Any thoughts on CBS coverage versus Speed Channel coverage?

Monaco was most certainly edited. I think i USGP a couple of years ago on ABC was not. I could be wrong though

 

I'm looking foward to Speed Channel's coverage/commentary from Varsha, Matchett, and Hobbs this Fri night. Thier observations about the race are much more comphrehensive. Dumbing down F1 for the US market only hurts the allure and technical sophistication of F1.

CBS feed, the commentary was way too down market "now...in this race, we count down in laps vs. up? "car tires act like suspension," and reading the words on the screen is not expert commentary. Thanks Cap'tn Obvious. Not related to the race, but they must change the CBS intro, pop music with every crash from last season. (sorry for the rant, got carried away) I'm conditioned to hear the F1, Bernie intro.

I give kudos for being able to bring the races to network TV; obviously more viewers should help the sport. CBS and DIC Entertainment/Grand Prix Entertainment gave it a shot, lets see if they can learn quickly and improve. One down, three to go. Current Grade: C-

 

Alex - what you posted is ironic in that I could not get a clear signal on CBS- it was very fuzzy- mine is much better on Speed. Maybe the local affiliate??? I don't know.

Overall I thought the commentary was pretty poor. It didn't add much and was overloaded with hyperbole.

 

The coverage was no where near as bad as I had expected it to be. I thought it would be chopped up. The part that I didn't like was that they dumbed it down so much, but I guess they have to do this to gain more of an audience. Also, I didn't like the fact that they never stopped talking to let you hear the cars like on speed. Every once in a while during a race on speed they will get quiet to let you listen, but not here. I think their coverage will get better though, at least I hope so.

 

Dumbed Down!!! "Wow what a pit stop by the Ferrari Boys, best of the day" Daaaaaa, only needed fuel for the closing laps!

 

Not as bad as I thought it would be.

At least we didn't get a commercial break with three laps to go like the Brits got on ITV!!! They came back from commercials already on the last lap. I would have been livid!

 

Ha! I was waiting for CBS to go to ads with three laps remaining with the old line, "You wont miss a thing folks" but they stayed on until the end.

Yeah, the comment about Schumacher "making a lot of fans" was funny. I remember thinking "Huh?" as the red clad TIFOSI waived their banners and
cheered wildly every time #1 came by; as if the seven times World Champion was a new phenomenon.

In light of the circumstances, if F-1 hasnt caught on with the general American public a-la NASCAR and professional wrestling, it may be suggested
that the broadcasters assume those watching are the already converted and we dont necessarilly need the 15 minute dialogue about carbon fibre brakes.

It was interesting here in South Florida for the Australian GP, we had a viewing party at our local indoor karting center. The party was hosted by a
young journalist who brought along a lot of door prizes and it was a great night, well attended by local racing fans, mainly Ferraristi.

When I asked the PR manager of Speed Indoor Racing what the motovation was to do this party, his response was that the journalist wanted to "help promote F-1 in America". Little did he know that most in attendance were seasoned F-1 veteran fans and included professional racing driver Jason Workman who came up to join us after the GrandAM race at Homestead earlier in the day.

As with CBS, the young journalist's heart is in the right place. Just please dont speak to us as if we're 6 years old!

BHW

 

Like others, the coverage was not as bad as I thought it would be. They definately got a laugh out of me with the comments on JPM breaking his shoulder playing tennis. One of them, and I dont remember which, said something to the effect of "Well, that is what you get for playing tennis on a motorbike." Very funny considering the stories and it reminded me of something Hobbs would say.

 

I agree that it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be.

I liked the montage of pic's and music at the beginning but missed the live tie in of final qualifying and pre-race stuff.

As for the race itself, yes there was too much base explanation of things about the track, the cars, the team budgets, the lap counting etc. Although on speed there is so much time spent b*tching about the rules changes EVERY year that it gets a bit old. The best thing about the Speed coverage is their understanding of the race strategies which lets them do the math for us the viewers, to analyze laps left, fuel predictions and pit times, while the CBS guys seemed to have no idea mathematially whether Michael could get out of the pits in front of Alonso.

I'd give CBS a B+ for meeting the needs of THEIR anticipated audience, and a C- for the F1 faithful.

 

http://www.formula1.com/

You click live racing and they have lap times and a live old fashion lap chart with the line... Good for lack of direct TV coverage. It's nice to follow a race on TV with it also. They have running commentary on the right that flows also.

A few screen shot of the live coverage.
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Minus:
A bit much enthusiasm in the beginning (forgivable), way too much restatement/repetition (calm down guys), cringeworthy technical descriptions (more practice needed, actual technical facts don't hurt, don't make it up on the fly (understeer description!)), massive overuse of the work 'crash' to describe all cars in curbs (even Jensen caressing it), and a Dodge truck IS NOT a Superbird. I missed Hobbs & Matchett's sense of humor - it's a big part of the Speed coverage for me.

Plus:
TV America saw a great race, the market share will come. The guys relaxed and got better as the race went on, excellent humor (sometimes intended), NOT cutting away in the very last laps (although the last 15 without interuption would be better), didn't use the words 'push' or 'loose' to describe handling, had an understanding of race strategy (subtleties will come with experience). Caught key action quickly, and will get quicker.

All in all, not as good as Speed, but will get better with experience.

 

I could not watch the race on CBS so I can't tell but I would have welcomed the usual repeat from Speed in the evening ....

 

If it has to be delayed, it might as well be in HD. I don't understand why Bernie hasn't made HD mandatory for all F1 races.
Waiting till 10:00 to see the race was maddening and a waste of my morning.

 

World feed in HD would be great.

I'm thrilled to see F1 on CBS as long as word of the sport comes to the American public.

 

I THOUGHT IT WAS BETTER THAN IT HAS BEEN OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS WHEN CBS TRIES TO COVER F1. I WILL STILL TUNE IN TO SPEED WHEN IT RE-AIRS.

 

AYEH is correct.
David Hobbs is the best, with Varsha and Machett no voice domminates as Mr. Daily did.
I miss Sam Posey, I hope he is well.
Winston

 

Sound of the cars was much better. Anyone else notice that? Speed Ch has better coverage (and more funny comments).

 

I thought that SpeedTV converage is much better with the possible exception of the picture quality.

The pre-race show is great and I missed that Peter Windsor was not there to stoke the fire.

Hobbs, Matchett and Varsha are a great team. CBS commentators, especially Daly, are annoying. When Daly was on the pitwalk two years ago on Speed, he annoyed the **** out of me. I'm glad I only have to put up with this crap for 4 races. I'll probably watch the rebroadcast on Speed this Firday night.

On a more positive note though, it's good to see that America is finally catching on the to greatest sport en-masse.

 

you got that form southpark.Anwyay, Which races are CBS going to air. I dont get the speed channel and need to know the times.

 

Like just about everyone, I think CBS did an OK job, but not a great job. Of course it's always difficult to do part-time what someone does full-time. The telecasts have an overall feel like CBS thinks they're bringing an enormous number of first-time viewers. I'm sure there were some, but I have a hard time thinking that too many people out there decided to watch a Formula 1 race out of the blue just because it was on CBS. I think SpeedTv is currently available to about 1/2 the country. I'd like to see how the ratings numbers compare. Also, I like Derek Daly, and was glad to hear him chastising Webber and reflecting on his experience in the Jordan. But it's hard to replace the inside knowledge of Matchett.

 

SPEED TV WILL ALWAYS HAVE A BETTER PROGRAM. THEY SPEAK THE LANGUAGE THAT ALL F1 FANS AND AUTO LOVERS UNDERSTAND. FRIDAY AT 9 SPEED TV. REAL F1 COVERAGE.

 

CBS coverage is OK. ITS NOT LIVE!! That makes it bad.

 

I have gotten to the point that I never watch them live anymore. I'll tape it even if it's in the middle of the day just so I can go back thru it at my own pace later. And of course since it is an F1 event I NEVER have to worry about accidentally overhearing a discussion about the outcome. At least not here in Alabama. Try doing that with a football game (a real football game that is) down here.

 

CBS: Feels like I'm listening to Monster Garage; plus, it's not live and they condense the race.

SPEED: Feels like I'm listening to golf play by play....ywaaaaawn!

RDS (Quebec's version of ESPN): I call it the Jacques Villeneuve network, since the commentators do nothing but talk about JV...now I understand why Elvis loved shooting TV's.

TSN: My favorite yet, it's the ITV feed with Martin Brundle & co.

I know that I might be a little harsh, but I've been raised on Murray Walker, and that's one hard act to follow.

 

I agree too. I miss the trio.....they worked great together....Hobbs racer view point, Matchett crew and technical view point and Varsha has always done a good job whatever he covered including Tour de France.....

I finally break down and get cable TV this year, instead of getting one of my Ferrari customers to tape it for me, SPECIFICALLY to get F1 live and end up watching the live feed lap charts on the internet with JAVA....again!!!!!

Just glad they don't have Posey on there. I can handle Daly 10 times over Sam. He drives me crazy....

Hobbs is not only on top, but he's got a great sense of humor. He was MC along with Derek Bell at our year end banquet in SpeedVisionGT back in 99 and I practically was rolling on the floor......he's a funny dude.

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