Herb Tarlik wrote:
NBCSN *doubled* the viewership of F1 during their time as the broadcasting network. ESPN is going to flush all that down the drain. I'm not paying for their substandard nonsense.
This is truly horrible for F1 fans in the US.
It's not true that F1 viewership in the states doubled since NBC took over. It's just NBC putting a clever spin on the reality of the situation. They are deceptively manipulating things in order to be able to make such a boast but the reality is that WHEN NBC took over F1, ratings dropped dramatically from what they were on Speed the year before and it took 5 years to regrow the F1 audience here to the point it doubled from their initial numbers in their first season.
If you're a hardcore fan of F1 in the US you'd be keen on how many people were extremely disappointed in the loss of Bob Varsha and the sting felt when they appointed Diffey in his place to anchor the US Broadcast Team, to the point a great number of fans simply stopped watching the NBC telecast and instead watch via internet streams. Now that streams are increasingly more difficult to find/watch many of those fans decided to suck it up and deal with a broadcast they aren't fond of and many even mute it and listen to a different broadcast team for commentary.
As for those saying Will Buxton isn't very good, I don't see how he isn't and furthermore, while I realize there are drivers he likes more than others, I've found him to be fair and just in his assessment of every single driver in the sport and provides greater insight into many situations the guys in the booth here could never be aware of simply because they sit in a studio tens of thousands of miles away from the races and have zero contact with anyone at the races the way Will does week in and week out. And this is coming from someone who was not happy when they appointed him the new trackside reporter on Speed. It took a bit to get over it and look past his bouncing shoulders as he speaks, but if you really listen to what the man says, he offers a great deal of information about the sport from every aspect. He was also superb calling the GP2 races several years ago and I think he'd be great for calling races for the American market.
Buxton also had a really good show called Off the Grid and it shows Buxton has range unlike most personalities associated with sport.
Diffey is just not the right fit for 4-wheel competition in any capacity and his lack of knowledge is almost as annoying as his shouting for no damn reason! he is a really good fit for motorcycle racing where the action is more intense and elbow to elbow combative, but the guy simply cannot take criticism of any kind. All you have to do is hint he tone down the shouting a smidgen on any of his social media accounts and and he will block/ban you without entertaining the idea that perhaps such suggestions are constructive and might help him be a better commentator.
Matchett, although quite sharp and knowledgeable, played an increasingly diminishing role at NBC as the each season passed. RPM disappeared once the broadcast moved to NBC and that was an excellent bit of F1 TV that further helped promote the sport well.
Hobbo, who is going to take those sarcastically hilarious jabs and famous one liners like "Cheap Suit"? Perhaps he was a bit past his expiration date in some facets but the ole chap is quick as a whip and quite knowledgeable in more racing disciplines than most broadcasters. I think my favorite aspect of his commentary prowess is his knowledge of tracks and how they used to be and how they evolved over time to become the circuits drivers contend on today. And Hobbo and Matchett compliment one another really well which adds to their value.
The one point where I disagree with Hobbo is in that he says the world feed is lesser than the NBC broadcast because NBC's coverage is lacking. Only Practice 2 is broadcast and Pre & Post race coverage is nowhere near as thorough as the one across the pond. I think that's going to be the best upgrade for us states side and is what I am looking forward to most.