F1 TV Subscribers?

[BillyBobSenna]

I admit, I have been a F1 TV subscriber for going on my third year. I have debated each year if it was worth it. I am also debating this year however I have subscribed again. I received an email with claims the service has received major updates for this season.

------------------------------------

Developed with Accenture’s Industry X division, the platform update has been designed to improve performance, video quality and user experience. Users will now be able to stream content at 1080p at 50fps for the first time and cast F1 TV to connected TVs using Google's Chromecast or Apple's AirPlay.

In addition, fans will be able to play, pause and rewind across every channel, including on board cameras and switch between streams, such as the pit lane channel and driver tracker. The user experience upgrades have been designed to make it easier for fans to discover content and original series.

------------------------------------

Are you guys buying it?

 

[Daniel Collier]

For $80 US a year, its a no-brainier for me. I use it more than any other streaming service. Working from home during the pandemic, I have an archived race on in the background almost daily. My only gripe is that not every season has complete "Full Race" replays (2008-Present are complete). Not sure whether that is a regional thing or not, but hopefully they continue to add to their archives in the future.

I haven't received any updates on whats to come this season, but I have been happy with its service so far. It will be interesting to see how well the new streams will be implemented. The original rollout was a bit messy; hopefully they learned from the mistakes and can hit the ground running in Bahrain.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Do you also watch all the historic documentaries? I find them all very interesting.

My son and I are finishing the season 2 of the "Chasing the Dream" series tonight so we are ready for the pre-season testing to start on Friday.

Looking forward to see how much the image quality changes this year based on what they are advertising.

 

[Matthew Fennell]

Yeah, like you I debate every year and have eventually always gone for it. Although, I live in the UK, so am talking about F1 TV Access here.

I have noticed an increase in streaming quality: buffering doesn't seem to take as long, streams crash less often and the redesign on the web looks more modern and intuitive. I miss the old featured races section in the archive - it was useful to not have to think about what race to stick on in the background.

The killer feature for me is the live timing through the app, though. Couldn't live without it.

 

[Adrian Herrera]

For me F1TV is a priority just like Spotify or Netflix. Same with MotoGP, WEC & WRC.

 

[ParkYongLee]

Be happy you can use it. In Germany it is Sky exclusive this year, no more F1TV. We can watch the archive but that's it. Though the archive is pretty decent, more and more full races even from the 90's get added. Quality is so-so, sometimes reeeally bad, sometimes pretty good.

 

[RedBull48]

I myself do not have it, I have been greatly considering getting it this year mostly for the behind the scenes and on board stuff. I am able to get the sky broadcasts via ESPN in america and I have an archive of the races from 2006 to current. Like Daniel I listen to races pretty much daily as I work from home. I am just not sure if it's worth the added value as I have other means to watch the main content.

 

[Alex Townsend]

Used to have F1 channel on Sky in the UK but since moving to Malaysia, and the pitifully poor Astro satellite service here, I cut the cord years ago but do miss live F1 with all the extras.
I looked in to F1 TV but all we get here is archived races and/or live timing...
I need a service or app that I can watch live F1 here but it's so hard finding anything like it here.

 

[Equipe Matra]

For who’s interested: coupon ‘F1TV25’ gives a 25% discount.

 

[Rob Every]

Scary realy a guy earlier talking about Netflix, Prime, motoGP, F1, just tot it all up and see how much you are paying.

It's your money but bloody hell, that's a lot of money

 

[Antony Snook]

My cable package uses a broadcast of sky via a local network as part of the basic package. Before i had to go to a bar with a small club to watch it aired via a laptop at around 3pm. But i had to work on Monday so it was hard. If itś posable you can form a club at a bar if people are interested. While in England my local church would air Sky TV. But you cant watch that stuff on the sabath.

 

[blekenbleu]

After magically disabling TiVO recording for U.S. and Mexican races,
then >>no<< Abu Dhabi qualifying coverage,
(U.S.) Spectrum cable jacked monthly rate to over $10/hour for TV actually watched,
including commercials. Consequently, US$80/year seems a relative bargain,
but reviews elsewhere seem more negative than not.

• What is the actual experience?
• Is time-shifting possible?
• Any differences among getting via https://www.formula1.com/en/subscribe-to-f1-tv.html,
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.formulaone.production,
  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/f1-tv/id1315007279
• other tips / tricks?
• any fresh/interesting coverage between seasons?

 

[BillyBobSenna]

I have had the F1 TV for several years. It is getting better however I am always on the fence if I want to keep it.

I don't think time-shifting is possible. I think you either watch live or watch for the recording after the race completes. I hope I am wrong since this feature would be great.

I still have issues watching live coverage at time. This is what can push me to the cancel button.

I have YouTube TV and get most of the F1 coverage. Much of the other F1 content is also on YouTube so why should I pay for it.

I also dislike the limited number of active devices. I have TV's, computers, and phones that I all want activated. I can't do this.

On the good side, they have an Apple TV app.

I also like some of the special documentaries they have on F1 TV. I could be wrong, but all of the F1 TV content could be available elsewhere for free.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

With the TV deals in the Netherlands changing i am still on the fence about F1 TV or go with the new provider.

What do you guys think is the best feature for F1TV?

 

[Rob Every]

I subbed over Xmas as I found out I was Covid positive and couldn't go anywhere.

I have little or no interest in following modern f1, my interest is going back over the years I was a big fan, but was not able to watch, so I have started at 81, what a great year.

Oddly though even I know James was around then, he does not appear yet in comms meaning this must have all been done separately as I have watched BBC races form then and James is present, so Murray must have done a world feed without James I presume.

For me being able to watch pretty any race form the 70s until now, and every single race from 1981 until now is easily worth 20 quid. especially off season.

I have tried other similar services for MotoGP and they are not worth it, a lot of the races have either been dubbed over with modern commentary which is truly awful or are very poor quality and no sound or using commentators I hate.

Imagine going to watch an f1 race from 1983 and finding Croft doing the voiceover and you will see what I mean

 

[Rob Every]

I take it all back.

1981 commentary was Murray, was superb, all the season after are bloody Simon Taylor the most drab dullard ever to pick up a microphone.

Such a shame, have no idea why they did not simply use the BBC feed

 

[Kevin Ascher]

With the TV deals in the Netherlands changing i am still on the fence about F1 TV or go with the new provider.

What do you guys think is the best feature for F1TV?

I have been quite satisfied with F1TV. Best feature however is the external player "Race Control". It's developed by a single guys as far as I remember, however offers much more stable connection and an extremely straightforward design. Haven't gone back to the F1TV webpage the whole season.

 

[xnorb]

As my wife and me rediscovered F1 for us after watching Drive to Survive (originally i started watching F1 in the late 80s, stopped when Schumi got his 5th title or so and i got bored) i just learned about F1.TV last year, and this xmas my wife gifted it to me.
Rewatched 2006 season, currently rewatching 2010 season, 2016.

Since Sky introduced the onboard cameras i was always excited about that, but wasn't willed paying a Sky sub for just that. Having that at my hand now in race replays is huge.

So ya, if you're into F1, get F1.TV.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

OK, I bit the bullet once again and bought F1 TV. I must admit, I enjoyed having the live test session on in the background while I worked today. I'm sure I will do the same tomorrow since I will probably be working from home for the remainder of my career. I wonder if there are any other improvements with F1 TV this season.

 

[RasmusP]

I personally like the extended highlights and "race in 30".
If you barely have time on one weekend and until the next race weekend, it's a great way to catch up without missing much!
The races are suddenly exciting when they're condensed into 30 minutes, lol!

I'm lucky and unlucky to live in Germany though. RTL didn't extend their license so we have zero free TV F1 anymore since 2021.
And f1tv got also bought out by sky..

So it's sky or no F1 here.
Luckily there's a loophole for existing subscribers so as long as I don't cancel, I'll be able to watch f1tv as long as my credit card expires in 2024.

Unlucky though because I would normally cancel the subscription to then renew it with a discount code.
I did pay 25€ for 2019 and 40€ for 2020.
64.99€ for 2021 and now 2022.
Still a lot cheaper than sky though...