to me it seems more like a case of the BBC using f1 as a sacrificial lamb to make the government look bad in the public eye for freezing the licence fee.

nail on head!

If they cut the shite then no one will care enough to be willing to pay more

Although I'd rather they ditched BBC3 than BBC4 as I do watch the odd thing on there (documentaries, some music programs).

F1 used to be getting to the finish line first by any fair means............not now. Its all bolotics.