UK viewers - what did you think of the Sky Sports coverage?

[Knowlesy]

Wonky teeth does not necessarily equal bad breath, please try to differentiate the two. There is no need to be mean.

Anyways, it was interesting hearing Keith at the start of the show have a pop at the viewers who noted his inability to pronounce the names correctly! It shows they read the feedback anyways.

To be honest that didn't bother me (annoying but not the end of the world), but there were some ferocious comments about it on various forums!

[Steevp]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Wonky teeth does not necessarily equal bad breath, please try to differentiate the two.

But the colour surely does! That fetching shade of brown is so 70's..

I thought of you when Keith said he'd been brushing up on his pronounciation.. the really comedy comes when the American announcers say Villeneuve!

But what lovely pictures

[Knowlesy]

They have always said Villeneuve in that way in America. To be honest, I don't know if they are right or if we are. We're probably all wrong!

Still, I don't suppose they will have to say his name many more times this season. *sigh*

[Mystery]

Don't know about that. JV seems pretty quick in qualifying so the funny qually format of Daytona might not suit him but you'll see the likes of him Boris and Carpentier making most races this season leaving the rest fighting for the last couple of slots.

[Knowlesy]

Yes, to JV's credit he showed he could qualify on speed at Phoenix last season.

But it isn't just that, he needs a budget. If he can't make the top 35 he will sink.

[Knowlesy]

Anyhow, back to the coverage.

I thought it slightly improved in some aspects. We seemed to spend more time with the Americans (good) and we got some decent interviews (good).

However, why did the widescreen HD picture become SD standard picture today?

[Hazard]

I'm happy with Sky Sports coverage. I think they're making it very accessible to the average joe without completely irritating the die hards - mainly by keeping the commentary feed as is and just providing panel assistance in the studio. Certainly unlike how ITV initially presented F1.

It's not as though NASCAR has become rather simple...well at least in terms of qualifying. It's weird how the races are much simpler though (go round and round, and when someone crashes, pit!)

[gwar]

If you already have sky plumbed in how much is it to watch the season on sky sports, is there a yearly contract involved. (would be nice to pay per view) my only interest is motorsport so i,m trying to way up the cost, if any one could help please.

[Knowlesy]

It is a contract, although I'm not sure how long. A year I would guess.

Sky can we please have the pre-race ceremonies you buffoons!

Nice picture though.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

It is a contract, although I'm not sure how long. A year I would guess.

Sky can we please have the pre-race ceremonies you buffoons!

Nice picture though.

Last 45 minutes I am watching the pre-race...it's boring.

[bigted]

i guess its sky pre race not FOX pre race

[Hazard]

All pre-races are boring! I watch racing for races! pre-races are just normal life, and people talking...I get that at work.

[Knowlesy]

NASCAR races are an event. You need to be trackside before the race, not with some muppets in London.

But you are right, the race is the main thing.

[Mystery]

Weren't we with the US pre-race? I definitely remember my wife telling me that the race was about to start because they gave the start-your-engines call to which I replied nah it'll be another 10 minutes minimum of watching the pace car pootle round.

Or are you suggesting we should have an hour or so of pre-race? No ta - it doesn't work with ITV F1 and it wouldn't work here.

[Knowlesy]

No, they did go to the US ten minutes before the race started. I am happy with that actually.

I do miss the pre-race shows, because they tend to be pretty humorous and more human than the dreary crap served up by ITV.

BUT, I have to say, well done Sky. They have listened to their viewers and have made a lot of positive changes. You may have noticed they stayed with the coverage quite often when the US went to breaks, we got the pre-race ceremonies, we got a lot of good post-race interviews. I am actually pretty happy with it now.

Well done Sky.

[Cynic]

I just wish that if they are going to persist with the Ben Collins show that he could at least try and demonstrate some enthusiasm.
He also needs to pay attention when answering viewers questions. I'm fairly sure that last night he described 'push' and 'loose' as both being akin to oversteer. I always though that push was understeer?

Overall, I think Sky aren't doing too badly at the moment. Hopefully things keep improving over the next few races.

[Mystery]

Even Keith tried to acknowledge Ben's personality bypass by reading out an e-mail about it - don't think Ben found it too funny actually. Certainly not as much as Keith did anyway

[Knowlesy]

I must have missed that bit!

Yeah, I mean they could do with some enthusiasm. Again, it goes back to using the US studio where they have so much enthusiasm that they are on the verge of exploding.

[Mystery]

It was something along the lines of "could someone please cheer Ben up" to which he replied "well I'm trying my best". Then Keith jumped back in to save him further humiliation. Then some muttering about him having only just flown back from Daytona to make the broadcast. Ahhhh bless

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Much improved I thought on the earlier coverage.

some Pre-race, staying with In-cars and just voicing over the US commercials, and interviews.

All they need now is genuine experts who know what they are talking about...and yes Collins did mix up his under-steer and over-steer when answering a question regarding Push and Loose.

[kelvin88]

You guys seen the actual Sky forum?

http://forums.skysports.com/viewtopi...30&t=21577&p=1

Jeez! If i hated a show that much i'd turn the ****er off!

[Knowlesy]

Yeah, I'd read those. Extremely harsh.

It was quite flawed to begin with but even I can acknowledge it has improved a fair bit. Those guys seem blind to that fact. Although I share the annoyance at Ben Collins being credited as an RB NASCAR driver!

[J-C]

Only saw the 500 itself but thought the coverage was generally alright; no real quibbles. Would have been nice to have a bit more pre-race but what they showed was good - it would have been more atmospheric though to have seen more of the pre-race festivities than three non-experts sat in a studio! Throwing back to the UK lot during the US ad breaks was fine as at least they stayed with the pictures.

[Woolley]

It's difficult to complain too much. Even if the coverage was awful (and it wasn't) it's still full coverage, which is more than we used to get.

Sky do seem to persist with the studio bits - they do it in IRL and in A1GP and it really doesn't work properly, although not as bad as when Eurosport put a European commentary on Champ Car instead of the local feed. Maybe they could put up 'red button' coverage which just takes the US presentation. I can live with the adverts to a certain extent, although I do remember from time to time that I'm paying for this channel, and I'd rather not be paying to receive addies.

It's worth knowing that NASCAR is very unfamiliar to a lot of UK audience - just witness some of the basic questions being asked on the e-mails - so some education needs to be available. And even with reasonable knowledge, I found it challening to follow the race. You didn't really pick up who was moving up and down without studying the scroll bar across the top. In widescreen it would be more helpful to have it DTM style with a pillar showing the car numbers only (and the entry/number list on teletext!) I have to say I also found it a bit dull towards the end (not really Sky's fault) as it wasn't really action packed despite all the side-by-side stuff.

In summary? Could do better, but thank you anyway. It was good to get the coverage, and it's the first time I've seen NASCAR live. Just need to get over and see them for real now...

[bigted]

they are struggling tonight!!