Adwatch: Sky Sports F1 HD (Video)

It goes without saying, that anybody with a whiff of petrol in their veins will be eagerly anticipating next Sunday’s Australian grand prix from Melbourne. The start of the 2012 Formula One season.

There are new FIA regulations to watch-out for, new drivers (messrs. Raikkonen, Vergne, Karthikeyan and Pic) all-new cars, and a growing sense that last year’s top-3 teams might grow to become a group of 5 in 2012. It should be an epic season, with an unprecedented 6 world-champion drivers lining up on the grid.

But for those of us resident in the UK, there is another ‘new flavour’ to our F1 lives this year – Sky Sports will broadcast all the races, qualifying and practice sessions live whilst also providing live coverage of the GP2 and GP3 races. Meanwhile BBC will broadcast half the races and qualifying sessions, along with other key races such as the British Grand Prix, Monaco Grand Prix and the final race of the season.

There will be plenty of choice available to us in 2012, including Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Formula One commentary team, but most people expect the BBC’s coverage to trail Sky’s, purely down to the sheer technology and resources being invested by the satellite broadcaster.

Because whilst BBC F1 will continue to focus on what they do best – high-quality, down-to-earth coverage, Sky Sports are set to redefine the way we consume and interact with the sport through a dedicated F1 channel – Sky Sports F1 HD and all-new multi-device viewing options via Sky GO.

Sky are offering several different ways to follow the action – live and on-demand via your TV or computer, on the move via a mobile phone, plus new multi video options getting you closer to the action with on board cameras, pit lane views and a quad view feature, combining these into a single screen.

For iPad users, Sky customers will be able to watch up to 10 different live camera feeds, rewind live streams and, as the race plays out, jump back to watch highlights. And Sky will be building on the HD broadcast introduced by the BBC last year, with Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound, which I’m told will make us feel like we’re trackside.

If you remember Bernie’s last foray into F1 with Sky in 2002, then you’ll be familiar with ‘some’ of these new features. F1 Digital offered a multi-camera real-time broadcast of each race, via the Red Button, presented by Ben Edwards, John Watson, Damon Hill, Perry McCarthy and Peter Windsor.

But it is interesting to note that back in 2002 (10 years ago) it would have cost £12 per race to access these features, whereas this time Sky Sports F1 HD is offering the whole season for £30.25 including the usual 40+ channels of entertainment, comedy & drama that come with the basic Sky subscription.

There’s a lot to take in, which is why we decided to run this latest video campaign showing all the details in a single easy to navigate place. When you hover over the ad, the display will expand into an overlay, providing access to the following;

1. 9 videos explaining the details of Sky’s planned coverage
2. Introductory videos for each of the presenters (Martin Brundle, David Croft, Simon Lazenby, Georgie Thompson, Steve Rider, Ted Kravitz, Natalie Pinkham, Anthony Davidson and Damon Hill)
3. Description of each of the ways to watch Sky’s F1 coverage
4. Details of the year-round competition to win trips to every F1 race (including Monaco)
5. Plus, inevitably some handy links to help you buy (or upgrade to) the Sky Sports F1 HD package.

Yes, of course it’s a paid advertisement, but I actually found it a pretty handy way of getting up to speed on Sky’s 2012 coverage and therefore worth showing to you, our readers.

Disclosure: This article is sponsored in part by BSkyB, however all views expressed within are entirely our own. Sponsored articles are accepted at our own discretion and only where we believe such focus or analysis will benefit our readers. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this article further, then get in touch via email or using the contact tab on this page.