BBC Sports Channel?

[Sylar]

I got to wondering the other day why the BBC have never sought to set up a television channel which is fully dedicated to sport?

People who didn't necessarily follow the Euros or Wimbledon, or who won't follow the Olympics have/will undoubtedly complain that the comprehensive sporting coverage intrudes on their regular viewing schedules.

Granted, the BBC aren't in the same league as ESPN or Sky in terms of what and how much they cover but consider the big football competitions when they come around, football highlights shows, live F1 coverage, live golf coverage (especially The Open, Scottish Open, Ladies Open coverage), Wimbledon, live athletics coverage, the upcoming (and future) olympics, equestrian, Six Nations, winter sports coverage and the University Boat Race to name but a large handful which spring to mind.

If it would result in additional costings (I'd expect this might be the case), could they introduce different tiers of TV license fees, so that if you would be interested in such a service, you could pay a bit extra on your fee and get access to a dedicated sport channel without impinging on the other major BBC channel schedules?

[--------]

I got to wondering the other day why the BBC have never sought to set up a television channel which is fully dedicated to sport?

People who didn't necessarily follow the Euros or Wimbledon, or who won't follow the Olympics have/will undoubtedly complain that the comprehensive sporting coverage intrudes on their regular viewing schedules.

Granted, the BBC aren't in the same league as ESPN or Sky in terms of what and how much they cover but consider the big football competitions when they come around, football highlights shows, live F1 coverage, live golf coverage (especially The Open, Scottish Open, Ladies Open coverage), Wimbledon, live athletics coverage, the upcoming (and future) olympics, equestrian, Six Nations, winter sports coverage and the University Boat Race to name but a large handful which spring to mind.

If it would result in additional costings (I'd expect this might be the case), could they introduce different tiers of TV license fees, so that if you would be interested in such a service, you could pay a bit extra on your fee and get access to a dedicated sport channel without impinging on the other major BBC channel schedules?


Cost. Pure and simple, IMO. They can't afford to.

But I'm shocked that there are people who intend to ignore the Olympic Games.

It's their patriotic duty to watch every single minute they can.

Go Team GB! :rolleyes:

[VickMackie]

Cost is the main reason and I'm sure there are some sports events that are classed in the public interest that need to e free to air.

Those are the type of events people would want to see on a sports channel anyway.

[--------]

Cost is the main reason and I'm sure there are some sports events that are classed in the public interest that need to e free to air.

Those are the type of events people would want to see on a sports channel anyway.


By definition sports are specialist interests - I watch football, I tune into NFL and NHL when I can, occasionally watch tennis, and enjoy Test cricket.

The Olympics are a snorefest of boredom IMO - I really couldn't care less about who wins what. But that's me. Other folks are interested. That's their pleasure.

But personally I think ALL sports should be on sports channels, leaving the main channels for normal mainstream broadcasting.

Sky, ESPN and the other dedicated sports channels do fine for me, but then it's also about audience share justifying the licence fee to bankroll the mainstream broadcasting the BBC does most of the time.

Which I wouldn't want to lose, so we live and let live. :greengrin

[KingFranck]

Turned on my Sky box last night and now I've got 24 x BBC HD and 24 BBC Normal channels all dedicated to the Olympics so instead of 1 sports dedicated channel I have 48 !!!

[da-robster]

Cost is the main reason and I'm sure there are some sports events that are classed in the public interest that need to e free to air.

Those are the type of events people would want to see on a sports channel anyway.

Yes, the idea of charging extra is a non starter as some events ( Ashes highlights, Premiership highlights, World Cup and Euros, The Olympics etc) have to by law be free to watch. And considering at major sporting events like Wimbledon and the Olympics all of the BBC's 'free' channels are used up, a completely new service would have to be set up, so the cost would be huge.

[heretoday]

A bad idea in my view. We see enough of Lineker, Balding and Irvine as it is.

[Pretty Boy]

Not entirely relevant but does anyone know the actual stipulations re advertising on the Beeb?

Noticed a few times.when I'm abroad the BBC world service has adverts, usually for airlines, before certain shows and bulletins.

Is this allowed in the UK or only in other countries. Could possibly be a way for the BBC to pay for more extensive football coverage if it was allowed.

[Persevere80]

An option of the red button to watch a SPL game would be decent or extended highlights on the Saturday evening rather than waiting until the Sunday night would do me.