- 15,855
- QLD, Australia
- Small_Fryz
The BBC F1 coverage thread (Legard out. Brundle and DC in.)
- Thread starter jammyozzy
- 400 comments
- 40,020 views
- 453
Dudes, be glad you don't have TeleAlonso (Telecinco) broadcast. At least you would be complaining for a reason. How about the pre-race intro is an animated video of Alonso's helmet? I keep telling my friends they aren't watching F1... They're watching Alonso. Alonso this, Alonso that, and if they look harder, they might catch some glimpses of F1 on the background.
Curiously, we seem to be the only country that has /two/ TVs broadcasing F1, at least in Barcelona - Telecinco, and Television of Catalonia, which has always rooted for the Catalan De la Rosa and Gené. But since they've never done anything of real relevance, they focus on the rest of the grid - While having them tell the spectators little secrets from McLaren and Ferrari (previously Williams BMW).
Curiously, we seem to be the only country that has /two/ TVs broadcasing F1, at least in Barcelona - Telecinco, and Television of Catalonia, which has always rooted for the Catalan De la Rosa and Gené. But since they've never done anything of real relevance, they focus on the rest of the grid - While having them tell the spectators little secrets from McLaren and Ferrari (previously Williams BMW).
- 7,719
I dunno, RTL is kind enough to mention 6 drivers on the grid. Plus the German-engined, German-built and German-engineered cars. And German-sponsored. And teams with a German janitor.
But yes, lots of bias.
And our local coverage, which exists partially (only races, and only when there isn't a single soccer-game to broadcast instead, even if it's a re-run of a month-old highschool league game), is complete rubbish. Not only is the video-feed obviously borrowed off another channel (French text, quality of a copied videocassette), but the commentators are complete idiots. "Oh look, a Renault... No wait, that was a BMW, sorry. Looks like it's Heifde..Heitlef...Heitfelt, yes. On Hard tyres, you can see the white line."
- 1,264
- coming soon
- Tezuka18
will this be on BBC America? the speed broadcasts are also better than the ITV ones but i get BBCA through cable and speed through satellite. it'll be nice to have both broadcasts for whenever the dish is rendered useless for whatever reason(weather,technical issues,ext)
- 1,326
- Orange County C
- GTP_Im_Sorry
It wasn't on BBCA for the last race, I guess we can check for the next race.
- 1,914
You think that's bad? Last year, the ITV F1 coverage could have been renamed "The Lewis Hamilton Show" and no-one would have known any different. Although because he's had a rough start to the season, not counting Australia, they seem to have quietened down about him, focusing a bit more on Jenson.
In regards to the two-channel F1 coverage, BBC and Eurosport used to share the coverage, if I remember rightly.
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
Apparently, the BBC F1 commentary team has been revealed:
http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/169670-0/bbc_2009_f1_commentary_team_revealed.html
http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/169670-0/bbc_2009_f1_commentary_team_revealed.html
crash.net
- 128
- Tobias123
So...Martin, Ted, and Louise all set to return? YESSSSSS!!!!!! OH GOOD GOD YES!!
Now that I've got that out of the way, if this is true the commentating is going to be much better. I honestly like James Allen, I think he's a lively and energetic commentator, but for him it's always the Lewis Hamilton show, and whenever Lewis passes someone it's always "that was a BRILLIANT move by Lewis Hamilton, real racing talent coming through" but when someone passes Lewis he's like "yeah...oh look, Heidfeld goes into the pits."
David Coulthard should compliment Martin Brundle extremely well, though I wouldn't have minded if Anthony Davidson had gone into F1 commentary full-time. Maybe he'll replace Mark Blundell?
Now that I've got that out of the way, if this is true the commentating is going to be much better. I honestly like James Allen, I think he's a lively and energetic commentator, but for him it's always the Lewis Hamilton show, and whenever Lewis passes someone it's always "that was a BRILLIANT move by Lewis Hamilton, real racing talent coming through" but when someone passes Lewis he's like "yeah...oh look, Heidfeld goes into the pits."
David Coulthard should compliment Martin Brundle extremely well, though I wouldn't have minded if Anthony Davidson had gone into F1 commentary full-time. Maybe he'll replace Mark Blundell?
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
Crash.net is notoriously unreliable, but I hope with all my will that the idiotic James Allen and the illiterate Mark Blundell get consigned to the bin. Allen is completely unsuited to the task, because he's incapable of keeping up with the race, or of looking at the available data and making his own mind up, so he reacts to what's happened in the last ten seconds, and talks about that. Plus, his continual "recapping" of the race is irksome in the extreme. It's just an excuse for him to fill time because he's got nothing worthwhile to say.
Mark Blundell is a waste of screen time, because he's only capable of stating the blindingly obvious. I think that it's time that the British commentary team (build-up, race, pitlane etc) realise that the audience isn't stupid, and that if you treat the audience like idiots, you disenfranchise those who know about the sport, and provide no intrigue for those who are coming into the sport. It's time that there was an acceptance that the beauty of F1 lies in its detail, in its intrigue, in its politicking, rather than pretending that it's a crash-bang fest like any tin-top series you choose to mention.
Also (and this explains why I was so very hard on all the "TV coverage" questions in the ING survey), it's time F1 (as in Bernie's crowd) realised that the TV feed is garbage. It lags behind pretty much every other series I watch, including NASCAR, ALMS, BTCC and V8 Supercar. There's not enough information on-screen, and it's not as if (with all the wide-panning shots that the modern cookie-cutter circuits produce) there isn't screen area to spare. I mean, the odd rankings list with the number of stops a car has made (BTW: a drive-through penalty DOES NOT constitute a stop, director) is frankly not worth bothering with. Take a look at NASCAR, with the constant order strip, together with time delays updating every three seconds. We know that the cars are all fitted with GPS, because we can see it on the prat perch screens: why not on the TV too?
Mark Blundell is a waste of screen time, because he's only capable of stating the blindingly obvious. I think that it's time that the British commentary team (build-up, race, pitlane etc) realise that the audience isn't stupid, and that if you treat the audience like idiots, you disenfranchise those who know about the sport, and provide no intrigue for those who are coming into the sport. It's time that there was an acceptance that the beauty of F1 lies in its detail, in its intrigue, in its politicking, rather than pretending that it's a crash-bang fest like any tin-top series you choose to mention.
Also (and this explains why I was so very hard on all the "TV coverage" questions in the ING survey), it's time F1 (as in Bernie's crowd) realised that the TV feed is garbage. It lags behind pretty much every other series I watch, including NASCAR, ALMS, BTCC and V8 Supercar. There's not enough information on-screen, and it's not as if (with all the wide-panning shots that the modern cookie-cutter circuits produce) there isn't screen area to spare. I mean, the odd rankings list with the number of stops a car has made (BTW: a drive-through penalty DOES NOT constitute a stop, director) is frankly not worth bothering with. Take a look at NASCAR, with the constant order strip, together with time delays updating every three seconds. We know that the cars are all fitted with GPS, because we can see it on the prat perch screens: why not on the TV too?
- 24,005
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Got to disagree with you there Giles. I really dislike the constant ticker-tape style graphic for giving out the race order and other details. I find it distracting and difficult to follow. You end up spending so much more time watching it for the bit of info you are looking for and often end up missing some of the action. The only thing i want to see constantly moving on the screen is the cars.
A 'press the red button' feature for bringing up a static, overlaid positions etc graphic would be a more suitable answer in my opinion.
- 29,374
- Glasgow
- GTP_Mars
Absolutely agree with the "red button" idea... it would be great to have a much more interactive approach, and have access to live data - but anyone who has ever watched Gillette Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports will know just how irritating the ticker can be - not least because you find yourself constantly drawn to it, but also because it is usually about 5-10 minutes behind the action...
I hate tickers generally, and I suspect that news channels use them merely to add a bit of extra suspense. "BREAKING NEWS: Paul.... Gascoyne,... the.... former.... England.... international.... footballer.... has.... been.... " (and you find yourself immediately guessing..."what, killed? found dead? seriously injured in a car crash?"
) "... arrested... in.... Newcastle..." 
- 36,697
- Scotland
- GTP_daan
Disagrees with Giles, and agrees with TheCracker
I hate the constant moving strip on the screen. I was watching some racing series on TV that had a strip across the top, and I found that using the "zoom" setting on my TV made the strips disappear off the top and bottom of the screen and my viewing was enhanced as a result.
I much prefer watching TV, with my laptop at my side displaying live timing. That way, I can chose when I look at the timing data, usually during an ad break. (No more ad breaks on BBC, woohoo!)
I hate the constant moving strip on the screen. I was watching some racing series on TV that had a strip across the top, and I found that using the "zoom" setting on my TV made the strips disappear off the top and bottom of the screen and my viewing was enhanced as a result.
I much prefer watching TV, with my laptop at my side displaying live timing. That way, I can chose when I look at the timing data, usually during an ad break. (No more ad breaks on BBC, woohoo!)
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
So nobody's disagreeing with my sentiments that James Allen and Mark Blundell should be taken outside and shot reassigned to other duties? Good.
- 7,719
I can't stand the NASCAR-style tickers, too. What I would like, however, is some extra info during the first lap - I don't want to wait two minutes before the race-order shows up... with the number of stops each driver made. Just a semi-transparent order of cars that updates in realtime for the first couple of corners...
- 24,005
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Don't mind Mark Blundell so much, having said that i doubt i'd miss him much either. As for James Allen, i think he should be relegated (promoted?) to commentating duties for the SPL.
ExigeEvan
Premium
- 17,192
I can't even remember why they do it but the coolest graphic I've seen on NASCAR is when the info is 'tagged' to the car and sticks with the car. To any newby to F1 this would make watching a replay of 2 cars overtaking far far easier or even when the camera is following a pack of cars as even the seasoned pro's will struggle to remember which driver is which by just their helmets and top camera colour.
- 36,697
- Scotland
- GTP_daan
According to the link above.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/cbbc/jakehumphrey.shtml
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
So...Martin, Ted, and Louise all set to return? YESSSSSS!!!!!! OH GOOD GOD YES!!
Now that I've got that out of the way, if this is true the commentating is going to be much better. I honestly like James Allen, I think he's a lively and energetic commentator, but for him it's always the Lewis Hamilton show, and whenever Lewis passes someone it's always "that was a BRILLIANT move by Lewis Hamilton, real racing talent coming through" but when someone passes Lewis he's like "yeah...oh look, Heidfeld goes into the pits."
David Coulthard should compliment Martin Brundle extremely well, though I wouldn't have minded if Anthony Davidson had gone into F1 commentary full-time. Maybe he'll replace Mark Blundell?
No, I think you've got the wrong end of the stick, what they're saying is:
Martin Brundle (ex-driver commentator) - same
James Allen (commentator) > Jonathan Legard
Mark Blundell (ex-driver input on current events) > David Coulthard
Steve Rider (front-end for the programme) > Jake Humphrey
Louise Goodman & Ted Kravitz (pit lane reporters) > Lee McKenzie
I'm happy to see Allen disappear, though it would be a shame to lose the rest, except maybe Blundell....he has some interesting input from time to time..but as we all know his grasp of english grammar is on the infuriatingly bad side.
I wish Jonathan Palmer could come back....he was great, but I suppose a newer ex-driver is good enough, Coulthard is better to listen to than Blundell at least.
Last edited:
- 128
- Tobias123
...Oh. Sorry about that. This sucks, I honestly like Ted Kravitz.
I also like Mark Blundell somewhat, though his grammar is quite difficult to listen to. To be honest though, as long as they keep Brundle I'll still watch the BBC feed in a heartbeat over SPEED(the only other option where I live.)
- 1,748
Ted will stay and do BTCC.
Jake Humphrey eh. Good at children's TV presenting, we'll see about F1.
Jake Humphrey eh. Good at children's TV presenting, we'll see about F1.
- 15,494
- UK
- 1,914
He's fronted Match of the Day and Sportsround before, so I'm sure he'll know what he's doing
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Anything has to be better than James Allen.
Similar threads
