planetf1.com

Time to join in on this one I guess...

I have the sky channel (through virgin) and I'm getting a bit bored with it. I think it is a really well put together package but the pre and post race content is a bit pony. If they could just ditch Lazenby and try and get a little more cohesion to the content then I would perhaps get a little more excited about it.

Herbert is fantastic. I'm glad his role has grown as the season has progressed. The people dissing Georgie probably just have issues as she really hasn't done anything wrong so far. And as a bonus she really is a fine piece of eye candy. McNish has been great too. Brundle is a legend, no more needs saying there.

I pretty much got the channel added to my package for an increase of £4 per month so no financial complaints but was has really irked me this morning has been noticing the 24 new channels the beeb has specifically for the olympics. Unless they are all going to be showing the women's beach volleyball. In hi def. And slow mo. With choice of camera angles. Then I really don't want to know.

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Forza Fernando !

Herbert in commentary was pretty good today. Not as insightful as McNish, but he certainly didn't seem out of place.

The pre- and post-practice sections with Simon felt very hurried though. Usually on Sky they have more time than they know what to do with.

Especially considering there was a 10 minute ad break before the next programme!

I didn't mind Herbert in commentary he seemed very relaxed and jokey, he did seem very much like a main commentator rather than a pundit though. Not bad for a change but I prefer McNish and Davidson.

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

Sky stole my qualifying points stats (or whoever did them for me )

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We want heroes, but there are few, mainly it's cars - Pedro De La Rosa

Sky done a great job this weekend. Especially enjoyed seeing Horner squirm.

Both are ridiculously British driver-centric. No difference. BBC F1 was still a little more bearable.

Of course they are the British public tend to have a bigger interest in the British sports folk.

Do you think the American broadcasters would concentrate on anyone other than the Americans during the Olympics?

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Exactly. It'd make no sense for a British broadcaster, broadcasting to a British audience to focus on the German/Spanish drivers.

Do you not think the German/Spanish broadcast don't spend all their time fawning over Schumacher/Vettel / Alonso?

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

Except it isn't. It really isn't.
I see this kind of statement time and time again on this forum. There are plenty of interviews and features, interviews and track walks with drivers from other countries. Speaking as someone who lived for years in Italy with The Ferrari Show, it really isn't that bad. Of course there's a focus on local interests, but it really is not that bad. I'm fairly sure people posting this don't see that much of the footage or just want to have a go at brit-bashing.
ITV during Hamilton's first season was admittedly twaddle, but on the whole, it's fairly balanced.

Loved their piece on James Hunt.

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Forza Fernando !

BBC coverage yet again shockingly poor. Sky is getting better, still feel that they lack content in the pre/post race content however.

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What do you expect when they are only showing highlights and their main presenter is off preparing for another sport? The BBC are getting ready to chuck F1, that's for sure.

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Forza Fernando !

BBC's feed been much better this season, and to my surprise I find David Coulthard much more tolerable than Martin Brundle, but the difference between BBC's coverage and RAI's "Ferrari Show" is that the BBC feed is broadcast all over the world, while RAI's coverage is broadcast to Italy alone... Murray Walker's professionalism made up for Martin Brundle's unabashed McLaren fanboyism during the 90s, but since then the coverage has become a lot more one-sided, I fully understand that most British fans take more of an interest in British drivers but it's a little irritating for the rest of us, and I can't afford to subscribe to RAI International.

What are you talking about? Sky are very subjective and clearly don't have a strong biased towards British driver's/teams. They try to fit in as much as possible from as many driver's/teams/staff as possible. It's been a breath of fresh air the way Sky have conducted their business in terms of being subjective when it comes to Nationality (IE the bias is very little) BBC are far more biased towards the British than Sky, nearly as bad as ITV.




This. Sky are very balanced and if you watch Sky F1 you'll see how much detail they go into about everyone and actually don't have more content just for British related teams/drivers/staff etc.

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Driver Instructor & Test Driver

Couldn't agree more. Where was EJ today? I only watched the post-race coverage as I was waiting to find out what happend with Vettel, but EJ wasnt there.

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I have to agree - they are very fair. The only time that they really use McLaren is for the pre-race stats where they have lewis or jenson giving you stats about the track. The rest of the time its a pretty balanced view.

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Doesn't he only turn up for live events. Haven't been paying enough attention to the highlights.

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Forza Fernando !

Ahh that may explain it. I've not really been paying too much attention. I thought I'd end up watching the BBC pre/post race stuff all the time, but TBH its been so poor quality that I gave up!

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DC not as hard on his fellow RBR employee

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18947734

Interestingly .

MB and crofty were straight on it not so DC and the other guy . Dc even suggesting it was smart to take to the run off.


Edit the words used on the Replay from DC were "Clever boy".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18947726

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Disclaimer: The above post maybe tongue in cheek.

"I thought I'd get your theories, mock them, then embrace my own. The usual."

Are the tooned cartoon's a SKY exclusive feature. If that's the case they really one upped the competition.

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Forza Fernando !

I think they are

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

Today's BBC highlights felt like if they weren't contracted to produce the show, they wouldn't have bothered sending anyone to Germany. No Jake, no EJ. At least we didn't have to put up with another attempt at a live grid walk by Coulthard.

Spotted Gary Anderson on the Sky coverage as Ted was going to the FIA noticeboard. Ted said something like 'oh, hello' to Gary who completely blanked him (which seemed to throw Ted for a moment or two), wandered off into the background and then just looked like he was milling around as Ted passed him moments later. I know he was waiting for the official decision on Vettel, but he looked seriously bored.

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"We can not drive slower, just to make the races more exciting." Alain Prost

sky's getting better and better, the mclaren cartoon things quite funny, and it was good to see Antony Davidson back

I actually prefer the BBC coverage. I refuse to subscribe to Sky because their prices are ridiculous, so I only watch Sky for races like today, illegally on the internet.

Don't think Ted would have known him personally as I don't think they've worked together. It was more of a polite thing to do after walking into someone. But yh, Gary looked like he had nothing to do and was sorta just standing around.

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Forza Fernando !

Lazenby seemed less awkward in his own skin today, not a fan but he wasnt as annoying.

Cant beat Brundle for informed comment, gets it spot on everytime, he is the master of his craft. Crofty improving as well, I wasnt a fan of his when he commentated solo on the practices for BBC, to much of a smart arse but he has accepted a junior role to Brundle as keeps it ticking over.

I'm a beeb supporter and don't like Sky, but have to say the beeb coverage today was poor, seemed like they were just going through the motions. If Eddie had been there he would have asked Horner the awkward questions.

Also, it doesn't normally bother me if the commentators miss things or make mistakes... but today...c'mon guys pay attention!

without Eddie and Jake..the BBC with DC is pretty bad as that fool refuses to be impartial towards his employers [redbull]....

Coultard is too biased and should either leave bbc or redbull....

I really dislike Lazenby. All weekend he has been patronising and arrogant as well as being useless at times. At least when Jake is the host he is more smarmy than arrogant, one extreme to the other but the BBC win hands down with the anchor.

Jonny Herbert is miles better than DC and I prefer Hill to Jordan, assuming their roles to be equivalent.

On the commentary I find both teams good. Love Crofty at times but Ben Edwards is so enthusiastic you can't not like him. I did find a lot of the sky commentary to be about a lap late at times though with their timings, despite the info being on screen!!

Don't watch BBC anymore, but surely no EJ is a good thing?

Enjoyed the few races he wasn't there in 2009-11.

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Jenson Button & Williams F1 Team supporter!

Was working today but have watched both highlights.

The only thing I have to say is about Leigh. She is a lovely and pretty lass and today I felt she was far too caked in make up.

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Go Kimi and Mark!

EJ is good because he's not afraid to ask the hard questions. I remember his grilling of Ferrari after 2010 Germany. Not many people are brave enough to do that.

But other than that he talks aload of rubbish.

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Forza Fernando !

Well, tonight I finally made the phone call to Virgin Media and placed my order, will be installed Friday afternoon!
I've been watching the Sky coverage using my Xbox360 but the quality on my TV is kind of like the BBC IPlayer.
For me though, when the BBC have the live coverage, they're more entertaining than Sky. So when the race is on Sky, obviously just watch Sky.
When the race is live on the BBC, watch the BBC build up, switch to Sky for the race and switch back to the BBC for the post race stuff.
Would love Jake to replace Simon next year but I can't see that happening.
I'm sure DC will replace Crofty next year.
Would love Bernie to do a Donnington on Sky after this season (can't see that happening either).

Welcome to the dark side...we have Tivo :p

I cant see DC replacing Crofty tho - DC is actually a shockingly poor commentator when compared to Crofty. DC's obviously got the first-hand driving experience, but Crofty delivers it in a much better way and knows how to get you excited for even the most dull of races.

I was thinking and hoping that DC would join the Sky team, however I'm no longer so sure. After the olympics are over and done with, the BBC may actually take a step back and realize that actually, they should, and can afford to do better coverage again. Obviously this is just speculation, but was just a thought

You'll never see Jake on Sky tho - he's a BBC boy.

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I actually like EJ, he is a character at the very least.

His bumbling antics are quite entertaining, I can understand that if you want it taken deadly seriously that you may find him overbearing and annoying, but for me I usually just watch SKY after BBC have gone of the air for serious insight as Brundle, Herbert and Co talk for ages after the Grand Prix has ended.

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http://top-people.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYXLYDG9UIHNLBM5HUGVVCGXLLVBLB3BSZQ==/imgAyrton%20Senna2.jpg

Fernando Alonso was ranked 10th in the BBC all time list.

I think that is a fair assesment especially as his career isn't over yet. But they say

So Lewis is 15th on the list and Alonso 10th. I would assume that Schumacher will be on the list somewhere, so who is the fourth? Surely it cannot be Vettel.

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Forza Fernando !

Whilst I respect your opinion I think you're in a minority. I found the guy a joy to listen to in the commentary box last season, I'm sure some of that is owed to the chemistry between him and Brundle. I don't like his commentary as much this season, but then I don't really watch the races on BBC this season because I don't really like Ben Edwards and I do like Brundle.

Brundle and DC are the best commentary pairing ever imo, I was so gutted when it was split up after a year.

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

DC is a bit dull I find, he was okay paired with Brundle, but then coming off the back of two years of Ledgard, I'd have taken Microsoft Sam in the box over him.

I think Brundle and Crofty are really good together, would be silly to break that pairing up just to stick DC in there.

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Warning: The above post may contain sarcasm.

Agree - I think you need a 'voice talent' commentator and a pundit, an ex driver. Two ex drivers seemed a bit like having two pundits.
Take the classic combo, Murray Walker might not have known much about driving, or the technical aspects, but he injected enthusiasm and had the 'voice' for it. This pretty much goes for most sports. Crofty is probably my favorite commentator since Murray for the natural sounding commentary.