uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[luke]

I don't think David Croft is great at all but Brundle still is the voice of f1 today.

Dc his voice isn't good as a commentator neither his love he needs to control for Vettel or red bull that needs to be contained.

Ben Edwards does not fit the mold well. Ex touring car commentators should have no business covering f1.

Legard was poor.

James Allen we don't need to say.

Sadly none can match Murray.

The us team is good though with Bob Varsha.

[chunder]

Pathetic BBC

8.30 in the evening of a race that finished in the early hours and it still isnt on Iplayer

What a load of garbage

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by luke

Ben Edwards does not fit the mold well. Ex touring car commentators should have no business covering f1.

Actually Ben Edwards was an F1 commentator on Eurosport long before he commentated on the BTCC.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by luke

Ben Edwards does not fit the mold well. Ex touring car commentators should have no business covering f1..

Ha Ha We'll have to agree to disagree on this one...

Ben is one of the few professional lead commentators who has actually raced single seaters and won a competitive championship.

He knows what he's talking about, unlike "Crofty" who is basically just part of a comedy duo with whoever else on the Sky team are giggling at the time. His commentary is excruciating at worst, suitable for a darts match at best in my opinion.

Brundle was good at the BBC but since taking the Murdoch schilling has not really performed at the same level. I don't suppose he gives a damn what anyone thinks so long as the money's rolling in.

[luke]

Yeah fair enough Ben did Eurosport f1 and CART but whilst he perhaps has more knowledge than crofty and doesn't try to crack jokes all the time that aren't funny I well...

I'm sure Ben is a nice bloke, does everything right me personally I just don't think his voice blends inwell - yes he was good at BTCC but him and Crofty just don't cut it for me as lead commentators.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by luke

Yeah fair enough Ben did Eurosport f1 and CART but whilst he perhaps has more knowledge than crofty and doesn't try to crack jokes all the time that aren't funny I well...

I'm sure Ben is a nice bloke, does everything right me personally I just don't think his voice blends inwell - yes he was good at BTCC but him and Crofty just don't cut it for me as lead commentators.

I watched the race live at a friends on Canal + and my French isn't bad for a Yank and I really enjoyed their presentation, especially as the cars were waiting for lights out, (both times) the commentators just went silent; brilliant.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by luke

I don't think David Croft is great at all but Brundle still is the voice of f1 today.

Brundle used to be the voice of F1, but he hasn't been on the mainstream coverage for over 2 years now. I'm sure there are fans relatively new to F1 who have never heard Brundle commentate. I thought I would miss Brundle when he chased the Murdoch dollar as I'd had over a decade of him presenting the coverage I watched, but I think the BBC have got on fine without him. Ben Edwards and David Coulthard have gelled well together IMO and you still get all the information and driver experience input from them both. Brundle is let down heavily on Sky by Crofty who is incredibly annoying to listen to and is one of the most complained about in my experience.

I think the only thing the BBC can't match Sky with is the Skypad feature, excluding not having exclusive live rights too. Ted was better when he was a voice rather than a face. The BBC just need to remain interested as they do a very good job with what they have and lets not forget they are the primary source for F1 coverage in this country.

[chunterer]

Croft is a nice bloke, seemingly, but his tones are excruciatingly dulcit and when he makes a point, and Brundle needs to come in and expand or correct, Croft just has to have a final word...

Edwards is superior, without a doubt and the best racing commentator at present. Brundle can do the no 1 role well enough so Sky could let him do it again if he wants to?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Brundle can do the no 1 role well enough so Sky could let him do it again if he wants to?

I have to disagree, watched the race of the century on Sky last week. They used as is normal for sky the original Brundle and Coulthard comms. Ignoring the rain delays which were edited out anyway, it made me realise just how poor a lead Brundle was, and how good a 2nd seat he is.

[bella]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I watched the race live at a friends on Canal + and my French isn't bad for a Yank and I really enjoyed their presentation, especially as the cars were waiting for lights out, (both times) the commentators just went silent; brilliant.

this is interesting - used to watch f1 on tf1 back in the day and it set new standards for rubbish. what do you mean, you want to see the podium? some post race discussion?? it made itv's coverage look like seriously good stuff.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Edwards is superior, without a doubt and the best racing commentator at present.

+1

[davyboy]

I think the presentation teams are really struggling with the complexity of these new regulations. Allan McNish did his best to explain one or two things on Saturday... and Coulthard tried to do the same on Sunday but both of them headed up bore alley and they knew it. Nobody cares about all this artificial rubbish ERS, KERS, green K2, yellow thingamajiggy... we just want to see a damn race.

[aki13]

I didn't mind Brundle as lead commentator in 2011 actually. Tought him and DC were quite at ease with each other being friends and all.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Nobody cares about all this artificial rubbish ERS, KERS, green K2, yellow thingamajiggy... we just want to see a damn race.

And How!

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by aki13

I didn't mind Brundle as lead commentator in 2011 actually. Tought him and DC were quite at ease with each other being friends and all.

Yeah, it worked better than expected IMO. Very well in fact.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by aki13

I didn't mind Brundle as lead commentator in 2011 actually. Tought him and DC were quite at ease with each other being friends and all.

Yeah there was definitely chemistry between them that year and you got a sense the commentary had a flow to it. I like DC and BE now though and don't think it is far off that, for me at least. I find Brundle can be insightful now but you get a sense his ego has grown somewhat recently. I do think Crofty is the weak link though. I'm getting the impressive its a JAmes Allen ITV sort of situation where he's great in practice, but too much of a liability when the action is too consistent. He shouts over the top of Brundle and often can't tell drivers apart too. Perhaps Sky need to think about having a move about and get another lead commentator? Hands off Coulthard though

[bella]

crofty was magnificent on radio 5 live. when he and anthony davidson were commentating i happily listened to them instead of the bbc. in fact for some reason the races i missed watching ended up making more sense thanks to the quality of the radio commentary. they did a fantastic job of filtering out the faff and nonsense and told you about the important stuff.

all this is showing is just how incredible a job auntie did in the first year (was there 2?) of them having the exclusive rights to f1. we didn't know just how good we had it

[aki13]

Originally Posted by henners88

Yeah there was definitely chemistry between them that year and you got a sense the commentary had a flow to it. I like DC and BE now though and don't think it is far off that, for me at least. I find Brundle can be insightful now but you get a sense his ego has grown somewhat recently. I do think Crofty is the weak link though. I'm getting the impressive its a JAmes Allen ITV sort of situation where he's great in practice, but too much of a liability when the action is too consistent. He shouts over the top of Brundle and often can't tell drivers apart too. Perhaps Sky need to think about having a move about and get another lead commentator? Hands off Coulthard though

Yes could be time to look around for a fresh lead commentator.

I don't get the feeling its Brundle's ego as such, more that he doesn't link well with Croft or he is struggling to find F1 as exciting or inspirational these days. Like most of us.

[aki13]

Originally Posted by bella

crofty was magnificent on radio 5 live. when he and anthony davidson were commentating i happily listened to them instead of the bbc. in fact for some reason the races i missed watching ended up making more sense thanks to the quality of the radio commentary. they did a fantastic job of filtering out the faff and nonsense and told you about the important stuff.

all this is showing is just how incredible a job auntie did in the first year (was there 2?) of them having the exclusive rights to f1. we didn't know just how good we had it

That had 3 seasons of exclusive rights I think

09 & 10 with Legard and Brundle on TV
11 Brundle and DC before Sky joined the scene in 2012.

[henners88]

Originally Posted by aki13

I don't get the feeling its Brundle's ego as such, more that he doesn't link well with Croft or he is struggling to find F1 as exciting or inspirational these days. Like most of us.

He comes across as quite arrogant at times to me and some of his grid walks have made me cringe with how rude he is. One that sticks out in particular was Austin last year when he attempted to poach an interview DC was conducting with Vettel and they both turned around and asked him to wait his turn. His response to that was 'yeah but we are live'... DC said 'so are we'. Even though that race the BBC were only showing highlights, the coverage has to be live so is just as important. I thought Brundle was very rude. Rosberg also had a go at him on the grid at the Chinese GP when he interupted an interview with RTL after refusing to wait his turn and it rubs people up the wrong way IMO. I deleted him off twitter because he became an advert for Sky rather than offering interesting F1 snippets.

Personally I think this sometimes comes across in his commentary and yes he does sound slightly less interested these days. Someone like Chandhok or Davidson would be worth a try alongside him, but both have racing commitments for part of the season.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by davyboy

+1

+1 to me as well.

The great thing about Ben is that he raises his tone rather than his voice when something exciting happens. That's part of what makes him the best commentator since Murray retired.

Also look at his motorsport portfolio. F1, BTCC, A1GP, Champ Car etc.

[VIVA GT]

Although not offensive, I find Ben Edwards 'too shouty' for my liking "OH NO, HE'S IN THE WALL!" from Sundays race for example. This may be fine for the rough & tumble of something like the BTCC, but personally, I don't think he's classy enough for F1.
(I don't doubt his enthusiasm, knowledge and track record however).

[djinvicta]

Agree VIVA GT. Too shouty and then gets it a bit wrong in his excitement.

[S griffin]

Who doesn't? At least he doesn't get over excited over nothing.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Any comments on the FOM direction and production?

There were some new graphics although I think they had a problem with the Tower during the race,

There were several uses of the 180 camera on Bottas's front wing. I'd love it to be just a little higher so we can see a car (if side by side) over the top of the tyre, but I know that would put it in the drivers eye-line.

We had a helmet or body cam from one of the pitcrews...they cut to it just as the car stopped and the stop itself was over before it registered where the camera was.

There was also a camera on the pit light gantry with one of the teams which actually gave a great "steady-cam" shot with the car pulling away underneath it.

These may not be Earth shattering in terms of other motorpsorts and series but I though the director used them well enough, and look forward to seeing what else they can come up with.