP and then we will be able to watch the RACES LIVE!! Will MOTOGP going the same way???I hope not as we enjoy watching MOTO3 and MOTO2 as well as MOTOGP…
5 hours ago · Like · 2
Michael Williams Great lesson on how to stuff up a network. Good work morons.
5 hours ago · Like · 7
Michael Williams I hope your advertisers leave you after this decision. Good luck to all Ten staff, your jobs are at risk.
5 hours ago · Like · 4
Ben Johnson I watch all races and qualifying sessions religiously but will be switching off Ten’s coverage (and relentless advertising) of the Grand Prix in favour of a LIVE HD stream.

Build up a big viewerbase in Australia by showing qualifying and races in HD live.. then in an attempt to save a failing channel, alienate those viewers by downgrading your coverage. GENIUS MOVE!
5 hours ago · Like · 10
Fred Bear No delay – Qualifying Sat 21:00
Race Sun 22:00
5 hours ago · Like
Michael Pipicelli Fred if you live in W.A the race is delay. Saturday 8.30 PM AEST
5 hours ago · Like · 1
Kenny H’ng stupid decision. just dumb~!
5 hours ago · Like · 1
Tyson Rignall Delay the F1 for WA? Great call by your programmers! Who doesn’t want to watch a delayed and potentially know the result before the Rex has finnished… Bravo 10, bravo!
5 hours ago · Like · 6
Tiffany Hansen Put it on One HD and bring back RPM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 hours ago · Like · 2
Rhett Hislop Muppets. I hope your studios burn down.
5 hours ago · Like · 2
Steve Viktor Ovsienko Boo
5 hours ago · Like · 2
Lionel Davey Nice to see a motorsport at the forefront of technology being broadcast on yesterdays technology by a bunch of money hungry idiots.
5 hours ago · Like · 6
Sam Bateman Stupid move, veiwers in states other than the eastern states would like the race LIVE as well you fools.
5 hours ago · Like · 3
Tim White What a joke. You give us the worst commentators ever, then you give ads every 2 minutes, and now your not even broadcasting HD (and not live in some states)..? At least broadcast it on both channels as compromise..
5 hours ago · Like · 4
Lionel Davey Will stick to streaming the races online form now on.
5 hours ago · Like · 2
Kent Jones Nice work. Jackasses.
4 hours ago · Like · 4
Dan Ede Not only going to stream the race, but will boycott TEN for everything and encourage others to. Sick of being screwed over by networks, but TEN/ONE have stepped over the line in so far as they advertised their commitment to F1 in HD this time last year.
4 hours ago · Like · 6
Leigh Godson Show it on ONE in HD! Dont want to watch this SD crap. its F1′s we are talking about!
4 hours ago · Like · 6
Clinton Westall So still no answer or response as to why you are screwing over WA viewers with no live or HD coverage?
4 hours ago · Like · 6
Firmin Li Wow what a load of crap,F1 only on SD and not live. What next ? Commentary from Rust and Beatie ?
4 hours ago · Like · 5
Salmon Bento F1 was the last show i watched on FTA, but if its going to be in SD i will just go back to streaming it online for a overseas source
4 hours ago · Like · 3
Ursula C. Pavlou The WORST mistake you’ve possibly ever made… SERIOUSLY!
4 hours ago · Like · 4
Paul Wright people will just go back to online and your ratings will suffer – but Channel Ten you like your ratings suffering dont you
4 hours ago · Like · 3
Jillienne Hoyle Hahaha The ratings and ad revenue will continue to plummet with the muppewts in charge making stupid decisions like this. Thankfully the internet will supply what motor racing fans want.
4 hours ago · Like · 4
Nathan Wood Why not show in HD? Going to use the sport chan for HD movies are you??? Great….chan 10, this is a massive mistake. I really hope you change this.
4 hours ago · Like · 3
Steve Brady Appalling news … F1 needs to be in HD and live. You’ve just set television programming back 3 years. Network TEN might as well give up their HD licence altogether if you are not going to use it properly. I’m disgusted.
4 hours ago · Like · 5
Craig Taylor Just give up and pass it over to Foxtel. No ads during the race would be awesome.
4 hours ago · Like · 3
Travis Silvester Disgusted at TEN not showing the F1 in HD anymore. Why are TEN so contempt of their viewers? Put the movie “Domestic Disturbance” on SD (channel 10) and let the F1 be in HD (channel 1). Honestly, no wonder viewers are seeking out other ways to watch their sport.
3 hours ago · Like · 2
Justin Spencer Terrible decision. Why watch SD broadcast when I can get it through other means in HD, live and without Daryl Beatie. Poor form TEN.
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Blake Currall Hey channel 10 when can I expect a cheque for $2000 in the mail for my now useless HDTV?
3 hours ago · Like · 3
Rodney Thomson
HD would be nice, but I can survive without it.

However, not showing the race LIVE as promised at the start of the season? TERRIBLE.

We are living an online real-time world. When I watch F1 its not just my wife and I on the couch with the…See more
3 hours ago · Like · 6
Dan Ede They promised live and in HD Rodney. But yes, WA and SA fans copped it the most, but nothing other than live and in HD one ONE nation wide is acceptable imo. Guess this means Ricciardo’s WA based family members won’t be able to watch him live either?
3 hours ago · Like · 2
John Gorman What a disgraceful decision by ten showing a total disregard for f1 and sport fans. Ten was doing ok showing f1 live and in HD, which considering how 9 and 7 treat their sports coverage was actually very good. Now to scrap it on one HD, not even live in the west, while a rerun movie and netball repeats run in HD. Surely the f1 was one hd highest rating program?
Fuck u channel 10
3 hours ago · Like · 5
Michael Harris Come on Channel Ten, messing with F1 fans this weekend in WA isn’t at all nice – and flies in the face of One’s F1 Live marketing campaign.

How about you show us some respect and screen the F1 live like you always do:

http://allthingsempty.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/swf-rtl-fail-or-why-fans-matter/

3 hours ago · Like · 1
Trevor Page So I’m guessing you’ll switch to the F1 race at 9:30 in Darwin as well even though we’re not on AEST, and then make us watch the pre race show? In otherwords we’ll end up watching the ‘live’ race 30 mins late?
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Jacek Szymenderski I’m really disappointed in this decision. As someone else has mentioned, just hand this over to foxtel so that we can at least pay for the privilege.
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Mark Lloyd Disappointing… Now we get the F1 in standard definition and covered with ad’s.

1991 called, they want their broadcasting back.
3 hours ago · Like · 2
Juan Rodriguez In this day and age not showing F1 live with F1 live timing, social media etc is ridiculous. If I lived in WA I’d grab a VPN and stream it live from Europe, sans Rusty and crew.
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Simon Smithers Ch 10, you are idiots!
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Jason Brennan I predict, in five years time the Ten Network will no longer exist. It’s a shame, since I’ve grown up with Ten and have almost exclusively tuned in since I was in primary school. F1 was the last piece of programming I watched and now that is gone I no longer need them. All my TV comes through the net now. RIP Ten Perth 1988 to 2012.
3 hours ago · Like · 2
Kev H’ng
I watched a replay of the recent race on Ten the other night. F1 in SD is rubbish compared to the coverage on One. It is amazing that this change is happening when two highly regarded aussies are on the grid. How are we supposed to recognis…See more
3 hours ago · Like · 6
Dan Ede Guys the only way this will spread and have a hope of affecting TENs’s decision on this is if you post about it on your own Facebook pages and link to here asking them to comment if they watch F1…
3 hours ago · Like · 1
Paul Fewings I used watch the one hd coverage but will now boycott the SD delayed telecast here in WA. I will watch live net streams from now. I strongly urge.all others to do so too. By no one watching will force them to change it back. This is beyond appalling and a major step backwards. So how long before sky f1 hd channel is available subscribe to here?
2 hours ago · Like · 2
Judd Howie This has confirmed it for me, taking up the Sky Sports HD Streaming subscription. Good work Ten…
2 hours ago · Like · 1
Dale Christey so much for live and HD, just lost another viewer. sad as your AFL, and F1 coverage was about all i watched on C10. Now a viewer gone altogether.
2 hours ago · Like · 1
Owen Stickley
And the TV stations in Australia wonder why people keep going online for their entertainment – did anyone at Ten/One actually put some thought into this? If they did, it was surely malicious. Although I am a popular fan of the quote “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” – it’s a good job the TV stations in Australia have an effective monopoly, because that’s the only way people would voluntarily consume their rubbish.
2 hours ago · Like · 3
Josh Swain Unacceptable.

In WA, the race will be over before we watch it, with all the comments ‘f1 live on super Sunday’.

No. Just no. I take it that TEN are happy for us to use other means to watch F1 since they don’t care? #boycottTEN
2 hours ago · Like · 3
Johnathan Staverman Again with the ridiculous decisions. I’ll ensure I find alternative ways to view these sports, and try my best to encourage others to follow suit.
2 hours ago · Like · 1
Dale Hall What about the rest of the year dickheads, is it gonna be live or delayed come on chnl 10, sort it out, we dont care for the 3 muppets doing the pre race show crap, just show the racing live in HD…
2 hours ago · Like · 3
Damian Lewis Useless Chan10…..not going to bother watching on your SD channel, but will instead stream it LIVE on the Internet, which will still be better quailty than your SD Channel. Do you want to lose viewers?
2 hours ago · Like · 2
John Gorman Is a spokesperson for ten/one going to actually explain the reasoning behind this decision? They think more people will watch a netball repeat and a re-run movie?
2 hours ago · Like
Bruce Large GG Channel 10, way to piss off even more potential consumers … Keep this up and you will be just as bad as Channel 7.
2 hours ago · Like
Allan Langford no they will just delete this like “the circle” facebook page when everyone complained about them making disgusting comments about Australian war heros… maybe they should delete Ch10 management!
2 hours ago · Like
Michael Lawrence what a joke! Give us live F1 coverage in Perth and in HD
about an hour ago · Like
Luke Rayner And they will wonder why their ratings plummet due to the majority watching streams online. So what happens post europe rounds when the race is monday am time? Oh hang on, it will be delayed to the next sunday AFTER. Mega excited to watch canada and brazil in SD, chock full of ads and a week late!
about an hour ago · Like
Steve Leonard I rang Ch10 in Perth (WA) today to complain about the 2hr delay in broadcasting of the F1. Response was (to my comments about Eastern States knowing the result before the transmission starts here in the West) “Well, turn your phone off and stay off the internet”. Really? That’s your best effort? Ch10 need a reality check to think they could do this without upsetting MOST of the population.
about an hour ago · Like
Josh Swain
Unbelievable… TEN are aware that it’s 2012 right?

So we can’t use live streaming to analyse the race. F1 fans are passionate, we are interested in deeper details, and we hold grudges when we get stuffed over. Look at how NINE treated F1 with contempt.

TEN have now done the same.

#boycottTEN and their seven or eight sponsors that will get their ads repeated ad nauseam while we miss action.

I wonder how long it will be before TEN deletes the post like they did with the Circle…
about an hour ago · Like
Bastardfred Child National disgrace. Hang your heads in shame 10
about an hour ago · Like
Leighton Sublevel Will be boycotting all of your channels and advertisers…F1 deserves to be on HD and live for all states. For shame Channel 10, FOR SHAME!
about an hour ago · Like · 1
Ben Dunn Welcome to 2005. Thanks chn 10
57 minutes ago · Like
Tom Sindoni Boo hiss… I bet Rusty is behind this!
46 minutes ago · Like
Clint McKay The department head who made this call should be sacked…
43 minutes ago · Like
Anthony Bortolotto FFS really who makes these decisions? Do they actually watch or understand sport?
39 minutes ago · Like
Kenny H’ng un-Australian . . . so Webber and Ricciardo aren’t good enough to have the races on live across Oz and in HD? *shakes head* disappointing and dumb decision Channel 10~!!!
33 minutes ago · Like
Udana Athuraliya Fail on Channel 10′s part. They will find out the hard way when people turn to online streaming from VIPBOX etc etc…..it is what I will be doing the minute F1 is not broadcast live.

In this day and age of technology, the punters have many other avenues to watch their favourite sport.
30 minutes ago · Like
Paul O’Halloran
Very poor decision Ch10 and a double whammy for us in WA. Super Sunday isn’t something to rejoice but just a kick in the teeth for us loyal F1 fans. Especially when for the first time in 30+ years we have 2 Aussies on the grid with 1 from WA! Way to keep your fan base Ch10 – Will be looking to stream live this weekend until these shenanigans are finished or it goes to another channel, paytv or otherwise. Big thumbs down!
23 minutes ago · Like

Currently there is a long thread on the Channel 10 discussion forum wherein many people are also making complaint about the decision. Not to mention the outcry on Twitter with the associated hashtag #boycottTEN.

My post on the matter is reproduced here in (near) full:

Why can’t 10/One simulcast the F1 coverage like they have done for AFL in the past?

On that point, why do they bother simulcasting national sports anyway when they aren’t even broadcast in HD? Everyone can receive the SD channel 10, but not everyone can receive the HD channel 11 – that’s fair enough – so don’t bother polluting the HD channel with SD content. Leave HD content for the HD channel.

I actually thought the coverage by OneHD wasn’t too bad on the Malaysian and Chinese GP’s – the ad breaks were timed decently, with Greg Rust holding off on a break when Jenson came in for a pit-stop at a crucial point in the Chinese GP. Well done there. I won’t go into the quality of the Australian “commentators” because I’m sure they do the best they can with the information they have available – not much, it would seem, given their performance.

With respect to the Australian GP, any kind of coverage at all would have been an improvement over the absolutely disgusting broadcast we received from that race. No F1 fan cares about a bunch of talking heads blabbering on with cross-promotion and unrelated celebrity gossip. How unrelated chit-chat is meant to make F1 appeal to non-fans is also a mystery to me: surely if Ch10 wants to increase the F1 fanbase (and viewership) they should have packed the AusGP coverage full of motorsports-related material? Everyone has a mute button on their TV. Mine was used to full effect whenever anything that didn’t involve motorsport was shown. Funnily enough I used the mute button that weekend more times than I’d ever used it in my entire life – literally!

Anyway, as others have said if Ch10/One is going to start broadcasting F1 only on the SD channel there literally is no point watching their coverage at all. Spam removed

The small “spam removed” comment was one added by the site administrator in place of a reference I made to streaming the coverage online at the flick of my wrist via Google – which despite what is stated, had no connections to spam at all. I didn’t paste any links or even mention any sites in particular, the evidence of “spam” was missing entirely, though I guess we can’t have people getting ideas about online streaming on one of Ten’s own forums.