rec.autos.simulators

I gave up watching this sort of manufactured-for-TV pap years ago.
Tracks designed specifically for TV, abso-***y-lutely ridiculous rules
designed for TV and costs and strictures that have completely banished just
about anything other than a manufacturer's team to the graveyard.

F1?
No.

Grand ***s?
Oh, most definitely.

BK

(BIG SNIP)

The viewers, who have to buy a license to own a television.  I still
can't wrap my brain around that concept.  Very kind of them to only
charge half price to the blind.  I think I'd buy a radio instead.

Don McCorkle

Which is precisely the problem. When those commercials become the
overall driving factor ('scuse the pun) behind the sport, the sport suffers.

Exactly. And given the quality of the coverage, and the quality of the
racing, I was one of those viewers (and my parents too) who were very
willing to pay that price. And I still am prepared to pay for all the
other excellent independent coverage and programming we get from the BBC.

There are a number of people around the world who can't understand the
British/BBC licensing system. The main benefit it has is to free the
broadcaster from excessive commercial pressure. And in turn, that
removes the need for the BBC to pressurise the organisers of live events
to change their rules to make the presentation more profitable, at the
expense of the participants and viewers.

It's true that the license fee has to be monitored and approved by the
UK government, which has led to some POLITICAL pressures being placed on
the BBC when they don't toe the government line (e.g. the Iraq war). But
that is such a sensitive issue with the British public that the
government can never take that tactic too far, and has never been able
to bring the BBC to heel in the way that George Bush has with Tony Blair.

This issue of independence, unbiased coverage, and transparency is one
of the most fundamental issues which people have to face up to today,
and goes far beyond the spoiling of F1 coverage. Democracy is all about
making INFORMED decisions about the kind of government you want, and the
kind of world you want. The question is, when big business is paying for
your TV time, can you and should you believe everything you are told
through your "tube"?

If anyone wants a slightly more relaxed take on this, I recommend Sidney
Lumet's film "Network", starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden, the
amazing Peter Finch, and Robert Duvall. A superb black comedy which will
have you laughing at the crazy antics of a ratings-grabbing TV station.

Andrew McP

So what you're saying is that no format would satisfy you and what ever
they do is moot so why should Bernie & co. be concerned by your
reaction to this change?

Yeah but there was always some doubt as to whether a drivers qualifying
performance was his own doing or the result of his fuel load...

want, then you're lazy and/or gullible.

And if you're so lazy and/or gullible that you just want to roll over
and take it up the rear, then fine. You do that. I hope it brings a
smile of pleasure to your face. If you can still look at yourself in
the
bathroom mirror in the mornings, despite your lack of self-respect,
then
that's great.

Me, I've got more balls than that. I don't like being pushed around. I
may not be able to win against big business, but I can sure as hell
make
a lot of loud and vehement noise. And no-one has the right to tell me
to
stop."

<makes room so that you can hop down off the soap box...>

Can't speak for anyone else, but I am neither lazy nor gullible.
Adverts for products on TV here (the US) are as commonplace as credit
card mailings and I have tuned them all out with surprisingly little
difficulty. No one "makes me watch" these ads when they are aired, in
fact the vast majority are fast forwarded thru via DVR (for the very
early races EST) or ignored while I top off my coffee (wakey wakey,
eggs and bakey) during the Sun AM F1 prerace at 0730 EST. Continuing,
the adverts that I do see offer little in the way of convincing me to
buy a particular product or brand. So as you can see, the adverts are
simply a required evil for me to get the F1 coverage on SPEED. Do I
mind? No.

If blowing hot air and beating your chest all over the internet about
your "balls" makes you feel better, then enjoy. Your statement "I can
sure as  hell make a lot of loud and vehement noise. And no-one has the
right to tell me to stop" reminds me of the the saying:

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it
make any noise?

There ~is~ a format that would satisfy me but it relates more to catering
for the driver rather than the TV-audience.

BK

Yes but the conviently placed pee breaks aren't the only cost of the
advertisments...

They've recently started showing BBC's Top Gear in Canada on BBCCanada
(specialty station for BBC to get a 2nd chance to sell their
programming) and I think it's on Discovery in the US.

I love it!  They say what they like about a car and they say what they
hate about them too, and wether you agree with there assesment or not
it's really refreshing to hear.   Plus they shoot cars from catapults
at camper trailers and who doesn't love that?

I thought why can't a dedicated car channel like Speedtv produce a show
like that for the US market instead of mindless stuff like Pinks,
American Chopper, Speedfreaks or NBS247?

Then I realised I answered my own question.  There's no way they'd have
the balls to seriously critizise any of the major car companies and
then be able to get advertizing revenue out of them..

I'm not volunteering to pay a TV licence but there's something to be
said for the producers not having to worry about offending the guys
with the advertizing budgets too....

The Australian ABC, a free-to-air system for radio (all bands, all
frequencies) and TV (ditto) must, by legislation, provide an Australia-wide,
no-cost and commercial-free, non-partisan, secular service. (The only
"advertising" permitted is for ABC-related "stuff").
This broadcasting system is entirely funded by the Federal Government (using
part of our taxes, naturally enough) and that is the way it has been since
inauguration in the 1920's.
Once-upon-a-time the ABC did have a licensing system similar to, and for the
same reasons as, the BBC, but licences were dropped in (if memory serves me
correctly) the 1960's.

There is a current move by some fools to try and introduce advertising on
"Auntie" (as the service is affectionately known) but the reaction from the
Prime Minister just this week was a resounding "No!".

I have a feeling that New Zealand also has a similar system.

BK

FWIW Top Gear is probably my favourite TV show these days, and I don't
even drive a real car. (The insurance and petrol is a lot cheaper in
GPL. ;-)

Andrew McP

Don McCorkle

As for its popularity... well, quality has never been particularly
popular. Appealing to the lowest common denominator is usually the best
way of getting your audience figures up.

Andrew McP