BBC F1 - Another broadcasting chapter ends

NOT only does the 2011 FIA Formula One world championship ends this weekend, but it will also feel like the end of an association for many Grand Prix petrol heads.  Television viewing changes next year and the BBC is taking a backseat from its coverage of one of the most colourful and glamorous sports in the world.  2011 has been the final season where you will be able to watch every single Grand Prix on free-to-air television.  From next season, Sky Sports becomes the home of Formula One racing.     

     Under the controversial new deal, signed at July’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Sky subscribers will get extensive previews to races, plus live coverage of every single practice, qualifying and race event from the currently 20 scheduled events in next year’s championship.  The deal runs until 2017.  The BBC has had to scale back its coverage, due to sweeping budget cuts.  It decided to do this, despite recently renewing deals for the Six Nations and the Wimbledon tennis championships.  However, they will still screen ten live weekends next year of all sessions, plus delayed highlights of the other ten events it will not show live.  Monaco, the season finale in Brazil and the British Grand Prix will be definitely covered in the agreement by the BBC, while there is still an announcement pending over the other seven races.  Pundit teams have also yet to be revealed, although we do know that Jake Humphrey will still be fronting BBC’s coverage, whilst Martin Brundle is debating over taking over as the lead commentator for Sky Sports, or staying on as the leading anchor for the BBC.

       The BBC has a prestigious history of screening Formula One, even if that is not so much in recent times.  They began showing live coverage of the entire Grand Prix season from 1978 onwards.  ‘Grand Prix,’ became the home of F1 for 18 years, until 1996.  They showed the drama of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna's dramatic collisions in successive years at Suzuka, Nigel Mansell's spectacular tyre blowout that robbed him of the 1986 championship and Damon Hill's popular title success in 1996 which had Murray Walker literally with a lump in his throat.

    In 1997, ITV outbid the BBC to take the rights away for 12 seasons.  Although the levels of extensive coverage improved from BBC’s output, especially in the early days, its later years were seen as a massive letdown for fans.  Commercial breaks during some huge moments in events, including the embarrassing faux-pas at the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix added to the mounting frustration.  In March 2008, ITV announced their F1 exit for commercial pressures; three years before their current deal was due to expire.  The BBC took back the rights for 2009 on a new five year deal.  Formula One was coming home!

      Jake Humphrey was preferred to Steve Rider in taking over the hosting duties.  He was joined in the paddock by Eddie Jordan and newly retired David Coulthard, who have certainly added plenty to the coverage, especially Eddie’s horrific choice of shirts!  Jonathan Legard, who had previously covered F1 for BBC Radio 5 Live became lead commentator, whilst both Brundle and Ted Kravitz switched from the ITV team to the BBC crew.  Lee McKenzie, an experienced motorsport presenter from A1GP and GP2 joined Ted in reporting from the pitlane and the legendary voice of Formula One, Murray Walker, has been part of the team too, previewing, reviewing and answering burning questions from fans on a regular basis.

        The BBC era started brilliantly and in a way, they took over from where ITV left off, with a British world champion.  Jake and the team did magnificently to interview Jenson Button in a massive media scram only moments after he had clinched the championship in sensational style in Brazil.  They took coverage to a new level, with every session on the red button and all qualifying and race events on BBC One, with a prime time highlights package on freeview station BBC Three.  BBC built on this in 2010 and has also given plenty of time for analysis from the action, which has included the popular F1 Forum.  The forum lasts an hour online and on the red button after every race.  Blogs from the presenters on the BBC F1 website, Ted Kravitz’s behind the scenes report from the pitlane and features such as Classic F1 have only added to the experience. 

       There was a minor change to the team in 2011, when Legard was dropped from the team and Coulthard joined Brundle in the commentary box; Brundle moving into the lead role having been the expert provider since 1997.  TV ratings have always been very high, peaking regularly on raceday at between five and seven million viewers.  It won the BAFTA for Sport in 2011, thanks to its coverage of the season decider 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw Sebastian Vettel take the title in the first four way showdown ever.  Its impeccable coverage of the sensational Canadian Grand Prix this season, which lasted nearly five hours, means it, will be a favourite for more awards in 2012.

       This isn’t the end for the BBC and the F1 partnership, as they will still be giving us unbeatable coverage in 2012 and for the next five seasons afterwards, but on a more reduced scale which is a big disappointment to the normal viewer.  Money talks in this business and it is clear that BSkyB has this in abundance.  I have no doubt that Sky Sports has the ability to take F1 coverage to another level, like they have with the Premiership since 1992, but they will never get the same audience appeal that the BBC has enjoyed in the last three seasons.  Enjoy the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend everyone, as another F1 broadcasting chapter reaches a conclusion.

The Manchester bombing - 15 years on

IT WAS the biggest peacetime bomb carried out by the IRA.  212 people were injured on a gorgeous, bright summer’s day that turned into a day of horror.  Thankfully, no-one was killed by the bomb which destroyed Manchester on Saturday June 15^th 1996.  Fifteen years on today, the city will remember the awful events, but can also lookback at the pride and regeneration carried out since the blast, which has turned Manchester into one of the leading cities in the world.

     Whilst today, it is international terrorism that dominates the worldwide scale, it was more of a domestic issue in the mid-90s.  The IRA had struck before in this country, most notably in Warrington in 1993, which killed two young boys.  In 1994, a ceasefire had been agreed by the leaders of the IRA (Irish Republic Army) and the then Prime Minister John Major.  This ceasefire was destroyed by the Canary Wharf bombing in February 1996, which also killed two people.  In the coming weeks, bomb alerts and explosions were becoming the norm again.  The city of Manchester was about to experience one of its blackest days in its history.

     It was a busy Saturday morning, at the height of a summer heatwave for the country.  Euro 96 was also taking place, with the big England v Scotland game at Wembley Stadium due to take place later that same afternoon.  Manchester was also involved in the tournament, with Russia playing Germany in a Group C encounter at Old Trafford only 24 hours later.  At 9.20am, a cargo truck parked on double yellow lines pulled up outside Corporation Street, directly infront of a Marks & Spencer store, close to the Arndale Shopping Centre.  CCTV videos showed two hooded men leaving the vehicle shortly afterwards.  23 minutes later, Granada Television received a phone call from a man, with an Irish accent who claimed that the parked cargo had a bomb in it, which would explode in a hour.  To ensure this was a serious threat, the man also gave out a codeword.  Greater Manchester police now had a job to do.

DESTRUCTION: Was caused, but thankfully, no fatalities

     That job was to evacuate shoppers and workers nearby the vicinity.  Police who had been drafted in for the following day’s Euro 96 encounter were also on the scene to help with the evacuation.  It is believed that between 70,000-80,000 people were in the area at the time.  A bomb squad arrived from Merseyside in an effort to defuse the bomb, but they ran out of time.  At 11.17am on Saturday June 15 1996, the bomb exploded, destroying Marks & Spencer, some neighbouring office blocks and 33% of the Manchester retail space.  Glass and debris flew everywhere, which is how most of the injuries occurred.  Around £700million of damage was caused, with the target simply the economic and infrastructure of the city.  It is still quite remarkable and frankly, a miracle that no-one was killed by the attack.

     Greater Manchester Police immediately suspected IRA involvement.  John Major called it “an act by a handful of fanatics who will be regarded with contempt and disgust around the world.”  US president Bill Clinton said he was “deeply outraged by the explosion.”  Five days afterwards, the IRA claimed responsibility, although they did apologise for causing injuries to civilians.  Luckily, the Good Friday agreement of April 1998 means that although there is still the odd sporadic attack, it is nowhere near as frequent and dangerous as it used to be.

PLAQUE: To remember the blast

     Victims of the bombing received a total of £1.1million in compensation.  Redevelopment work began shortly afterwards, although many buildings were closed for months and some were beyond repair.  The redevelopment of the area was completed around nine years later.  Manchester has risen from a dark day, to become a bustling, friendly and modern city within the UK and the world.  It hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games with great success, made history by hosting the first ever televised election debate during last year’s General Election and with two successful football clubs in Manchester United and Manchester City, gets stronger with each passing week.  Fifteen years on, and people will remember today and will never forget the events, which fortunately, didn’t have any fatal consequences.

Robbie Returns To Take That - A Mistake Or A Wise Move?

On Thursday night, the worst secret is music was revealed, as after fifteen years and constant speculation over whether it might happen, Robbie Williams will return to Take That.  They will work together on a new album for the band, due to be released around Christmas time, and go on tour together next year.

Williams quit the band fifteen years ago, after a row with the manager of Take That, and various disagreements with the other band members.  Now, he will be reunited with the Mark Owen, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Jason Orange for the first time since they record the No.1 song ‘Nobody Else,’ back in 1995.

All five singers have written the songs for the new album, which is due for release in late November.  Their first appearance back on stage together came last September in New York, shortly after Take That’s ‘The Circus Live’ tour.  Since then, speculation has intensified about a proper reunion, which included Robbie and Gary working together on Simon Cowell’s charity single ‘Everybody Hurts,’ for the Haiti earthquake appeal.

Take That spilt back in March 1996, having been the heartthrobs for many girls during the 90’s.  Songs such ‘A Million Love Songs’ and ‘Relight My Fire,’ got the pulses racing of many girls, and won critical acclaim from music experts.  They reformed in 2005, and have gone on to even further success, with three No.1’s (Shine, Patience & Rule the World) and two sell-out tours.  Robbie Williams has also gone onto great success as a solo artist, releasing ‘Bodies’ last year, adding to his growing collection of unstoppable hits from the past, including ‘Millennium,’ ‘Angels,’ and ‘Rock DJ.’  This year, Williams won the Outstanding Music Contribution award at the BRITS.  Since leaving Take That, he has eight UK albums released.

Fellow band mate Mark Owen told the BBC of his delight at Robbie’s return.

“Getting the five of us to be in a room together, although always a dream, never actually seemed like becoming a reality.”  “Now the reality of the five of us making a record together feels like a dream.”  “It’s been an absolute delight spending time with Rob again.  But I’m still a better footballer!”

It is still unclear whether this is a temporary reunion, or a permanent move.  It could have a major impact on the fortunes of both Take That and Robbie Williams future careers.  Having been a big fan of Take That myself in the 1990’s, I generally hope this move works for both parties, but can’t help feel that this is a major gamble that has been taken.