Why F1 fans deserve more from TV

American soul singer Gil Scott-Heron might have suggested that the revolution will not be televised, but make no mistake: the key to the success of Formula 1's digital revolution will be the championship's live broadcasts.

However much impact a sport makes on social media, however many millions of newspaper readers it has, or clicks it gets on internet sites, they do not matter to the bottom line as much as the number of eyeballs it has watching the action unfold on a screen - either live or delayed.

Consumers are now in front of screens more than they have even been before, and companies understand that time spent glued to televisions, tablets, computers and smartphones is an opportunity to sell.

For live series, such as F1, there is massive potential within its global attraction - and that's why live sports rights remain such big money spinners. Broadcasters want the viewers it commands, and feel they can offset the cost of the rights through selling advertising, or by charging a subscription fee - or both.

In our rapidly changing world, sports are also looking to make direct contact with the fanbase via 'over the top' streaming services.

But making a real success of a television product rests on the spectacle being attractive to fans - especially in an age when more are being asked to dig into their pockets for the privilege.

For F1 to deliver the kind of product that will make for a successful future, it must tick two separate boxes relating to the 'show'.

The first is that the action on track must be good. There needs to be enough unpredictability, excitement and even controversy to keep interest high and make people want to come back for more. Whether the current 'show' is good enough is subject to great debate - and something that Liberty is clearly trying to address with the proposed 2021 rule changes.

The second aspect, which is perhaps even more important than the on-track show, is the television offering, since this is what the consumer gets to experience at home.

F1 can create the most brilliant, exciting, thrilling spectacle in the world, but if the television product is low quality then it's a wasted opportunity.

A host of factors are important here: it needs to be easily accessible, shown in decent definition, and have quality production values that draw you in.

F1's TV offering must be easily accessible, have decent definition, and have quality production values to draw fans in

Medical reasons have prevented me from travelling to races this year, but that has at least given me a chance to experience what it is like watching an F1 season unfold from home. And, quite frankly, the TV experience has scope for huge improvement (which is a euphemism for it not being good enough).

Accessibility has been the first headache. Since I have no desire to change broadband providers and pay a great deal more money simply for F1 (Premier League football does nothing for me), the only way to follow every race has been to subscribe to one of the championship's official streaming partners.

The result is the ability to watch Sky's extensive F1 content, which does a great job of explaining things. Plus, I must say, Paul di Resta has been exceptional in offering the kind of clean, concise, engaging and interesting insight that helps bring motorsport to life.

Frustrations surround the outside of the core production itself. First up, despite costing a decent chunk of money, it is still not proper HD. We are no longer in the dial-up times; and F1 is falling short here comes at the very same time World Cup games are being offered in ultra high definition.

But streaming lag is the worst thing. While having absolutely live TV is not realistic (even screens at the track are a couple of seconds behind the real thing), having a delay of often more than 30 seconds at home makes it grating to watch the show with a second screen (whether that is to show live timing, social media or a chat room) - because a lack of synchronisation ruins the experience.

It's possible to pause F1's live timing app to try to make it better sync with the television images, but it's not the work of the moment and it's especially annoying that every session is different. Many exciting moments have been ruined by reading about it first.

Valtteri Bottas' puncture in Baku, which turned that race on its head, was played out in text when people started writing about it. That was long before it appeared in real images on the streaming platform - spoiling the thrills considerably.

Without spending an utter fortune, I want to watch F1 in the highest definition possible, interact live with people and follow the data streams, not have to restrict what I'm doing.

The place where this will most likely be available in the future is via OTT - and last weekend I had a chance to experience the new F1 TV service, which is available in certain regions (but unfortunately not in the UK while the Sky deal remains).

The experience of Liberty's new service was good, bad and ugly - all in varying measures.

Let's get the ugly one out of the way first. The first experience of F1 TV was, quite simply, pretty bitter. During Friday practice, a sound glitch meant that the background audio was pulsating like a pirate drum and bass station. The volume was going up and down like crazy every second - a form of mental torture when trying to watch the action.

Suspicions that it was a computer fault proved to be unfounded when it also did not work on a second device, and the mystery deepened further when the commentary over the top (which you can turn on and off) worked fine. A bizarre, random glitch that was enough to make the service unwatchable.

Thankfully that was as bad as it got; after Friday things improved, and my fears of bad buffering hitting qualifying and the race did not come to pass. The world feed itself ran smoothly and in solid definition for a computer screen.

On the positive side, there were some aspects that were really exciting. I especially liked the ability to choose between following different onboard cameras (all drivers were accessible) - so if you have a favourite, or know that someone is about to do something particularly noteworthy, you can switch the screen.

If this is just a step in a journey to deliver the perfect final product then it's only right to give F1 TV time

This feature came into its own when replaying the onboards after the session. So, for example, you could rewind the first-corner chaos and watch from each driver's view, or check out how the Kevin Magnussen/Kimi Raikkonen Q3 blocking incident played out - all with their full radio conversations (and bad language) as they happened.

As a relatively new product it has faults, but if this is just a step in a journey to deliver the perfect final product then it's only right to give it time. And I'm sure that when all the operational glitches have been ironed out, attention will turn to making the whole experience around it better too.

There is certainly some low-hanging fruit in terms of areas that can be improved.

Using Sky TV's commentary is OK, but you do feel a bit like a second-rate customer when they cut away to ad breaks and F1 TV goes silent, or if the broadcaster has switched to its own cameras to do an interview or point something out, and the app feed is showing something else. A bespoke commentary service would certainly be a welcome addition.

The whole experience of how F1 TV is presented when not in full screen mode could also be improved. The option of switching to an onboard is great, but you then lose the main world feed and so risk missing out on seeing action take place elsewhere.

A window-in-window experience would be much better. Being able to watch the main feed while also having a close eye on three or four live onboards down one side would be a fantastic addition. Why not also have feature boxes for live timing, incidents, or news feeds - so the whole screen becomes an F1 hub?

It was also worth noting that the lag issue does not appear to be much better with F1 TV's service. During qualifying, it was 15 seconds behind the action, and my streaming service was a further 15 seconds behind that. On race day, both streams lagged by around 30 seconds - annoying. This is because that timelag is enough to leave viewers feeling a bit disengaged if they are active on social media or disinclined to try to sync up the live timing.

Being an avid follower of F1 nowadays requires commitment and investment, and in return the championship should be doing everything possible to justify that loyalty.

Delivering a television product that is the highest quality technology can bring, as near to live as is physically possible, with customisable options that give every fan the kind of experience they want to suits their needs (and without breaking the bank), is not an option. It should be the bare minimum.

In a series as high-tech as F1, which has state-of-the-art partners such as Tata Communications, fans should really expect the world. If F1 doesn't get this right in the next few years, then its efforts to improve excitement on track will be in vain.