This weekend, MotoGP’s coverage winds down on both the BBC and Eurosport, with BT Sport covering the series from 2014.

The F1 Broadcasting Blog today poses a simple question: do you plan on following MotoGP in 2014? The options are as follows:

Option A – Yes, I will continue to follow MotoGP via BT Sport – self explanatory. You have access to BT Sport currently and therefore will be following MotoGP in 2014.

Option B – Yes, I do not have access to BT Sport but will continue to follow MotoGP via other means – this does not necessarily mean ‘illegal streaming’ before anyone mentions that! It could be via the MotoGP website, AUTOSPORT or other outlets. After all, MotoGP’s YouTube channel is not too shabby…

Option C – No, I won’t be following MotoGP in 2014 – for those that have watched MotoGP in 2013 and before, but won’t be from 2014.

Option D – No, I don’t currently follow MotoGP and have no interest in doing so – you’ve never been a fan, and never will be, basically!

Option E – Undecided – self explanatory and could easily be, for example, a choice of the above three options come next April.

Option F – Poll does not apply to me – just so you don’t feel left out, foreign readers outside of the UK, click this option.

At the moment, I am somewhere between Option’s B and C in all honesty. I definitely will not have access to BT Sport before April, so it will be a case of either not following it at all, or ‘part time’, so to say. At this stage I would put myself (as I have done!) as an Option B. I have watched and followed MotoGP for the best part of a decade, and I don’t particularly want to give up easily! At the same time, I cannot justify getting BT Sport for the IndyCar Series, MotoGP and some Premier League games. The cost is too much for me, as it currently stands on top of the existing package I have.

How many people fall into the same boat as me? The poll is above, but more so use this as discussion rather than just the poll. If there are a few good opinions in the comments then I will publish a follow up blog in a few weeks time.

Back in May, it was announced that BT Sport would be taking over the MotoGP rights for the 2014 championship onwards. The move was met with mixed reaction. On one hand, BT Sport will be providing MotoGP with significantly more broadcast air-time than previous broadcasters. But, with that, the viewership will drop badly with no terrestrial coverage from 2014 onwards as I have wrote about in detail previously.

Aside from that though, there is the big question of who exactly is going to be a part of BT Sport’s MotoGP team. With that in mind, it is time for me to dive into my crystal ball, and for me to guess who will be part of that team! A disclaimer though that I have zero inside knowledge, all of the following is my own predictions and speculation.

Starting with the main figure that viewers will see: presenter. Matt Roberts deserves the role in my view, and has been a steady ship directing the BBC show in the past year or two. I’d really like him be able to do more in-depth interview or features, which a role as BT’s MotoGP presenter would allow him to do, as there would be significantly more air-time. I think Suzi Perry has to be mentioned as a possibility too, if there is an escape clause in her BBC F1 contract. I’m not sure that BBC would want two Formula 1 presenters in a row heading to BT Sport, mind! Outside of that? I don’t think Jake Humphrey is realistic, purely because it would go against everything he said when leaving the BBC F1 job. Humphrey would not want to do every race either, I don’t think, plus the fact he is BT Sport’s lead Premier League presenter I believe rules this out. Finally, Keith Huewen is a possibility. I still think Roberts will get it. There could be a complete wildcard here, but I doubt it.

Moving onto pit lane reporters, and Randy Mamola and Neil Spalding are a must for me. I missed Mamola when he left Eurosport’s coverage at the end of 2009, and would love to see him return. Spalding is great in his current Eurosport role, so I would prefer ‘both’ rather than ‘or’. Where this would leave Azi Farni I don’t know. If she is there, she is there, but it is not a deal breaker for me. Punditry is an interesting one considering MotoGP coverage in the UK has never really had pundits. BBC’s coverage relied on Charlie Cox and Steve Parrish to fill air-time in the half an hour before the race with Roberts, so no extra personnel were required. BT Sport are expected to go the extra mile with MotoGP, so I would expect a pundit or two. As it is a British audience watching, the obvious former British MotoGP riders come into mind, such as Jeremy McWilliams. I’m not entirely sure who else to suggest here, so would be interested to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Lastly, the commentary team. I could discuss this over, but there is only one choice here: Toby Moody and Julian Ryder. Must, must, must, and I cannot emphasise that enough. It would be a near travesty if Moody and Ryder were not commentating to British audiences. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of Cox and Steve Parrish’s commentary work, but I know where these things are concerned it is personal preference. For me, Moody and Ryder are leagues ahead of Cox and Parrish. I think Parrish should be part of the team maybe as a pundit though, but at the age of 60 he may want to tone down his paddock involvements. We shall see.

With that in mind:

– presenter: Matt Roberts
– pit lane reporter: Randy Mamola
– technical reporter: Neil Spalding
– paddock reporter: Azi Farni
– pundit: Jeremy McWilliams and A.N. Other
– commentators: Toby Moody and Julian Ryder

That is just my best guesses. My expertise in terms of motorcycle broadcasting is limited regarding personnel, but I thought I would throw in my two cents!

I have been debating whether to actually publish this for a little while, but thought “why not?”.

Back in May I e-mailed you concerning the MotoGP coverage changes in the UK from the 2014 season onwards. I am disappointed that you not did acknowledge or respond to the questions I asked in the e-mail.

Several months on, and I see the situation concerning coverage has not changed. As it stands, MotoGP will not be broadcast on terrestrial television in the UK. The only deal you have is with BT Sport.

My question is: Will you be creating a new highlights package for BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to bid on? If not, what are the reasons for this?

Under the current arrangement with BBC Sport, audiences for MotoGP are in excess of one million viewers. This is a healthy audience, and helps bring motorbike racing to the masses, something that the deal with BT Sport will not do. The future arrangement with BT Sport from the 2014 season risks shrinking the audience by potentially 75 percent if not more. In my opinion, for MotoGP to thrive in the UK, terrestrial television coverage of some degree is needed.

I look forward to your response.

The above, of course, is an e-mail to Dorna Sports, who are the rights holders to the MotoGP World Championship, along with the Moto2 and Moto3 feeder series. The e-mail was sent on August 29th to an e-mail address that is located on their website. Which is why I have decided to publish this blog.

It is a fairly simple question in the e-mail, whether Dorna will be creating a highlights package for MotoGP. As it stands, only BT Sport will be screening the series. Let me state clearly that this is not an attack on BT Sport. BT Sport will, pretty much certainly, be dedicating more time and resources into MotoGP than any UK broadcaster previously. And that is a credit to them. I’m pretty certain that their coverage will be fantastic and push the boundaries of what is possible. Would it be commercially sensitive information for Dorna to say? I don’t think so – if it is a no, then fair enough, but if it is a yes, I would imagine and hope that interested parties would already have been informed.

Unfortunately though, like most other rights holders, it feels like Dorna do not really care about getting MotoGP out to the widest possible audience. If they did, then options such as a terrestrial highlights package would have been announced, and explored. Fans have not been communicated once, and as I said in the e-mail to them, they risk the MotoGP audience shrinking. Which would be sad, especially if Cal Crutchlow did turn into a championship contender in 2014.

I hope Dorna use some common sense here, but I don’t forsee it happening. Personally I want two things from 2014: for MotoGP to receive the best coverage possible and to the widest possible audience. BT Sport I am sure will provide the first part. Sadly, no one is providing the second part. Anyway, if the full interests of disclosure, I thought I should publish the e-mail, which as of writing has received no response.