Having previously been staunchly against F1's move to go behind a pay wall for half the races, I eventually succumbed to a full on Sky Sports subscription mid way through this season rather than dipping in and out for a while.
It pains me to say it but Sky Sports' overall coverage of Formula One is annoyingly good. Of course a lot of it is just having the means via a a bigger budget and a dedicated channel to have the press conferences, extra build up and post race and the midweek and f1 shows.
But they also picked off the best that BBC had to offer in forms of broadcasting and presenting. David Croft and Anthony Davidson are still excellent as a pairing. Croft and Brundle also works brilliantly. The extra time given to Ted Kravitz is really good, whilst I even like Natalie Pinkham and Rachel Brookes who are all better than BBC's offerings.
Ben Edwards was a good addition to the BBC team but he's not as good as Croft. Whilst Coulthard is not as good as either Brundle or Davidson.
I'm not a fan of Lazenby, Hill and Herbert, but I'm not a fan of Suzi Perry either.
The jewel for the BBC is Eddie Jordan, whether you agree with what he says or not, he's entertaining and brings something to BBC's coverage. If the BBC lost him their coverage would feel very poor indeed, which is a shame.
Having previously been staunchly against F1's move to go behind a pay wall for half the races, I eventually succumbed to a full on Sky Sports subscription mid way through this season rather than dipping in and out for a while.
It pains me to say it but Sky Sports' overall coverage of Formula One is annoyingly good. Of course a lot of it is just having the means via a a bigger budget and a dedicated channel to have the press conferences, extra build up and post race and the midweek and f1 shows.
But they also picked off the best that BBC had to offer in forms of broadcasting and presenting. David Croft and Anthony Davidson are still excellent as a pairing. Croft and Brundle also works brilliantly. The extra time given to Ted Kravitz is really good, whilst I even like Natalie Pinkham and Rachel Brookes who are all better than BBC's offerings.
Ben Edwards was a good addition to the BBC team but he's not as good as Croft. Whilst Coulthard is not as good as either Brundle or Davidson.
I'm not a fan of Lazenby, Hill and Herbert, but I'm not a fan of Suzi Perry either.
The jewel for the BBC is Eddie Jordan, whether you agree with what he says or not, he's entertaining and brings something to BBC's coverage. If the BBC lost him their coverage would feel very poor indeed, which is a shame.
Sky's F1 coverage is better
I hope F1 goes with sky full time from 2018
BBCtv should spend the spare money on showing other live sport
I think this season has been great, two drivers going head to head in equal machinery and having loads of on track battles, we haven't had that for a long, long time. And the best driver won.
What's wrong with saying ....and his British...... ?? what is wrong with this Country promoting and celebtrating itself ? WEhy do we allways seem to pussyfoot aroubd worrying we may 'upset' someone from another Country ??
Ben Edwards was a good addition to the BBC team but he's not as good as Croft.
Couldn't disagree more. I often feel that Croft is floundering or flanneling or worse summoning mock-indignation at nothing in particular. Horses for courses but I dislike his matey style.
Think the main problem Ben has is whenever he looks at the timing screens DC drops him in it by failing to keep an eye on the track. Can't imagine McNish doing that.
I switched back to BBC during the post -race just to see what they were covering. The "buzz" was well and truly "killed" for me immediately. EJ wasn't on screen so the coverage was the usual old, boring ,funereal BBC that I had forgotten about.
Switched back to Sky immediately.
I admit if you cant or wont pay for Sky then the BBC when live is a perfectly acceptable alternative - but to trumpet how much better it is - wrong.
Sky can improve (dump Pinkham for Brookes, dump Herbert for more of Davidson for instance) but other than that they cover things well.
Croft can be annoying but Ben is not any better and has his faults also. Brundle is very professional (as his podium appearance showed) and even Lazenby has grown in confidence and toned down the gaffs.
A good effort for a not particularly exciting on track season.
Sky's F1 coverage is better
I hope F1 goes with sky full time from 2018
BBCtv should spend the spare money on showing other live sport
What's the harm in the BBC having it as well? They clearly get a substantial amount of viewers even since the Sky deal, so there would be a lot of viewers potentially with nowhere to affordably watch any F1 - especially as Sky now insist on selling their channel as part of the full sports package (I know their streaming services like NowTV are an option but that's still expensive.) Going Sky only would be a great way of further reducing the teams' sponsor income I'd have thought, it's certainly not going to help them sell space on the car.
I often mix and match between the BBC and Sky coverage when they're both live (this weekend I watched the Sky build-up, but went with BBC for the race commentary), and frankly having the BBC around probably helps keep Sky on their toes coverage-wise. We already see they run less ads when they're head-to-head with the BBC.
I'd rather the BBC kept with the F1 rather than chuck even more money at football, for example.
I like both the BBC's and Sky's coverage. No way should it be dropped from free to air. It would be bad for the sport and bad for those who don't want to subscribe for hundreds of pounds a year.
Not much to add after watching Sky, other than Lazenby's approach to interviews at moments like these is growing on me. Less of the 'describe your emotions..' approach that seems to have infected all the English speaking pit and pen reporters.
Even though it would make zero sense from anything bar a financial standpoint (He's a face of the BBC whereas he'd just be small fish in a bigger pond on Sky) I would LOVE it if DC went to Sky, that way the BBC could promote McNish to co-commentator and their commentary would improve DRAMATICALLY imo.
I've spent the season being fortunate enough to be able to jump between the two broadcasters (practice and qualy on the BBC when they're live, races from Sky down at Motorsport In Pubs, re-watch of race back at home on BBC if it's highlights and the race was decent enough to warrant a rewatch)
If anyone is nostalgic for the glory days of 2009-2011, the the best way to achieve it
it to cherry pick your favourite parts of both broadcasters and make your own perfect coverage in your mind.
Personally I think Ben Edwards is the best commentator we've had in a very long time, the only question about his performance is why it took him so long to get the job in the first place.
But then it's not as if Croft is James Allen 2008 level of awful either, if it wasn't for the face the BBC have Ben he'd be my favoured choice too.
And with him you get Brundle who is miles and miles ahead in insight, explanations and humour than his counterpart on the BBC
So it's not much of a sacrifice for me to be able to watch the races on Sky live for Brundle and catch up with Ben later.
However, when I look back on highlights of the "Big" moments (like the Bahrain battle for example) I want to hear the high energy commentary from Ben Edwards, it feels like his is the narrative of history and Croft and Brundle are an "alternate feed" if anyone knows what I mean.
So, as much as people whine about their individual likes and dislikes of the broadcasters, if you take a step back you realise we're actually lucky to have 2 broadcasters operating at a similar level of quality that we can dip into and out of at our level.
And for those that say "that's fine if you have the money for it", as I say, I've managed to enjoy a lot of Sky Sports coverage and all its cost me is the occasional pint of cola down my motorsport in pubs venue...so there ARE ways without subscribing to Sky.
AND they're legal
Having seen both coverages this season, I can see the argument of Edwards and Brundle being the best 2, as to how they would work together that is another story.
It is also in the best interests of spectators for the coverage to stay on both channels, as Sky's coverage is deemed to be better on these weekends with joint BBC coverage.
I think the lack of discussion with regard to the broadcasting side this year, shows that most people are generally happy with their broadcaster of choice.
I also don' have a problem with British Broadcasters being happy with a British World Champion. They were also very complimentary towards Nico's great season but not quite as good as Lewis.
I think the lack of discussion with regard to the broadcasting side this year, shows that most people are generally happy with their broadcaster of choice.
Whilst not bad by any stretch, i do feel it could be better. But i think thats just me wanting it more catered for the bobble hats. Be nice if we had a setup where broadcasters did their mainstream thing, with a hardcore alt broadcast from FOM.
If FOM did F1D+ style feed, who would you want on the team?
Peter Windsor, Brundle, Hill and EJ up front.
Buxton, Lee and Theodore in the pits and pen.
Edwards and Chandhock on comms.
Whilst not bad by any stretch, i do feel it could be better. But i think thats just me wanting it more catered for the bobble hats. Be nice if we had a setup where broadcasters did their mainstream thing, with a hardcore alt broadcast from FOM.
If FOM did F1D+ style feed, who would you want on the team?
Peter Windsor, Brundle, Hill and EJ up front.
Buxton, Lee and Theodore in the pits and pen.
Edwards and Chandhock on comms.
What would be so different about a hardcore broadcast though? If FOM ever did get their online broadcast thing going, they could have an option that lets you choose which trackside camera to watch from, I mean it would be a killer for bandwidth, but it would be cool.
But yeah in terms of presenters: Bob Constanduros & Ben Edwards as the commentary (No need for in-vision presenters, stick to the world feed 24/7 and just commentate over it. Or they could do what the UK version of F1D had, have a "Master" channel which includes cutaways/in-vision interviews or links etc. as well as a channel purely showing the world feed with the just audio from any of the above live interviews etc, as part of the commentary track. )
Peter Windsor as the Pit Reporter & Anna-Louise Felstead (does interviews for the F1 App) as the pen interviewer. According to Buxton on his final GP2 & GP3 races, Gary Anderson is retiring entirely it seems at the end of this year. Heavily implied he wouldn't be coming to races in 2015.
The 'Info Wing' is a small carbon fibre component designed to fit to the top of an F1 car's airbox, where onboard cameras are usually mounted.
Hamilton Sr hopes the Info Wing will improve the spectator experience of F1 by using LEDs to display race information, such as a driver's name, position and the tyre compound they are using.
Oh good grief, it looks awful in daylight at least... The only thing I can possibly see it being useful for is telling the drivers current position, after all, the tyre compound is already indicated by the colour of the driver's tyre walls, which are clearly visible anyway, and you can now more easily identify a driver's name via their number on the car anyway...
What would be so different about a hardcore broadcast though? If FOM ever did get their online broadcast thing going, they could have an option that lets you choose which trackside camera to watch from, I mean it would be a killer for bandwidth, but it would be cool.
But yeah in terms of presenters: Bob Constanduros & Ben Edwards as the commentary (No need for in-vision presenters, stick to the world feed 24/7 and just commentate over it.
Good point, dispense with the waffle and focus on the racing and tech.
So maybe;
Peter Windsor and Buxton up front (grid walk ect)
Lee and Mara Sangiorgio chasing after drivers
Theodore and Gascoyne in the pits
Edwards and Brundle on comms
Chandhock for analysis
Comments
It pains me to say it but Sky Sports' overall coverage of Formula One is annoyingly good. Of course a lot of it is just having the means via a a bigger budget and a dedicated channel to have the press conferences, extra build up and post race and the midweek and f1 shows.
But they also picked off the best that BBC had to offer in forms of broadcasting and presenting. David Croft and Anthony Davidson are still excellent as a pairing. Croft and Brundle also works brilliantly. The extra time given to Ted Kravitz is really good, whilst I even like Natalie Pinkham and Rachel Brookes who are all better than BBC's offerings.
Ben Edwards was a good addition to the BBC team but he's not as good as Croft. Whilst Coulthard is not as good as either Brundle or Davidson.
I'm not a fan of Lazenby, Hill and Herbert, but I'm not a fan of Suzi Perry either.
The jewel for the BBC is Eddie Jordan, whether you agree with what he says or not, he's entertaining and brings something to BBC's coverage. If the BBC lost him their coverage would feel very poor indeed, which is a shame.
Sky's F1 coverage is better
I hope F1 goes with sky full time from 2018
BBCtv should spend the spare money on showing other live sport
What's wrong with saying ....and his British...... ?? what is wrong with this Country promoting and celebtrating itself ? WEhy do we allways seem to pussyfoot aroubd worrying we may 'upset' someone from another Country ??
Should we not be shouting it louder ?
Jp
Couldn't disagree more. I often feel that Croft is floundering or flanneling or worse summoning mock-indignation at nothing in particular. Horses for courses but I dislike his matey style.
Think the main problem Ben has is whenever he looks at the timing screens DC drops him in it by failing to keep an eye on the track. Can't imagine McNish doing that.
Switched back to Sky immediately.
I admit if you cant or wont pay for Sky then the BBC when live is a perfectly acceptable alternative - but to trumpet how much better it is - wrong.
Sky can improve (dump Pinkham for Brookes, dump Herbert for more of Davidson for instance) but other than that they cover things well.
Croft can be annoying but Ben is not any better and has his faults also. Brundle is very professional (as his podium appearance showed) and even Lazenby has grown in confidence and toned down the gaffs.
A good effort for a not particularly exciting on track season.
What's the harm in the BBC having it as well? They clearly get a substantial amount of viewers even since the Sky deal, so there would be a lot of viewers potentially with nowhere to affordably watch any F1 - especially as Sky now insist on selling their channel as part of the full sports package (I know their streaming services like NowTV are an option but that's still expensive.) Going Sky only would be a great way of further reducing the teams' sponsor income I'd have thought, it's certainly not going to help them sell space on the car.
I often mix and match between the BBC and Sky coverage when they're both live (this weekend I watched the Sky build-up, but went with BBC for the race commentary), and frankly having the BBC around probably helps keep Sky on their toes coverage-wise. We already see they run less ads when they're head-to-head with the BBC.
I'd rather the BBC kept with the F1 rather than chuck even more money at football, for example.
Thanks DMN for your unrelenting dedication to our specialist topic.
Here's F1BB's 'The Verdict'
Jp
You can listen again here http://talksport.com/radio/schedule
Cheers Jp, much appreciated as always!
Lewis was on Breakfast on BBC One and 5 Live too - surprised a 9 year old chap too, all seemed like great radio.
I've spent the season being fortunate enough to be able to jump between the two broadcasters (practice and qualy on the BBC when they're live, races from Sky down at Motorsport In Pubs, re-watch of race back at home on BBC if it's highlights and the race was decent enough to warrant a rewatch)
If anyone is nostalgic for the glory days of 2009-2011, the the best way to achieve it
it to cherry pick your favourite parts of both broadcasters and make your own perfect coverage in your mind.
Personally I think Ben Edwards is the best commentator we've had in a very long time, the only question about his performance is why it took him so long to get the job in the first place.
But then it's not as if Croft is James Allen 2008 level of awful either, if it wasn't for the face the BBC have Ben he'd be my favoured choice too.
And with him you get Brundle who is miles and miles ahead in insight, explanations and humour than his counterpart on the BBC
So it's not much of a sacrifice for me to be able to watch the races on Sky live for Brundle and catch up with Ben later.
However, when I look back on highlights of the "Big" moments (like the Bahrain battle for example) I want to hear the high energy commentary from Ben Edwards, it feels like his is the narrative of history and Croft and Brundle are an "alternate feed" if anyone knows what I mean.
So, as much as people whine about their individual likes and dislikes of the broadcasters, if you take a step back you realise we're actually lucky to have 2 broadcasters operating at a similar level of quality that we can dip into and out of at our level.
And for those that say "that's fine if you have the money for it", as I say, I've managed to enjoy a lot of Sky Sports coverage and all its cost me is the occasional pint of cola down my motorsport in pubs venue...so there ARE ways without subscribing to Sky.
AND they're legal
It is also in the best interests of spectators for the coverage to stay on both channels, as Sky's coverage is deemed to be better on these weekends with joint BBC coverage.
I think the lack of discussion with regard to the broadcasting side this year, shows that most people are generally happy with their broadcaster of choice.
I also don' have a problem with British Broadcasters being happy with a British World Champion. They were also very complimentary towards Nico's great season but not quite as good as Lewis.
He's an articulate and thoughtful lad.
Jp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04vxl9d/formula-1-2014-lewis-hamilton-f1-world-champion
Did his supermodel GF really OK him to wear that?
Artiste darling, artiste.
Whilst not bad by any stretch, i do feel it could be better. But i think thats just me wanting it more catered for the bobble hats. Be nice if we had a setup where broadcasters did their mainstream thing, with a hardcore alt broadcast from FOM.
If FOM did F1D+ style feed, who would you want on the team?
Peter Windsor, Brundle, Hill and EJ up front.
Buxton, Lee and Theodore in the pits and pen.
Edwards and Chandhock on comms.
What would be so different about a hardcore broadcast though? If FOM ever did get their online broadcast thing going, they could have an option that lets you choose which trackside camera to watch from, I mean it would be a killer for bandwidth, but it would be cool.
But yeah in terms of presenters: Bob Constanduros & Ben Edwards as the commentary (No need for in-vision presenters, stick to the world feed 24/7 and just commentate over it. Or they could do what the UK version of F1D had, have a "Master" channel which includes cutaways/in-vision interviews or links etc. as well as a channel purely showing the world feed with the just audio from any of the above live interviews etc, as part of the commentary track. )
Peter Windsor as the Pit Reporter & Anna-Louise Felstead (does interviews for the F1 App) as the pen interviewer. According to Buxton on his final GP2 & GP3 races, Gary Anderson is retiring entirely it seems at the end of this year. Heavily implied he wouldn't be coming to races in 2015.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116942
Good point, dispense with the waffle and focus on the racing and tech.
So maybe;
Peter Windsor and Buxton up front (grid walk ect)
Lee and Mara Sangiorgio chasing after drivers
Theodore and Gascoyne in the pits
Edwards and Brundle on comms
Chandhock for analysis