F1 TV coverage threadFormula 1

[Rossell2]

Sorry to hear that PM. Wasn't getting at you.

Still doesn't change how I feel about it. My principal is based on the way Sky advertised it. If they said they would show ads in these places from the start I would have been alright, but as with everything Sky seem to do, it's all very vague until you get up front. And when you've been used to the quality that the BBC have bought you, it all feels like taking a step backwards. My opinion anyway.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I'm pretty sure they made it clear that qualifying and the race would be uninterrupted from the outset, but that they had not made up their minds about everything else.

 

[Enigma]

Oh well, buckled at the last moment yesterday and upgraded my sky to HD.

The BBC's coverage after ITV was instantly so much better, unfortunately SKY's coverage is instantly worse than the BBC.

I got up at 4.30am to watch the live build up, you would think at the first race of the season there would be so much to talk about, but I found the build up lacked any real substance or interesting information, TBH I would have been better enjoying the extra sleep and getting up for the start of the race.

I missed Eddie, David and even Jake. Those guys made me laugh so many times and the discussions were a lot more in depth.

It's a real shame, I suppose the only thing I can do is watch the few live races that are on the BBC (assuming they will have a full build up), and live in hope that SKY might poach the BBC team.

On a side note, did anyone think that SKY HD wasn't quite as "HD" as the BBC HD channel? Maybe it's just me but I thought the picture quality was a bit dodgy.

 

[Bobalob]

I just got here and this nay have been said already but I'm asking again anyway I noticed the BBC qual highlights, do they get the race highlights too?

 

[Hollidog]

I liked Sky's coverage. Anything is better than what we get down here.

I'm not keen on David Croft, though. He seems very excitable, and I noticed quite a few instances over the weekend where he mis-called the action. I can understand mistakes in the heat of the moment, and he did correct himself when he realised he'd said the wrong thing, but I couldn't help but notice that it felt like a step down from David Coulthard. I also think Croft doesn't have the same rapport with Brundle as Coulthard did, though I expect that to develop over the season.

I also really liked Sky's circuit graphics. Hopefully they'll show elevation as well.

If this is Sky coverage, then what am I watching? I have DC and Ben Edwards as my commentators for quali and the race and Algersuari and another for the practice sessions.

Thought Sky NZ would use Sky coverage.

 

[ALP1986]

If this is Sky coverage, then what am I watching? I have DC and Ben Edwards as my commentators for quali and the race and Algersuari and another for the practice sessions.

Thought Sky NZ would use Sky coverage.

sounds like BBC

 

[Tired Tyres]

I just got here and this nay have been said already but I'm asking again anyway I noticed the BBC qual highlights, do they get the race highlights too?

Yes. 2PM BBC1

 

[Hollidog]

Im confused, I thought BBC werent doing coverage of the races that arent being shown live? Am I listening to a radio broadcast?

 

[Liquid]

Im confused, I thought BBC werent doing coverage of the races that arent being shown live? Am I listening to a radio broadcast?

BBC do every race, but only broadcast 10 of the 20 races. The footage of the other 10 is then chopped up into a highlights package, like today.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

I've watched streams of all the live action but will watch the BBC highlights shows too simply because the presentation is so much better. David Croft couldn't figure out the difference between a Williams and a Sauber and the in-depth analysis consisted of Anthony Davidson thinking Felipe Massa was a Marussia.

That raises a question for me, of those people who have payed for the Sky HD F1 channel who will watch the joint live races on Sky and who will watch on the Beeb?

 

[Crushed]

I only get SPEED but i like it! Or... I think, i never tried another one

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

1 hour 35 min race, BBC showed around 1 hour 10/15 which I thought was pretty good. I was expecting a lot worse.

 

[joetoml1n]

1 hour 35 min race, BBC showed around 1 hour 10/15 which I thought was pretty good. I was expecting a lot worse.

Impressed by the amount they showed as well! Didn't like the coverage though.. Love DC in the pre/post show, just not as much during commentary, and I can't get on with Ben Edwards. Don't his voice, and he doesn't make it seem as exciting as any other commentators.
Really liking the Crofty/Brudle pairing, and glad to see Crofty do more than 5 Live and just Free Practice on the TV.
As for the build up show, not much to choose between the two broadcasters in my opinion, both pretty good.

 

[TopGearFTW]

I managed to catch the qualifying and the race on Sky, and I'm very glad I didn't decide to buy Sky for the channel. The ex-BBC guys are as professional as ever, Damon was fairly good but a bit bland (and hardly used) but the new Sky people were really bad in my opinion. They didn't come across as actually being interested in the sport at all, just people that had facts fed through to them that they then spouted out. Wasn't impressed at all. (Also do they have to remind us every 30 seconds that its in Dolby Digital Surround Sound?)

The actual race coverage was fine, didn't really like Croft too much, but he's still a lot better than Legard, so that's OK.

Meh, sticking to the BBC coverage where available, love the chemistry Jake/David/Eddie had.

 

[Famine]

... Anthony Davidson thinking Felipe Massa was a Marussia ...

He may as well be.

 

[Toyinster]

I got up at 4.30am to watch the live build up, you would think at the first race of the season there would be so much to talk about, but I found the build up lacked any real substance or interesting information, TBH I would have been better enjoying the extra sleep and getting up for the start of the race.

I got up to see the start of the race - they've been building up for a week!

I am enjoying watching the F1 legends where they interview previous world champions from years ago - Just seen the Nigel Mansell one, what a legend!

 

[Snapey]

Well I must say how happy I was with the highlights of the race on the BBC, it almost felt like the full race as in total about 15 minutes was left out, didn't catch the interviews after the race as I had to go out. Malaysia should be a good one too. Although the BBC won't get full coverage of it, I can't say I'm not happy with the amount of footage we got.

 

[Sureboss]

I'm pretty sure they made it clear that qualifying and the race would be uninterrupted from the outset, but that they had not made up their minds about everything else.

Quite, it was fairly obvious there was going to be breaks during build up and post-race, you know, like they do with everything else that they show. Besides, I think they only had about 3 ad breaks in the 1 1/2 hour build up. Claims of false advertising, are quite amusing.

Don't think Lazenby and Hill are quite gelling yet, or quite at that level they should be, but that's hardly surprising as I don't think Hill's ever done anything and Lazenby comes from a Rugby background, which is quite different to F1...

Still, Brundle and Croft were superb, Kravitz is always good in the pits and the "Skypad" works pretty well. Decent start, some room for improvement though.

 

[Ardius]

Don't think Lazenby and Hill are quite gelling yet, or quite at that level they should be, but that's hardly surprising as I don't think Hill's ever done anything

Hill was a pundit on the short-lived F1 Digital and he did used to fill in for Brundle on ITV commentary when he had family holidays for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
So I wouldn't say Hill hasn't done anything but he's certainly not an experienced TV pundit.

I have to say I thought the Sky team were pretty decent. I think Lazenby is good enough and far more likable than Jake Humphrey. Less of the condescending "and you can go and debrief now" tone.
Hill is a little bit a mini-EJ in that he struggles to articulate what he means fast enough but that will improve with experience. I think he has interesting and fair comments.

It could be far worse...I shudder to remember Steve Rider and Mark Blundell's calamity "analysis".

However, I do think Sky are sorely lacking in something the BBC have covered very well this year - the technical and team side of things. EJ might be a clown but is an experienced and successful team owner, he does have some jewels of knowledge and opinion when asked the right question.
And Gary Anderson is always going to be a million times more accurate and more interesting than Ted Kravitz (though Ted is good anyway for catching the important technical stories).

 

[Tired Tyres]

1 hour 35 min race, BBC showed around 1 hour 10/15 which I thought was pretty good. I was expecting a lot worse.

1:35 race in a two hour programme? I'd expect 1:35 of the race then. That still leaves 25 minutes for chit chat, not the 45-50 minutes we got.

I can't stand any of those three on the BBC. None of then say anything that matters, especially Coulthard describing the safety car as "slightly fortunate" for Vettel rather than totally dead jammy which is slightly more accurate.

 

[Sureboss]

Hill was a pundit on the short-lived F1 Digital and he did used to fill in for Brundle on ITV commentary when he had family holidays for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
So I wouldn't say Hill hasn't done anything but he's certainly not an experienced TV pundit.

I have to say I thought the Sky team were pretty decent. I think Lazenby is good enough and far more likable than Jake Humphrey. Less of the condescending "and you can go and debrief now" tone.
Hill is a little bit a mini-EJ in that he struggles to articulate what he means fast enough but that will improve with experience. I think he has interesting and fair comments.

It could be far worse...I shudder to remember Steve Rider and Mark Blundell's calamity "analysis".

However, I do think Sky are sorely lacking in something the BBC have covered very well this year - the technical and team side of things. EJ might be a clown but is an experienced and successful team owner, he does have some jewels of knowledge and opinion when asked the right question.
And Gary Anderson is always going to be a million times more accurate and more interesting than Ted Kravitz (though Ted is good anyway for catching the important technical stories).

They went a little more technical in the season preview show iirc, quite impressive, did you see that?

 

[Ardius]

No I missed that, but the point remains - BBC have the better technical side for their punditry and opinion pieces as well as the unique team prinicpal/financial side in EJ.

 

[Bigbazz]

I watched the sky coverage today, but I'm currently also watching the BBC highlights on iPlayer.

The problem I have with sky (aside from adverts, which I'm not used to and it really kills it) is that they aren't really approaching it in a very F1 way. Its like a news cast, weather forecast, back to the studio, very "Sky" or "Sky news" approach to the whole thing, they have a few cool pieces (Brundle in a Ferrari) but they haven't used them well enough.

The BBC do a very high quality production, very high quality polish to what they have, every piece they have they squeeze the most out of that single piece to try to make it interesting, different, artistic. You add into that the BBC presenters have much more personality and equally as much expertise (Jordan, Coulthard) + jake humphrey who is extremely passionate about the sport and it shows, he is no slouch when it comes to the history of the sport and thats because he loves it.

If BBC had the same footage as Sky, they would make a better program because they are much better at that kind of production (and much more experienced), when you're in australia they bring australia to your TV (Or Pre 2012 they did).


Obviously Sky has a lot of room to improve and time to do it, but right now for me the Sky pre-race stuff just doesnt even compare, and thats before you put in adverts, I never have adverts in anything that I watch usually so for me its really a game killer, they do my ****ing head in.


That aside, Crofty and Brundle commentry is really good and the BBC can't compete with that (though I do like Coulthard too).

 

[Robin]

I agree, Sky's coverage feels very Premiership Football-ish. I don't think Sky knows how to differentiate sports. They really do apply the same formula / style to everything they broadcast, its all very corporate.

From what I have seen they do an OK job with F1 but I also feel the BBC coverage has more polish and a lot more character which some may like or dislike. I'm really starting to like EJ, years ago when he started I wasn't so sure but he is a good pundit.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

The old BBC coverage was way better and seemed to flow together well. The chemistry inside the team was nice and relaxed. The Sky team on the other hand seems to be very stiff and hit with the corporate stick. Simon seems very boring. Croft's commentary is decent, nothing special. I don't see much need for Davidson either nor the lady alongside him.

 

[Ardius]

^To be fair, the BBC in 2009 seemed stiff too, it takes time to build up the chemistry and get everyone working well. I'm sure Sky will improve in this area with time.

 

[Liquid]

I agree, Sky's coverage feels very Premiership Football-ish. I don't think Sky knows how to differentiate sports. They really do apply the same formula / style to everything they broadcast, its all very corporate.

From what I have seen they do an OK job with F1 but I also feel the BBC coverage has more polish and a lot more character which some may like or dislike. I'm really starting to like EJ, years ago when he started I wasn't so sure but he is a good pundit.

There is an exception to that rule. Any fan of English football will know that Jeff & Friends on Soccer Saturday is not only the best football programme on television, but also a very funny and very relaxed effort.

On the other hand, I feel that the BBC is usually quite rigid except with its F1 coverage. I adore EJ. Sure he's opinionated, but people always complain that there aren't enough people who speak their mind and he does exactly that. He's not afraid to intrude into a garage or literally grab someone for an interview; he does exactly what we've wanted a pundit to do for years. And being a former member of the pit wall for 14 years, he has many contacts and standings within the paddock and gets away with it all. DC is also subtly humerous, his riffs with EJ are great. He was good with Brundle on commentary last year.

So the happy medium at the moment seems to be BBC pre-/post-race, but Sky during the race.

What was Ben Edwards like on commentary? I really did like BBC coverage and I'm almost certainly consigned to watching their coverage when I fly home in May, but I've never liked his commentary.

 

[daan]

If BBC had the same footage as Sky,

Every broadcaster gets exactly the same feed from FOM. The only bits they do themselves are the presentery-punditry bits, driver interviews (outside of the press conferences) and any features they do prior to the race.

 

[Touring Mars]

I got a very pleasant surprise on Saturday when my sister told me that she had signed up for Sky Sports so that I could watch the F1 channel

I need to check out whether or not I can now watch Sky Sports on my laptop using Sky Go, because if it doesn't work, we'll cancel the Sports pack and get Sky HD instead.

Did anyone succeed in watching F1 on Sky Go this weekend?

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

What was Ben Edwards like on commentary?

I think it was you that posted an impression of his commentary from BTCC "ohmygodit'splatocomingthrough.." etc. After the lights went out, it was exactly like that and I did have a little laugh

Though once it got going, he calmed down a bit. David was as calm as ever too. Wasn't too bad I thought.