BBC possibly to drop F1 coverage...
- Thread starter DBT85
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I guess my expectation was them to decimate the BBC lineup - in all the only person Im going to miss is Ted from the main lineup - I didnt expect that. I just see no value add on top of the license to watch all the races live...
ps3ud0
ps3ud0
I think the value added is simply that, to be able to watch all the races live.
Ted is a hidden gem. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. His pit lane reporting during the race adds so much to the coverage.
I also think your perception of value from the Sky deal is based on what you see you are getting. Personally, I am getting all the Sky channels I want (Eurosport, Motors, Discovery, etc) and HDTV, which I currently cant get over Freeview where I live, and the F1 is just the cherry on the top. If you arent interested in anything at all other than the F1 channel, then I can fully understand why you would see it as expensive for little to no benefit.
Ted is a hidden gem. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. His pit lane reporting during the race adds so much to the coverage.
I also think your perception of value from the Sky deal is based on what you see you are getting. Personally, I am getting all the Sky channels I want (Eurosport, Motors, Discovery, etc) and HDTV, which I currently cant get over Freeview where I live, and the F1 is just the cherry on the top. If you arent interested in anything at all other than the F1 channel, then I can fully understand why you would see it as expensive for little to no benefit.
The one thing i think most people haven't considered is that the BBC coverage actually gets better. MB does get things wrong, so i think him leaving isn't the worst thing in the world. DC has better relationships with the drivers, plus apart from MB, Sky will have no real drivers in the mix from the last 5 years. Ted is the key man here, though it sounds like he is going more towards presenting. Im curious to who is going to watch all 20 races on sky, even though i have sky, i will be watching 10 on BBC that are live, but also any that are early starts i will catch the BBC coverage instead. So i will probably watch 13 or 14 on BBC, if i wasnt already a sky customer, i wouldnt buy the sky channel.
Soldato
If I had sky, I would watch all the races on there just for constancy in built up and start times ect..
I care nothing for any of the BBC features, I just want commentary and the race.
I care nothing for any of the BBC features, I just want commentary and the race.
They have Ant Davidson, still in F1 with Merc
I will be watching all on Sky, they are going to cover the sport so much better IMO, I believe they said race day coverage will start before the drivers parade.
This is my viewpoint, MB just isnt the F1 expert he once was and without his involvement as a F1 manager, he has apparent limited visibility of F1 behind the scenes IMO compared to someone like DC and his continued role with Red Bull.
The amount of times DC has corrected MB isnt a lot (or when MB defers to DCs opinion), but they tend to be new developments, so it does make me think who would I want to hear as the F1 expert in commentary. It really doesnt sit well with me that the considered F1 expert is so relatively long in the tooth, for the record, Im not a fan of MW for the same reasoning. I have grown tired of picking things up far more quickly than the commentary team because of the F1 tracker and other aids the public now has to watch with the races...
Obviously there are other facets to MBs appeal, like his gridwalks or his awkward questioning technique, but again EJs more than got that covered - hell Ive wanted him to do the gridwalks for a while just to see the trouble he gets into!
How often have we seen EJ on the F1 Forums just wonder off and literally drag people to have a chat, or go off on an innane tangent for JH to reel him in. We tend to forget who he is and treat him more like that awkward, embarrasing uncle; but those F1 connections he does have give some real gravitas in the kind of people he can get in front of the camera or the probing questions hes happy to ask, while most will just ponder and consider their livelihood...Perhaps its because I have entrenched investment in the BBC F1 team (we all watched them grow into the presenting team they now are and personally Im anti-Sky so have that bias anyway) but it really does make me think that the supposed talent MB will bring to Sky F1 channel isnt the coup de grace most think it would be...
Simply put Id rather watch JH, DC and EJ than anything the Sky have put together. It was Sky potentially breaking that front-of-house relationship that I was most worried about, not watching full live races, for me, isnt the biggest loss as I tend to tape them and watch at my leisure and who here has never said 'Well that turned out to be a boring race', but enjoyed the pre/post show and the F1 Forum...
I wont comment on the remainder of the Sky F1 team other than Steve Ryder really should be in a Remington hair commercial...
ps3ud0
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ps3ud0
MB is there for continuinity, he's been commentating on F1 for 15+ years. It makes sense, it'll draw in more customers from the general public.
The real added value comes from the extra content Sky has on offer. In addition to Ted, Crofty was the biggest signing for me he's great, Davidson will be good too during live practice.
As much as I hate the move, the commentary team is looking great, I struggle to watch without Martin Brundle commentating, if I listen to the radio Crofty is brilliant so this is the best line up and with Ted in the pits I’m a little excited. Only downfall is Steve Rider, wtf, why him lol?
I dont know either, ever since ITV lost F1, theyve kept using him for fronting motorsports events, even though hes utterly useless - had to bare him for their Goodwood coverage
ps3ud0
They have Ant Davidson, still in F1 with Merc
I will be watching all on Sky, they are going to cover the sport so much better IMO, I believe they said race day coverage will start before the drivers parade.
That's the problem though, the percentage of people who watch the pre show for BBC F1 is a lot lower than the race. If you focus on what the core audience is looking for, the race, then all the extra stuff, including the F1 forum is actually for a smaller percentage of viewers. I think Sky dramatically over estimate how much time people will commit to F1 before and after the race, especially if it is a boring one.
We will have to wait and see what the outcome of sky's participation is, but I think it will lead to sky drastically reducing its investment in 24 months once it looks at the stats at new customers who watch the F1 channel.
With people saying Brundle isn't as good as he used to be, I wonder how much of that is down to him being lead commentator this year. I think he's partly struggled with the extra effort that requires, as it's more difficult than it seems to keep your thoughts straight when you have to keep the talk flowing (insert your own obvious joke here).
Presumably with them hiring Crofty they'll switch Brundle back to the secondary role, in which he's much better. I reckon it'll work really well.
Presumably with them hiring Crofty they'll switch Brundle back to the secondary role, in which he's much better. I reckon it'll work really well.
I might have understood this wrong but the impression I got is that he is doing 'filler' shows for the F1 channel and isn't actually part of the live coverage on a race weekend? Otherwise we'd have seen him in that picture of the Sky F1 'team'.
Soldato
Better steve ryder than medieval devil jim rosenthal
Soldato
Hah I'd rather the devil!
Actually, their as bad as each other. Can we say no to both? Maybe if it was the 90s..
iirc you're correct.
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Ben Edwards confirmed now as the BBC's commentator in 2012
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