For us old guys who can remember the almost complete lack of F1 TV coverage in the 70s and early 80s, Speed is a godsend! For the last two races on Fox, for some reason they were showing up on the Comcast schedule as 1 1/2 hours (12:00 to 1:30 EDT). If I hadn't manually gone in and changed the shut-off time (which I always do anyway), my DVR would have quit recording with 30 minutes of racing still to go.
Actually, what they are TRYING to do on Fox is broaden the F1 audience. The FOX broadcasts are not targeted at the current F1 fan they are targeted at the non-current F1 fans who just might take an interest in a form or racing where the cars turn left and right and shift gears and where excitement might come from strategy and incredible skills rather than a 30-car pileup. I agree it can be torturous for a current F1 fan and someone who truly knows and understands the nuances of the sport but again that is not the target demographic. IF we actually ever have another USGP it if necessary to broaden the interest in the sport in the US and if dumbing it down during the FOX primetime broadcasts allows that then it is probably worth the annoyance for the folks who already know about and enjoy the sport. Just my .02
+1 to all. Coulthard on BBC is just *the man* and offers very insightful commentary from a perspective of someone who really knows their way around a current F1 car. Listening to his commentary regarding when a driver lifts or is supposed to remain flatout or takes a corner oddly is just priceless.
And it has always been that way. I remember back in Switzerland I watched the races with Marc Surer and later Niki Lauda commenting. A former (but recent) F1 driver sees a million little details even an experienced audience misses. Matchett tries to do that, but the problem is, that he as well as his co-commentators often just cook some speculation up to fill air time: "Oh listen, that exhaust sounded awful. I wonder whether there is a problem with the engine. Lets keep an eye on him" blablabla I'm well aware of that, but I have no patience for the introduction to F1 talk. If I would watch NASCAR (not that I try) I wouldn't expect them to dumb it down for me as a novice. The thing that drives me up the wall is, that Speed doesn't air these races live with regular comments and then airs it tape delayed with whomever wants to cheer in "Boggety, boggety, boggety!" on Fox. That way both communities would be served.
That is a load of BS and you know it. All some of you wanna do is bake your cake and eat it too but common sense know's that is merely a pipe dream. In summary: Do not watch Speed's coverage and stream it on you 'puter for the BBC's coverage as your grasp will increase 10 fold (on another planet that is).
The problem ALL of you have is NONE of you have a consensus on ANYTHING. Half of you like Speed, the other half hate Speed, half of you like Fox, the other half hate Fox, same for EVERY network and ALL commentators.
+1. I admit there used to be a time before DVR's when I would set my alarm, wake up at 4:30 am, put on a pot of coffee and slap myself to stay awake through the uni-laterals. Now... I'm a prerecorded tape delayed FOX broadcast watching shill. I even avoid the really cool F1 timing and scoring app on my smart phone because I'm so worried about spoiling the outcome of my FOX feed. The only thing I can't stand more than the FOX feed, is me not being the fan I used to be. Its time to man up start drinking coffee on Sundays again. Me, "now adding the BBC link to favorites"
So if you go to the BBC site you can click on sports and get F1 news but how do you get an F1 live feed of the race?
Bit confused by this post...You say it's the best 60 bucks you spend all year but almost everything you mention seems that you prefer the Speed commentators, minus the adverts. IMO the BBC commentators offer a HUGE amount of feedback and knowledge, no other commentator can match this. I've watched F1 all over the world for the last 15 years and I stand by my opinion. The qualifying commentators are the same as the race commentators on BBC, perhaps you mean the practice. It isn't watched by millions of people and IMO they have a good vibe. Also, more input from a former F1 driver and current (?) test driver.
I good summary but some of us do not hate Fox's coverage as it get's right down to business. I quit watching/recording the pre-race coverage and after-race interviews years ago as the only thing for myself that is important is the race and it's result's. Heck I'm just happy that I still get coverage regardless of who the carrier is, I like to keep it simple and drama free.
Well, I thought I covered it: Overall, I watch the BBC coverage, but what I think you are really missing with Speed are the commercials, the lack of access to F1 heavy hitters and more airtime before, during and after the race. Overall the commentary to me is about a wash, each has their strengths, but neither is outstanding and both could definitely improve. I watch the BBC coverage because it is much more complete. I can take or leave the race commentators, but everyone here drools over them and hates the Speed guys and I just don't see it. And yes I did mean to say that the PRACTICE commentators are pathetic. Truly awful.
I've totally loved discussing this topic on speedtv.com and so i'll share my views. Speed/Fox owned my Murdock's News Corp doesnt really value F1 in the US. They cover the basics of the races with minimum effort put into the broadcast. This is not their money maker and they are not trying to improve it at all. Some of you will say that the Fox broadcast are dumb down to allow new people to watch and gain interest yet we all know that in order to gain F1 viewership or any other viewership, you need to cover the story of the races by allowing the fans to see their favorite car/drivers in interviews or interview clips. Have you seen/heard what Dale jr, Jimmy, Kyle ect have said recently about their last race? Of course and we get to like and dislike who ever we choose but with F1 the viewers are not given that chance on Fox. Additionally, with the races being on tracks and not ovals, it's hard to keep track of cars on the track unless you have live timing next to you. On ovals, it's either somewhere in the front, the pack or back of the pack then lapped. With F1, they need to discuss where each of the drivers are and if there's action going on. The Fox/Speed crew only discuss what they see on the TV screens. They should give more info to the other action on the track. In Indy/Nascar they have 3-4 people on the pits discussing the pit strategy but with F1, they just expect you to see a few sec of each for the top drivers and that's it. In short, too little coverage, too many interruptions, and not enough time on air. They should show a shorter podium interview and show a bit of post race drivers interviews from the box. Right now it's just the race and that's like going to a great steak house and not getting appetizers, wine or dessert, just damn steak or Prime rib. Did you enjoy your dinner? Pay and leave, I've got infomercials scheduled after you!! The bbc coverage is as complete as it can be in terms of coverage. They have the number of people needed to properly cover a race and gather what's going on. The race broadcast is great with no commercials but it's hard to listen to Martin Brundle and his high pitched yelling tone ALL through the race. David Coulthard is good with racing driver info but he can't pronounce their names. Kinda good kinda irritating depending on how Alonso/Massa are doing in the race. LOL The 3 Amigos on Speed do a decent job although Varsha has been making more mistakes lately. Perhaps his schedule with other shows is hindering his preparations for the F1 races and yes there's more technical rules changes and what not going on in F1 but in the past he was good to keep up with the changes and did not make as many mistakes. Also, Speed never covers the press box interviews like the BBC does with Lee Mckenzie and that's where lot of the good interviews have come from. "Maybe because I'm black" never made it on speed but the rest of the world sure heard it on BBC. Had that been on Fox in the 30 - 1 hour post race coverage, that would have drawn more viewers b/c they would love/hate LH. I have learned so much about the team principals, drivers and how the teams work watching bbc post race and forum that F1 has gone from 1960s techni-color on SPEEDTV to Hi Def 1080P with BBC. I do hope that Speed/Fox broadcast rights run out soon so that BBCAmerica might be tempted to buy the rights away from SpeedFox so that we can get 4 hours of race coverage from BBCA. I would even put up with commercials as long as they put the vast amount of race coverage that they show in UK. I'm going to find my other post on this topic from different forums and post some bits here later.
As most of FOX coverage is dumbed down to the lowest common dominator for the uninformed why would FOX sports or Speed be any different. With the Murdock empire taking the hits that they are currently taking maybe there's hope that a legitimate news or sports organization could pick up the pieces.
They do this on the speed broadcasts as well, Varsha is the king of this stuff. The fox and speed broadcasts are effectively identical. The main difference is Fox delays the race so more people can catch it while channel surfing.
Very true. For instance he is unable to say "Schumacher did something". He always has to give the full length commentary "Michael Schumacher the seven times worldchampion did something". Of course other journos do the same and it aggravates me to hear these common facts over and over again just to fill more airtime. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hear the wonders of DRS and KERS explained one more time on Sunday. And what a green stripe on a tire means. And that Vettel is currently leading the championship with a comfortable margin and .....
I dunno - They certainly do more "intro" stuff in the Fox version. [Although, if Varsha explains Q1/2/3 to me one more time I'm gonna scream - At least when it's on Speed.] +1 Sucks if you're a "real" fan. BUT, two of my Nascar loving buddies caught Montreal and stayed with it throughout all the delays and are now committed F1 fans!......[Man, did they have a lot of Q's!] They even watched Silverstone and didn't get turned off. So that's nice. Cheers, Ian PS - Kudos for once to Fox on the way they handled the Montreal delays - Quite a few good archive shots to keep you interested - Well done for once!
