Nine wannabe winners

Very short article?

Zoot - The other half can probably be found on SKY!!

@Zoot

I'm guessing his video was supposed to be on this page with the article too, you can watch it here though:

https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/14382071.stm

Great to here your thoughts as always Murray!

One thing though, how come Murray didn't answer any of our questions?

2. At 08:55 3rd Aug 2011, SimonConnell wrote:
Zoot - The other half can probably be found on SKY!!

================================

Superb!

LOL @ #2

No Murray Nico Rosberg already had podiums for Mercedes! Classic murrayism!

Nico Rosberg finished third in Turkey this year. He also finished third three times last year, in Malaysia, China and Britain.

Looking forward to the Q&A.

https://saveformula1.com/

@9 The Turkish podium this year was Vettel, Webber, Alonso, but nico does have the podiums mentioned from last year

It's such a shame.

After the BBC's display of contempt for the fans, I find it hard to get too interested about the top or bottom of the grid right now.

@2 - First time I've laughed since Friday morning!

@2 Funniest. Post. Ever.

Murray, the other nine teams won't be there after a few years on Sky

I wonder is there really much point in having the lesser teams there wasting a fortune? No one ever notices them unless there is a big accident. They have no chance of getting on the podium. Even Mercedes can't.

@2 - haha, brilliant :)

@16 - so what are you proposing, getting rid of all the teams except for mclaren, ferrari and redbull! cos if so, its an even worse idea than the bbc/sky tv deal!

@2 Quality.

Rosberg is definitely going places. How about our very own Paul di Resta?... ,he's developing the habit of picking up points, and with more experience he could be up there with the high-flyers, no doubt about that. But where do we place SCHUMACKER?....can he still hack it?....given the right car, he could still be up there again.

so what are you proposing, getting rid of all the teams except for mclaren, ferrari and redbull! cos if so, its an even worse idea than the bbc/sky tv deal!

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

He does have a point though, F1 would be much better if three quarters of the teams weren't simply there to sell advertising and make up the numbers. How that's done though is beyond me.

Maybe the BBC can show 50% of the teams all the time ie the top 6, and SKY can show everyone else. I'd settle for that.

If most of the teams were competitive and had at least some chance of winning. It is supposed to be the pinnacle of motor sport, but half the teams get lapped. Once great teams like Williams or Lotus just cannot compete financially with the top teams. I know there is no way it can change. It's a bit like the Premier League the rich get more powerful and win everything.

@2 Hysterical

Murray,
I’ve just watched you thoughts on the new UK television rights deal, thank you for addressing this subject as it was very much a hot potato on the BBC Practice/Qualifying/Race and Forum coverage.

As it was clearly the main news of the weekend. Just wondering what you think of the BBC decision to show extended highlights of these races when Martin Whitmarsh (after a meeting with Bernie on 29-July) said: "The BBC will show every grand prix in full, half of them live and half of them deferred, so free-to-air is available to everyone.”
https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93494

Then the next day HRT team boss Colin Kolles is quoted as saying “He [Bernie] has also done fantastic for the fans because it is not only 10 races on BBC live, you also have the other 10 races on at prime time, at 6pm, on BBC - which is even better because I don't believe that someone likes to wake up at 4am to watch an F1 race.”
https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93507

It appears that Bernie is telling the teams that the BBC will still show all the races in full (10 of which will be delayed), but the BBC is making a conscious decision not show the full race when under the new agreement it appears that they can.

We are all very sad too.

@2, It’s funny because its true (for the BBC at least). But Murray would never allow it (top man).

Good job it's not too long we are all rather busy trying desperately to save the sport we love from the peril it now faces

Good to hear a Q&A is on the way.

Perhaps Murray will be able to respond to our reasonable questions which Ben Gallop has so far failed to answer (but someone managed to take his blog link off the F1 page and hide it - nice try).

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Sorry Murray, in your last post I couldn't help feeling the BBC had let you speak only because you (sincerely) agreed with their stance, but would have gagged you via your retainer if you had not agreed. So your credibility has been dented as a result. I believe you should have saved the BBC the cost of the film crew and your appearance fee by not making a special video.

Too soon.......cant watch more than 30 secs of this....love you Murray but finding it hard to get my enthusiasm for F1 back. Too soon.......

Hi Murray,

Interesting video but sad to say not now a key matter; did you know that the BBC has closed the last (editors blog) channel for fans of F1 to ask questions about and protest at the sell out to SKY. And has not once attempted to respond to the 8400+ fans who took the trouble to write with their views.

Do you think this may all die down as fans lose interest? I'm not sure you know..............

Cheers

"If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject."

I would love to comment again but the blog has been closed to further comments or are you doing another deal with SKY on blog, where I will need to subscribe to SKY to read the other comments?

Not very fair, open or honest!

or was it to stop the comments reaching 10,000?

I do hope the HM Government e-petitions comes on-line today, get 100,000 signatures there and it is eligible for debate in parliament.

I for one hopes Murray Walker follows the example set by Richie Bernaud and doesn't appear next year over on Sky Sports.

31 The Thought Police at the BBC have put a stop to it. How dare we disagree with the BBC'c actions, we only bankroll it, after all.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I'm going to be slightly less funny this time round.

I have been trying to think of what to write in response to Ben Gallop's blog on the new F1 deal for the last few days only to find it closed for comments today, I'm dissappointed in the BBC for the second time in a week.

Although I'm not an avid viewer I am an F1 fan and I do try to watch most of the races in between other commitments, the net result of the BBC's change will probably mean that the races I am around to watch are on SKY which I will not be paying for.

Unlike some on here (this and Ben Gallop's blog) I do watch a fair amount of BBC programming other than F1 but most of it is available on iPlayer which means with a little investment I may be able to watch everything I want through that without a TV signal. I might even be able to get shot of the digital TV subscription service that I do pay for and cancel my TV liscence at the same time, maybe I should thank the BBC for the money it will save me in the long run?

As Ben Gallop's blog is closed let's all post on here instead, then maybe the other F1 blogs when they close this one, then go for the football ones (the value for money one there would be particularly apt).

It's not right for the BBC as a public body to simply ignor it's investors and hope this will go away because it won't.

So far I have complied with requests to only post comments on the TV deal on Ben Gallops blog, however now that blog has been closed with people still posting, over 8,000 comments and no response I feel the need to flag up BBC completely ignoring the incoming complaints. You have to respond BBC, it is not going away!

If this blog gets going in the same way that the ones on Ben Gallop's one did, how long will it be before the BBC closed this one to?

I notice my first comment on this blog is awaiting further consideration by the mods for some reason. All I did was ask 2 questions and add a link to Ben Gallop's blog page with the comments around 8400+. What's going on?

These are the links at the top of this page, below Murry's Video:

_________________________________________________________________
If you are outside the UK, you can watch the video here. - (Seen it but I live in the UK)

Murray gives his thoughts on the new UK television rights deal here. - (Reserve judgement on that one I'm afraid Murry)

If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject - (No we can't you closed the comments)
_________________________________________________________________

DOH!

Apologies Murray for missing out the "a" in your name. Wireless keyboard trouble.

Murray much respect and sorry to hijack your blog, but Ben Gallop has closed the original blog without any acknowledgement of the problem.

Anyone would think he was trying to hide his head in the sand and hope it all goes away, which of course it wont until the beeb agree to show the non live races in full.

Many thanks for all you hardwork and commitment to Formula 1, Ive been listerning to your broadcasts since the very early days and have throghly every min, shame it has to stop at the end of this season.

One word for Mr Gallop; Resign

If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject

"If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject"

and, pray tell, how can we do that when you have closed the blog for comments?

I'd like to see Mercedes become a front running team like Brawn GP was, it's clear that mid-field teams can become front runners, just look at Red Bull Racing, they improved drastically in '09 and have retained the pace since.

As said in comment 43....

"If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject"

and, pray tell, how can we do that when you have closed the blog for comments?

and again comment 2...

The other half can probably be found on SKY!!

The BBC's handling of this matter has been appaulling. No references to complaints, hidden hyperlinks, shutting C4 etc out of the mix in favour of a channel run by people being investigated by Parliament, execs jetting abroad to say something that could have been video-conferenced etc. With these people in charge it's no wonder the BBC is cash-strapped, they couldn't manage a corner shop let alone a multi-billion Pound TV Corporation.

Bernie Ecclestone has said he will do his best to keep Formula One on the BBC amid reports that the broadcaster will not be able to afford to renew its contract in 2013.

A story in the Sunday Times cited a senior source in the BBC saying the broadcaster is considering cutting its F1 coverage in order to continue to fund its digital channels, such as BBC4. However, Ecclestone, who works on behalf of CVC Capital Partners to manage F1's commercial rights, has since told the Times that he is committed to keeping the sport on free-to-air TV.

"We want Formula One to stay free to viewers," Ecclestone said. "That is 100%. The BBC have done a great job for us and we like their shows and the people obviously like it because so many are watching.

"They did warn me that they were facing problems but, so far, nothing more has been said. I hope they want to keep us because it is such a success and I will do my best to keep Formula One on the BBC."

The Sunday Times report said "F1 costs £1 a head for every viewer", but the statistics it based that on appear to be at odds with those from inside the sport. Formula One Teams Association chairman and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh said the story undersold the value of F1 to the BBC.

"Formula One insiders have been surprised by the recent newspaper reports, since they contain significant statistical inaccuracies," he told the Daily Telegraph. "The reality is that the Formula One viewing figures in the UK are high and getting higher.

"In terms of average viewership, peak viewership and average share of viewership - the three key indices for TV executives - more people are watching Formula One this year than last year or indeed than in recent previous years. For example, the average share of viewership for the BBC's coverage of the recent Chinese Grand Prix, which' Lewis Hamilton won, was more than 50%.

"In other words, as many people were watching Formula One in the UK that Sunday morning as were watching every other channel combined - including all terrestrial channels and all satellite channels - a staggeringly impressive statistic. And the TV viewing figures for other recent grands prix have been massively impressive too.

For as long as it has been broadcast in the UK, F1 has been on free-to-air and many of the team's sponsorship deals depend on the extra exposure that brings to the sport. Whitmarsh said it would hit the teams hard if the rights were bought by a subscription channel.

"It's crucial to the commercial model of Formula One that TV coverage should remain free-to-air, and therefore universally accessible, and therefore widely consumed and enjoyed by large numbers of viewers - and the BBC delivers that in the UK," he said. "Moreover, besides the quantity of viewership, the quality of the BBC's coverage is consistently high too - which is just as important. Also important is the demographic data - which shows that F1 is now attracting an increasing number of younger and female viewers, which is also very positive.

"Formula One is the pinnacle of world motorsport - always has been, always will be. As such, it's appropriate that the BBC should continue to cover it. I think it would be very sad, and most unwise, if the BBC were to disappoint so many millions of British sports fans by axeing it, and that's why I don't believe for a moment that they'd seriously consider doing such a thing."

"If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject"

I'd love to. But you've closed it.

"If you would like to comment on the new UK television rights deal, please go to the BBC's head of F1 Ben Gallop's blog on that subject"

How???

It would be more professional if the BBC could allow people to vent their frustrations by keeping that other blog open so that comments are directed there, rather than messing up Murray's column.

I personally think that we are actually flogging a dead horse and that efforts would be better placed in signing the petition that has today opened on the e-petitions part of Direct.gov.uk.

The BBC management have clearly got their fingers in their ears and are loudly singing La La La. The whole of this present scenario has clearly been carefully orchestrated, hopefully a Government debate may make them pull their fingers out and stop the singing.

BBC News are still in denial in their reporting on the new HM Government e-petition website, making no mention that it is in third place after two petitions about the Death Penalty. Looks like BBC News only reports half the news - a bit like next years F1 coverage!

As others have said, I'd love to comment on Ben Gallop's blog. Are you going to reopen it?

Seeing as this blog is open however, I'd love to know how accurate the figures are in this article https://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/55698.html

BBC pay approx £31m/year for coverage rights, contracted to 2013.

I pay £145/year licence fee.

BBC uses my money towards paying around £15m whilst partnering with Sky in a deal whereby Sky get full rights for around £25m/year (a good discounted rate to what the BBC was paying).

I am then told this is somehow a good thing because the BBC needed to save money.

So, my licence fee has gone towards subsidising Sky's discounted entry into F1, with the end result that I'm expected to pay to subscribe to Sky to watch ten races? No, surely I've got that wrong somewhere.........?

Government based e-petition site now available for you to register your support:-

https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57

Spread the word as its no-longer possible to leave comments on Ben Gallops blog..

"I wish to complain about this post at is simply offensive to all of the 8000+ people who have taken the time to come on here to make their opinions heard. These voices have obviously been falling on deaf ears. If you didn't notice people were still taking part in a topical debate and there are other blogs throughout the site that have been open for 7 months, so why is this closed in less than a week? My official complaints are answered with generic nonsense which address none of the questions i have asked. I really do think it is unacceptable and shameful how we are all being treated. The total ignorance and the "LA LA LA i can't hear you" attitude of the BBC is quite frankly appaling".

On Newsnight last night (Thursday 4/8/11) they ran a story about the death penalty ePetition. The reporter didn't mention 'other' ePetitions [will the BBC ever dare to mention this elephant in its own room?], but at least they didn't pixelate out the fact that second down the list just below the 'keep ban on capital punishment' petition was the one asking to 'keep F1 on free TV' - about 4000 signatures I think at the time.

I believe most people are continuing the F1 BBC deal on Jakes forum as the Benelux one is closed for comment. https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2011/08/looking_forward_to_a_rare_brea.html

"The Sunday Times report said "F1 costs £1 a head for every viewer""

Ignore the Sunday Times - it is a part of the Murdoch Empire, it appeared to spread lies in its stores about F1 on the BBC in order to bolster support for the BSkyB part of the Murdoch Empire. Some might say it worked...

Veteran F1 commentator Murray Walker has added his voice to the debate over the sport's decision to award the UK television contract to Sky Sports, claiming that it can only be bad news for hardcore fans.

Writing in the Daily Mail newspaper, Walker added that he also feared for the sport itself, with the expected drop in viewing figures likely to have a knock-on effect on the teams.

The announcement that subscription-based Sky Sports would carry live coverage of every round from 2012 came on the opening day of the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, leaving fans - and some members of the current BBC team - stunned and angry. The 'free to air' station will continue to show F1 next season, but will only have half the races live, with the rest forming a highlights package.

Fans have reacted angrily on internet forums, with more than one campaign targeting both the BBC and F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone in an effort to get the decision reversed, and Walker admits to sharing their concerns.

"The tragedy of it is that the BBC, on a free-to-air basis, are doing an absolutely fabulous job and are not only providing the best F1 coverage that Britain has ever had, but are also providing the best coverage in the world in my view," he wrote, "My overriding reaction is one of great sympathy for the people who can't afford Sky or don't have Sky for whatever reason, because they are going to be denied 50 per cent of the races."

Walker said that he feared for the quality of the 'free to air' coverage once the new deals come into play, especially with the cost of the BBC's programming having been at the root of the problem in the first place.

"It all comes down to money," the octogenarian admitted, "The BBC has lost F1 before. They lost it in my time and it went to ITV and they did a better job for F1 then than the BBC had been doing. But, now, the BBC is doing a better job than ITV did.

"There is a problem in that the BBC are only going to be doing half the races now and they will inevitably spend less money on them. Hypothetically, their coverage will not be as good, which is a great pity."

It is not only the fans and his fellow broadcasters at the BBC that Walker is worried about, however, with the sport in general also in danger of suffering from the deal to allow a 'pay per view' channel to gain a foothold.

Oh dear, I see the comments section of Jake's blog has been closed.....if the BBC execs ignore all the criticism it will all go away I guess.

Just read that Ben Gallop is on annual leave until 15 August, so do not expect reply until then. So they start closing blogs one-by-one hoping it dies down. But that is plain stupid.

If we assume the average highlights show is one hour long, and the average race has a two hour duration, the difference is 10 x 1 or for the BBCs benefit TEN HOURS.

I also assume that the BBC wont in fact be turing the transmaitters of for that ten hours, they will be showing something else, so the maxium they could save would be the differnce in cost of showing ten hours of something else and ten hours of delayed racing.

So far well over 11,000 posts in Jakes and Ben Gallop locked blogs plus mentions on other BBC blogs, 15,000+ signatures on each of two epetions, 30,000+ on petionbuzz. Thats approximatly one signature per second, and rising, for ever second of a "race highlights" they appear to be refusing to show.

All for what, ten hours, of restricted coverage which if implmented leaves the majority of fans, who dont have the ability to have a sky dish for whatever reason, no longer following the sport, and in a number of cases these people will be giving up their TV sets and licences at the end of the current season, as the only thing they watch on TV is F1.

can,t beleive they closed another blog shame on you BBC

Ive sent a complaint to them about locking Jakes blog.

Anybody would think they were trying to avoid discussing the subject!!

Censorship alive and well at the BBC, I never thought I'd see the day, there's a Blog on womens football thats been open for over a year and yet they lock down both Jake and Ben Gallops blog, absolute Disgrace.

These jokers haven't learned from history - when people believe they are being ignored and/or fobbed off their concern turns to anger. The BBC execs appear to be hiding behind 'front counter' (AKA 'cannon fodder') employees and commanding that stock replies be regurgitated by the thousand instead of taking action. The BBC apparently prides itself on its journalistic skills. Reporters are posted to far flung locations to dig for information where local officials routinely stone-wall and just shrug off criticism. Obviously BBC execs have only read the 1967 edition of The Tinpot Dictator's Handbook and not caught up with the fact that in the 21st century (yes BBC it's 2011!) work by their own colleagues has led us to expect some kind of considered statement. Are the likes of John Simpson and Andy Moore (he's been reporting from the scenes of the Tottenham riots) really served well by head-in-the-sand BBC managers? No, of course not. Shame on you BBC!

Isn't it just? Well the more they censor, the more we have to complain about. And if they keep evading complaints, well, that just adds to the perception that they are disconnected from and disdainful of their licence payers. You may want to write to Lord Grade, who wrote in the Guardian back in March about the extreme difficulty of complaining to the BBC and the need for change.

As this subject is the only thing F1 fans are concerned about at the moment i can see blog locking becoming the BBC`s new black.

Every time a F1 blog is started we will only want to talk about being able to the non live races in full, so they will lock it, then next blog starts, gets locked etc etc etc

They cant block the whole of the net, only their blogs and eventually even they will relise were not going anywhere until they agree to show all the non live races in full and can the highlights idea, which cant see saving them much money unless they turn the transmitters off for the corresponding ten hours.

Oh dear BBC, running out of places to hide I'm afraid... Ben Gallop's blog closed to comments, then Jake's. What's next? You going to close down the entire BBC comments page? This is getting beyond a joke now. Admit you've made the wrong decision and instigated probably the largest complaint in the BBC's history. Change your minds and all will be forgiven. Jeez, I'd even pay extra (say £50 a year?) for keeping F1 FTA.

@65 - Every time a F1 blog is started we will only want to talk about being able to the non live races in full, so they will lock it, then next blog starts, gets locked etc etc etc

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

This is exactly what will happen, they must be out of their heads to think that the millions of respondents will have forgotten about this in 3 weeks time.

Don't forget the E-petition, it already has over 10% of what is required.
Post it on other blogs and forums.

https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57

You can also write to FOTA and explain to them why you will not be watching from next year> info@teamsassociation.org and also the sponsors may be interested to hear about how the viewing figures will drop> info@Formula100.biz

Just the standard expression of contempt for the BBC's continuing attempts to prevent discussion of its outrageous behaviour in ensuring F1 coverage will not be FTA for the next 7 years.

Any guesses on how long this blog will remain open?

https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57

More decent quashed by the BBC then, are they going to shut down all contentious blogs, whilst leaving old unused one's open, censorship, nice?

Ha Ha, this is laughable now, sorry to hijack another blog but when will the BBC learn that repeating:
"This is a good deal and have nothing further to add"
Is simply not good enough!! BBC have a duty to respond to people asking questions, nobody has answered a question thye have just repeated the same statement. This is not going to go away by just ignoring it!

There's an article on pitpass.com called "An Inauspicious Start for Sky" or something similar. The article suggests that there are contract clauses which restrict comment and publishing criticism by F1 broadcasters. "Suggests" is the key word, nothing definite but it would explain quite a bit of what we're (not) seeing now.

63. At 12:09 7th Aug 2011, ExF1FanPeter wrote:
These jokers haven't learned from history - when people believe they are being ignored and/or fobbed off their concern turns to anger.

----

indeed, all we want is a mature discussion on the subject from one or more of them, and...we get this. It is beyond rude. We either need an explanation as to why they "can't" - reshuffle funds/show delayed full races and so on, OR we need them to do it.

@ Lyla, yes it's contemptuous treatment, IMO, but if we persist, eventually they will have to engage with us, especially if we can make a good case to some people or authority with more power than we have.

andrew bensons latest(ish) blog is still open, if this get shut, but now that'll get shut too cos i said its open, oh dear i think they think they can gag us. my head hurts.

https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57

Perhaps their 'ideas person' is on holiday - well Tea Ladies do need a break sometime you know, and Elsie has worked without a day off since 1973!

I think others have said that a 90-minute highlights show a couple of hours after the race has finished would be fine, if it was followed at (say) 1am til 5am on BBC 3 by a full re-run of the pre-race build-up, race and then an intelligent Forum-type discussion. But that's FAR too simple I guess for these people to master, and that slot is probably given over to a re-run of that night's "All Star Chav Vauxhall Nova Pimpothon".

Re: @72 Max W, I guess the BBC can't criticise F1, and I think Bernie should be praised really - he's levered money out of Sky and the BBC and got away with it! It may be he's only looking to the short term and so F1 will suffer in the long term, but he's the one who has made a billion out of the sport and helped to build it up so perhaps he's right. I'm sure the BBC could, if it so chose, present a summary of its intentions. The edited-to-death highlights show from the 80s/90s isn't good enough and the BBC people should make it clear to its customers they aren't proposing such a retrograde step.

Sure enough, a BBC reporter is pressing a police officer at Scotland Yard for answers, implying his officers didn't do their job properly last night. The Met police guy is doing his best to answer those awkward questions. Meanwhile, several BBC execs aren't.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

What do you like about the Formula One site?
Nothing . Well apart from everyone having a go at you. LOL
What do you dislike about the Formula One site?
Have I not made it clear?

Please note guys this was for a Opinion survey I was aks to do when have a look at the f1 site by the bbc. fight guys, fight.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Oh dear BBC....is it new policy of yours to close any blog that is causing you to squirm? You cowards!!!

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/29/formula-one-television-rights-bbc-sky_n_913792.html 96% of people voted not going to subscribe to SKY!

https://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions?order=desc&sort=count&state=open 1,250 & rising

https://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/keepf1onthebbc over 31,000 against the SKY deal

I'm not surprised at the 96%. Leaving aside that many have ethical issues with paying Murdoch, this is a time when ordinary people are making cuts in their lives and don't want to add extra expenses into their monthly budgets. The news from the financial markets will only add to feelings of needing to be more careful.

There's a new entry in the Collins English Dictionary (the one that missed out the word gullible in its first edition) - it's the new verb 'gallop'. Anything that has been galloped has first been popularised and improved, but then placed in a location that is inaccessible to the majority. It's also applicable to those who have been the victim of this trick, so the 6-million strong audience of F1 has been galloped.

Dear BBC as Aldous Huxley once said "facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored". We will not shut up, we will not go away! Ignore us for an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, it doesnt matter we will not go away!!!!!!

Hi Murray, sorry about having to take over your blog, but as I am sure you are aware, the relevant blogs for comment about the TV deal have been mysteriously closed as the BBC feel they are no longer topical (after a week).

Jake's 2nd blog down https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jakehumphrey/2010/09/what_its_like_being_an_f1_pres.html

is still open for now - keep posting there too everyone, and good work!

Hi Murray, before I watch your video do I have to subscribe to SKY to watch the other half?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

This is totally, totally outrageous. Jake's blog has been open since 27 September 2010 and now they have closed that too.

This is absolute censorship so everyone get your formal complaints into the BBC.

This is supposed to be democracy BBC - freedom of speech and all that. You should find out what that means.

Copy of my first formal complaint on this particlar point - this cannot be legal in this country.

"The blog referred to has been open since 27 September 2010 and yet one day after you close down Ben Gallop and Jake Humphrey's latest blogs to comment and force people's compaints to move to the 9/2010 blog you close that too. This is outright censorship and a blatant suppression of this country's freedom of speech laws. This is not Libya - it is not Syria - but it is beginning to feel like it. You are a public service broadcaster but you are not allowing the public to broadcast their views of your actions. In many ways this is potentially more serious than the ramifications of your shoddy deal with Sky and I will be speaking to my colleagues tomorrow to find out the legality of your actions. I will also be complaining about this to Parliament."

It's also a violation of our human rights.

@ zebbers

I've already sent a complaint to my MP about this, he's personally sent my comments to the BBC and asked them for a full explanation

Still awaiting reply...

Well done you! I'm spitting blood about this - they really have gone too far now.

Womens football blog now closed!! LOL!!

Are you mad the women's footie blog closed after 10 months - this really is censorship and it's illegal because we are not seditious or anarchic, we are simply a very angry group of Formula 1 fans who see the BBC's actions as a sell out. As such the BBC have no right to close down these forums, particularly when the closed blogs are still referring us to Gallop.

BTW there are more of us commenting on Murray's other blog:

https://bbc.kongjiang.org/www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/murraywalker/2011/08/your_f1_questions_answered_-_p.html

So let's keep up the momentum on both blogs - they will probably be gone tomorrow.

Maybe we should be a bit more strategic with the blogs we use? If F1 coverage has been reduced to pay for the Olympics coverage next year, perhaps we should use the "Running the BBC numbers for 2012" blog instead.... hardly anyone posts there and that blog will surely not be closed down until the Olympics are over?

Just posted this on the other Murray site - and didn't expect it to get through - and it still may not but MPs and others who have been saying that it's a commercial decision that they can't get involved in have to get involved in serious BBC censorship.

"Come on people. This has changed hugely from the shady dealing with Sky into an abuse of our human rights. We live in a democracy - the BBC is a public service broadcaster paid for by our licence fee and yet they are systematically shutting down every organ of comment that we have at the moment to voice our displeasure at their deal with Sky. This is not democracy this is totalitarianism within the one broadcasting medium we should be able to control.

If we keep lobbying MPs and Parliament along these lines we stand much more chance of eventually getting the F1 decision reversed.

By closing 2 blogs within a day of F1 complaints on them - despite those blogs being open for more than 10 months they are seriously breaching our right to protest."