Comments on: Formula1 ITV: That Advert Break

By: Lesley

Lesley — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:56:22 +0000

It isn’t only the one station that can, as I’ve said earlier, the same thing happens in Spain…. so come on ITV…start to think more of the fans and less of the filthy lucre

By: Paul Tebbutt

Paul Tebbutt — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 19:38:55 +0000

I agree with you entirely and would dearly love to see F1 back on the beeb, however it might interest you to know that while I was in Turkey this year (unfortunately not close enough to Istanbul to attend) I watched the race on Turkish television. Like here it was also broadcast on an independent network but during the adverts the screen was split 60/40, you lost commentary but at least you could still follow the action. So as a compromise, if one station can do it, why not ITV too..!!

By: dwayne

dwayne — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 08:59:50 +0000

F1 needs to be back with the BBC or stack the adverts in the middle more frequently and give us a window to carry on viewing or more on screen overlays when watching live like the usa do …”this replay is brought to you by blaaaaaa”… the usa get it, we don’t.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 00:12:40 +0000

Ironically the BBC provides the feed for ITV’s coverage. They just shove the banal James Allan over the top and mix to their adverts every 2 minutes.

You’re also forgetting you do pay for ITV – with the shopping bill. Adverts aren’t free; a 30″ slot costs a few tens of grand. Manufacturers offset this cost by hiking the price of their products.

By: John

John — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 10:04:13 +0000

yes lets fight back could not agree more have followed this proceedure of not watching the adds. in fact now i record the race and zip through the ad breaks. not live i know. but it does mean i miss the ads and the insane blah blah blah, if the commentators who are so afraid to critise the teams or the drivers just so much fluff

By: Tony

Tony — Sun, 28 May 2006 17:06:28 +0000

its now May 2006 and still the advert breaks, I have all but stopped watching F1, Come back Auntie Beeb.
I live in hope

By: ian

ian — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:28:57 +0000

i agree take it off that useless ignorant channel!
i have emailed them about things before,most recently their terrible coverage of the brit awards.ie never live! yet it always was on bbc.the ignorant knw it all channel cant even be bothered to reply.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 30 May 2005 09:18:48 +0000

I support the idea of attempting to lever some control over ITV, but I don’t see how boycotting the adverts will work. How will ITV ever find out? How will the advertisers ever find out? Given the almost mystical nature of marketing and advertising, a direct impact on sales is unlikely.

However I do think that writing to OFCOM and the manufacturers of products that advertise would be much more effective. But to do this you will need to watch the adverts.

By: rich boakes

rich boakes — Mon, 23 May 2005 17:59:53 +0000

They have improved, no doubt about it. When they mentioned the uninterrupted coverage I was delighted.

Please note that I’m only turning the adverts off, not the race itself, so there’s no need for radio (though that would help fill in the missing bit). When the first ITV ident comes on I switch over to the BBC and wait for 60 seconds, then switch back. I catch the end of the ads, but at least two 30 second adverts have gone completely unwatched.

I’ll be doing that until ITV come up with a solution to the interruptions.

By: Mogg

Mogg — Mon, 23 May 2005 17:50:57 +0000

ITV donâ€™t decide what is actually on the screen (that’s down to the company that sells the feed to ITV and every other TV company). They then mix this with their own commentators and interviewers.

However… a boycott is not on the cards in my household… that would mean listening to it on the radio… which ISN’T going to happen….

I did think the race this time was fantastic!! They also clearly stated that the last 17 laps were completely uninterupted. Having Jenson Button there was also inspired!

They have really bucked up their act!

By: mum

mum — Mon, 23 May 2005 12:15:11 +0000

A far as I am concerned, they almost did it again!

In the final moments of the Monaco GP, the lead was settled, but there was one hell of a race going on further behind as current championship leader Alonso fought to keep his place.

So what did we have to watch? Yes, I know the director of the company was pleased, but did we need to watch him?

We were pleased with Brit manufacturer success too, of course, but it might have been nice to see all of the exciting race rather than just sit at the finish line to see the result

WHY CAN THEY NOT ORGANISE A SPLIT SCREEN???

With so many hits on this site, perhaps somebody from ITV is among them and might pass on the ideas raised?

By: Victor Meldrew II

Victor Meldrew II — Sun, 08 May 2005 14:10:13 +0000

The advertisers can afford to laff it off if we try to boycott them, sadly, but I am up for the time shifting solution, I don’t care whether it’s in real time or not because the race is just as exciting in the repeats if you don’t know the result. This is effectively what happens in every other kind of prog. I truly hate the marketing disease that we have caught from the USA in recent years, even the BBC is at it in every spare moment. How stupid and gullible do they think we are as paying viewers? I guess if the BBC got F1 again they would also get Martin, I mean what else would he do?!
There’s another point here too, we still have to pay the license fee in order to watch ITV.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 06 May 2005 17:04:25 +0000

Having lived in Brazil for some time, I was amazed to see how ITV (and its clients) treated their F1 fans here post auntie. Globo TV there tried doing ads during the races years ago, and it didn’t last very long at all. They do banner ads at the bottom of the screen and everybody’s happy, just like in football.
I’ve been emailing ITV for over four years about this. What happened during the San Marino GP was an accident waiting to happen. They are too greedy to have seen it coming.

By: mum

mum — Thu, 05 May 2005 10:55:14 +0000

Anne Highes is right. We have watched F1 on Spanish TV for the past four years and have been able to follow the race ( albeit silent and miniscule) in the top corner of the ads.

I would support any action to bring F1 back to Aunty

By: Paul Summers

Paul Summers — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 23:04:02 +0000

Some clever chap has posted all the addresses of the advertisers inserted in the San Marino race on the pitpass website, it takes a little time out of your day but if we all bombard these companies with our reasons why ITV has smeared thier products/services forever, ITV may in the end sufferâ€¦â€¦â€¦.please please please remove ITV from the equation they are an insult to all those who have made history in F1 past and present, and all other forms of motorsport.

By: James

James — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:29:56 +0000

Wow, what a fantastic idea! Boycott the ad breaks during the F1 race! Personally I donâ€™t think the ITV coverage is too bad. Heaps better than Skyâ€™s! Oh and has anyone watched a Grand Prix in America. Itâ€™s horrendous. But there was no excuse for what happened during the San Marino Grand Prix. But if this is truly going to work we need to spread the word to boycott the ad breaks. Any ideas anyone?

By: Anne Hughes

Anne Hughes — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 16:33:31 +0000

I shall be watching the Spanish GP while on hols in Mallorca – having watched F1 on Telecinco before, they have picture within picture during the ads – why can’t ITV do this?

I’ve been boycotting the ads for some while – I bought a digital radio this year so I could listen to quali 2 on Five Live Extra and during the race it is my constant companion – the ads are muted and I listen to Maurice Hamilton instead.

By: Steve Hulbert

Steve Hulbert — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 10:56:43 +0000

Best way to boycott is get an old sky analogue dish – point it to astra 19.2 and watch the race on RTL with sound from Radio 5 live.

By: Mark Thompson

Mark Thompson — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 08:18:17 +0000

I agree that the F1 coverage from ITV is terrible. It’s nice to know that I wasn’t the only one left annoyed at the ad’ break on lap three of the San Marino GP.

As an F1 fan we have had to put up with the fact that we do not get to see the deciding qualifying session this season, and to make matters worse we get pathetic coverage like we got this weekend.

The add breaks ruinined the excitement of the race. They couldn’t have been timed any worse. One of the closest races for some time and ITV spoilt it for all the viewers.

I think ITV need to sack whoever was responsible for this decision, introduce a rule that no adds are ever shown in the last 10 laps of a race, and finally in this age of ‘digital’ television why not offer to show qualifying on one of the many channels, even if it was via one of the ‘push the red button’ things.

I can sum up ITV’s coverage in one word: PATHETIC. The only good thing is Martin Brundles commentary which is informative and enjoyable.

By: BexTech

BexTech — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 00:15:27 +0000

RE: Ad banner.

Unfortunately at the moment UK TV stations are not allowed to do this – OFCOM regulations. Regulations I’d like to see changed for this very reason.