F1 TV coverage threadFormula 1 

After the race in Australia i'm thinking twice about paying the extra for sky sports, for now.

The BBC coverage is still fairly good albeit shorter and contrary to what I thought, the qualifying and race highlights are shown on iPlayer. They seem to have missed that part out of the various announcements, I thought it was going the way of Match of the Day as in not shown for licensing reasons.

I will definitely be getting Sky within the next 6 months when I move into my first proper house/flat (As in not my parents' place or student flats), so I think i'll just have to endure highlights for some of the races for now.

Brundle and Kravitz are missed, but the main presenter team is at the moment better than Sky's lineup. It will take a while for the Sky team to come good, just as it's taken a while for David Coulthard to say more than 3 words during a race commentary.
 
TyrrellRacing
I watched a bit of the race rerun on my Nan's television on Sunday in Sky HD.

The picture quality was stunning compared to standard definition on the BBC. If that quality was poor I can't imagine how good it must've been last year on BBC HD.
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The BBC's F1 HD coverage has always had a stunning picture. I doubt it would be any different to Sky's in terms of quality.
 
After the race finished today, I was browsing the Sky website and saw this:
http://f1.sky.com/engagement

Decided to head over to Milton Keynes to see if I got a chance and in the end was too slow.

I thought it would be like time trial mode but it was a 3 lap race with 22 AI cars and one other driver besides myself. I think TC was on full and ABS on, driving line on and automatic transmission with DFGT steering wheel (FFB was more or less dead) and I also didn't get chance to change setup. It was on the Silverstone track.

First lap backed off as I started at the back of the grid. The other human player nearly t-boned me as well and damage was on so I was lucky on that as that would have ruined any chances I had of doing a reasonable time. The AI was so slow and seemed to be slowing down for me so was going at a really slow pace on the first lap. 2nd lap was my first flying lap and did a 1:30.448 with a few mistakes but not enough to explain being that much slower than the fastest time set so far. The TV screen had loads of glare from light so made it hard to see braking markers. 3rd lap I was going quite a bit quicker but catched up the AI cars on the final few corners so lost potentially 0.5-1 second improvement there which was a disappointment.

The grid order being random it sure does not really help in this challenge as you can either start from front or back of grid which causes a luck element in getting 1 sure lap or 2 laps. Anyway, anyone else go to do the simulator challenge Sky were running on F1 2011? Impressive pace by people especially considering no DRS on your hot lap and automatic transmission, I wonder if the fastest person practiced a lot and went on both days at their closest venue. I will try later to see if I can come close to the fastest time in similar conditions at home.

I didn't know whether to create another thread as the event is now closed so decided to post here, sorry if it is wrong place. Sky really did not market this much. Would have thought I'd see this event here unless I missed a thread on search.
 
Thought I'd ask it here since it's more related to the broadcast agreement then to the Malaysian race. When One were crossing to the commentators at Sky, they somehow got the BBC commentary, before they cut it off after about 30 seconds. So my question is, how could that happen if the BBC weren't even broadcasting the race live?
 
XRFalcon
So my question is, how could that happen if the BBC weren't even broadcasting the race live?
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The BBC go to the races and record races, but are only allowed to broadcast the 10 that have been mentioned. The other 10 they chop for highlight packages.
 
Ardius
They also sell their live commentary abroad still.
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Which puts us in the strange position that British viewers don't get full BBC race coverage but people in foreign countries that use the BBC broadcast... do.
 
BBC's David and Ben actually broadcast live to Ireland via Setanta Sports. I watched the stream for Australia, it's weird watching the race and listening to David Coulthard's commentary knowing BBC weren't showing the race live to the UK but still going out around the world and even next door. Must say the adverts are very strange on Setanta.

On to today, I settled for the afternoon highlights on the BBC. Thought it was quite poorly put together, although it was a crazy race and did have a delay. DC and Ben missed so much, like Jenson diving into the pits, took them an age to realize. The FOM coverage was showing pitstop after pitstop instead of Jenson coming back out on track ahead of Lewis, missed some close action there. Would be good if the BBC can rectify that calamity many hours afterwards using footage available but due to the directors infinite wisdom wasn't shown live, BBC just replayed it as was, for highlights I want the cockups not shown. Maybe was a technical issue but the whole program was a mess.

BBC did a good job on the F1 forum, couldn't find one after Melbourne but today's popped up on the website, worth watching. It's not on the iplayer either.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17507063
 
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I must say, the BBC highlights did seem to be a bit disjointed for some reason.

Also, I use subtitles a fair amount and with these races not being shown for quite a number of hours (say, 6 or 8 hours) you would have thought that they could at least attempted to try and get the subtitles timing right in the period from when the race was finished to when the race is being re-shown again in the UK. Gets quite annoying when the quality of the subtitles is still "live", rather than programmed.
 
I thought the BBC highlights were fairly good, they did seem to miss a few things out though, like why Kobayashi retired. Also they could've shown some of the red-flagged period, there's usually something interesting or amusing going on during those times, especially now Kimi's back on the grid.
 
The idea behind it was no doubt to try and take the sport to a wider audiences, even if it meant a step down from high to standard broadcasting. After all, when Daniel Ricciardo joined HRT for Silverstone last year, it was the first time since 1977 that two Australians had raced in Formula 1, so domestic interest was going to be higher than ever. Personally, I think more fans can only ever be a good thing, but Ten have managed to pull off a very flawed execution of the concept.

There are two problem with the move to "Super Sunday": first of all, there is only very limited advertising. I haven't seen a single ad that actually explains what the hell Formula 1 actually is. The only ads that I have seen are the ones that summarise the Sunday night programming line-up, and even then, Formula 1 only rates a brief mention with a glimpse of Webber's car.

Secondly, the tone of "Super Sundays" is all wrong for Formula 1. Or Formula 1 is all wrong for "Super Sundays". They start with either The Biggest Loser or Young Talent Time. Then it's Modern Family followed by New Girl. At 8:30, it's Touch. And then the racing. They've gone from reality television to sitcoms to prime-time drama to ... motorsport? It just doesn't work.
 
prisonermonkeys
The idea behind it was no doubt to try and take the sport to a wider audiences, even if it meant a step down from high to standard broadcasting. After all, when Daniel Ricciardo joined HRT for Silverstone last year, it was the first time since 1977 that two Australians had raced in Formula 1, so domestic interest was going to be higher than ever. Personally, I think more fans can only ever be a good thing, but Ten have managed to pull off a very flawed execution of the concept.

There are two problem with the move to "Super Sunday": first of all, there is only very limited advertising. I haven't seen a single ad that actually explains what the hell Formula 1 actually is. The only ads that I have seen are the ones that summarise the Sunday night programming line-up, and even then, Formula 1 only rates a brief mention with a glimpse of Webber's car.

Secondly, the tone of "Super Sundays" is all wrong for Formula 1. Or Formula 1 is all wrong for "Super Sundays". They start with either The Biggest Loser or Young Talent Time. Then it's Modern Family followed by New Girl. At 8:30, it's Touch. And then the racing. They've gone from reality television to sitcoms to prime-time drama to ... motorsport? It just doesn't work.
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I totally agree with everything you've said. I personally don't think anyone actually watches "Super Sunday" from start to finish, which defeats the purpose of having a programming block like this.
 
prisonermonkeys
Secondly, the tone of "Super Sundays" is all wrong for Formula 1. Or Formula 1 is all wrong for "Super Sundays". They start with either The Biggest Loser or Young Talent Time. Then it's Modern Family followed by New Girl. At 8:30, it's Touch. And then the racing. They've gone from reality television to sitcoms to prime-time drama to ... motorsport? It just doesn't work.
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It's just Channel 10's usual ploy of annoying the 🤬 out of everyone, just look at what they've done with One HD, which was originally meant to be a 24/7 sports channel (which seemed perfect for sports mad Australians) but slowly became filled with reruns galore (M*A*S*H is placed in primetime slots for crying out loud) and left with sport that's shown from midnight until 10am.

Also, the quality difference between the One coverage and the Ten SD coverage was much larger than I expected, it was like comparing VHS to DVD, and on top of that the Ten watermark is much more annoying than the One watermark, especially with that "Live" speech bubble. I also couldn't have been the only one to notice the change from generic rock music to current pop music in the transitions to and from commercials, to attempt to tie in to the whole "Super Sunday" theme.

At least it's better than the rot we put up with in the pre One HD days, where F1 coverage was delayed until midnight, with lower priority than Big Brother/The Biggest Loser/[insert other hateful "reality" show] and possibly delayed even further if one of these ran overtime.
 
XRFalcon
I personally don't think anyone actually watches "Super Sunday" from start to finish
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The idea is that they are trying to get people to watch it through by providing high-quality programming. Modern Family is a massive hit, and it has pretty much made a clean sweep of the Emmys (meaningless as they are) for the past three years. New Girl also has critical acclaim, even though I cannot stand Zooey Deschanel (her "quirky-but-wholesome original indie girl-next-door" schtick is pretty vacant; it reminds me of the way Katy Perry has a "quirky" personality that is carefully constructed for her by marketing people). I don't know too much about Touch, but it's clearly trying to sell itself on the presence of Kiefer Sutherland (who is very popular after 24) and its whole universal mystery. So Ten are probably hoping that you sit down and watch Modern Family because you like it, and then you see that other shows are grouped with it under the one bill and think to yourself "Hey, I liked that ... I wonder what New Girl and Touch are like?".

But the problem, as I said, is that Formula 1 is of a totally different tone to the rest of their programming.

Stiggy
just look at what they've done with One HD, which was originally meant to be a 24/7 sports channel (which seemed perfect for sports mad Australians) but slowly became filled with reruns galore
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They started moving away from sports when they found that they were struggling to break even. They had every sport you could think of, but they just weren't getting viewers.
 
BBC Formula 1 host Jake Humphrey to switch to BT football coverage from 2013
Tuesday, September 18th 2012, 10:50 GMT

Jake Humphrey will leave the BBC and quit his role as its Formula 1 anchor at the end of the year.

The 33-year-old will instead front BT Vision's coverage of the Barclays Premier League.

Humphrey, who was out of contract at the end of this season, has been the face of F1 on the BBC ever since the channel won the rights to broadcast races from the 2009 season.

At the end of 2011 the BBC was named broadcaster of the year at the FIA Prize Giving Gala in New Delhi.

This year however his role has been diminished as a result of the BBC's share TV deal with Sky.

Humphrey, who has fronted the London 2012 Olympics, BBC Sports Personality of the Year and European Championships football coverage in his 10-year stint with the channel, said he was thrilled to be joining BT's new venture.

"I am incredibly excited to be joining the team at BT not just because I get to fulfil a lifelong dream of presenting the Barclays Premier League but because of the fresh perspective that BT will bring to both sport and broadcasting in this country," he said.

"To be a part of this young, vibrant team who are as passionate about sport as I am, is a privilege.

"I've grown up at the BBC, and whilst I hope to work with them in the future, I'd also like to place on record my thanks to them.

"I am incredibly grateful to all colleagues, and of course the viewers, for their incredible support from CBBC all the way to Formula 1.

"My focus from the start of 2013 is on making BT's coverage of football the best this country has ever seen."

Marc Watson, chief executive of BT Vision, added: "We are absolutely delighted that Jake has chosen to join our new sports channel to anchor our Premier League programming.

"Jake is a tremendously experienced and popular sports broadcaster and a fresh, young and innovative talent.

"He impressed us with his willingness to get deeply involved in the development of our live football programming and we took into account his track record of excellent presenting across many sports.

"He fits our plans for the new channel perfectly and we are very excited to be working with him."
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http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/102633

I think the probable main reason for this is his wife is pregnant, and he doesn't want to be off around the world most of the time - there's nowhere in the UK that's more than 12 hours away and if he presents from a studio he doesn't need to travel much at all.
 
I find that Jake's style slightly odd in that he does talk a lot when he introduces people to the viewer, which is needed for newcomers.

Which does grate when you know who it is already. But understandable for the more causal viewer.
 
I haven't minded Jake at all, he's been alright. Quite slow and deliberate for the casual viewer, but just the right side of enthusiastic and entertaining.

Who will replace him? I don't think DC, EJ nor GA are presenter material, but any more screentime for Lee McKenzie will be readily appreciated.
 
Yes, I think that Jake has managed to strike the balance more or less right for the causal viewer. He does explain things quite well, just that sometimes it is a little wordy.

However, it is better to be a little bit wordy than to be almost Kimi-like.

EJ isn't going to work, as he's only really there for opinions, rather than actually presenting. I suspect that they may bring in someone for the last few races to work alongside Jake and see how they get along with presenting the show. It would be rather good if Lee got the job though, shows that there is equality in the broadcasting team.

Well, who could possibly replace Jake?
 
Liquid
I haven't minded Jake at all, he's been alright. Quite slow and deliberate for the casual viewer, but just the right side of enthusiastic and entertaining.

Who will replace him? I don't think DC, EJ nor GA are presenter material, but any more screentime for Lee McKenzie will be readily appreciated.
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I've been watching SkySportsF1 over the BBC lately purely for Brundle's commentary but the combination of former driver, former team boss and F1 fan works well for the BBC. I can't see anyone doing a better job than Jake, he seems to rescue awkward situations very well.
 
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Lee McKenzie has presented F1 in the past when Jake has been unavailable and she's done a good job. Considering the BBC only cover half the races, I can see the BBC continuing with her. The BBC also have a history of letting a reporter move up to presenter as that's what happened when Suzi Perry left Moto GP and the BBC promoted their reporter Matt Roberts to presenter.

I'd prefer it if Jake was off to Sky. He's much better than the presenter muppet they've got.
 
daan
I'd prefer it if Jake was off to Sky. He's much better than the presenter muppet they've got.
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Totally agree, I really like Jake and although he's going to be the man man at BT I don't quite know how that's going to work.

He should if possibly tried to get to Sky and continue with F1 at least he would have the football option still open to him if that's what he really wants to do.
 
I see this as quite a blow for the BBC. The Herberts, Coulthards, Hills and Jordans are all pretty interchangable as co-presenters. After Brundle left, the only good thing about the BBC's presenter line-up was Jake. I've been watching Sky's coverage when the BBC have just had highlight shows, but even putting aside advert brakes every 10 minutes, i just can't get on with Sky's pre-race build up shows. I can't even remember the name of their main presenter. He's that forgetable.
 

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