Fox F1 Sucks- Coverage a Real Turkey

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A.) As I'm sure you know, Fox owns SPEED, so the only difference is HD vs Standard Def (unless your cable company has SPEED HD).

B.) You're right...Jenson Button leading every lap but one and finishing with a 19 second lead....is not terribly compelling viewing.

 

ANOTHER great thing about the FOX coverage....apparently its up to the affiliate if to decide if they want to show the race or not.

My affiliate? NOTHING. I have to wait until the Tuesday replay to even catch the race! I may have to try one of the live feeds that you guys are kind enough to hunt down and post.

 

doesn't anyone remember the days when there was only coverage of one grand prix on the tube?
and that was only highlights on abc, wide world of sports, of monaco.

quityour*****in' !

 

Hey, you must be my age!

 

No....no I don't hahaha.

 

I saw the Australian broadcast. It was the same thing as a Speed broadcast in the States: world feed + a couple of guys in the studio watching the world feed and talking, followed by Peter Windsor and the interviews. Admittedly I missed the pre-race (still trying to figure out the time shift!) but all in all it was essentially the same experience as up north.

Surprisingly, there was little emphasis on Webber. I thought that this was a nationalistic sport?

 

Yep, I do indeed remember those days. They weren't so long ago, either.

 

Yes I remember:

7 minutes of women's gymnastics in some third world country followed by the start of the GP in Monaco. By lap 11 the coverage shifts to soccer in the UK for 20 minutes. Back from a commercial they do laps 21 - 30 (anything short of a spectacular crash during laps 12- 20 was forever lost), Off to another venue for 10 minutes of curling from Norway. then back for the last five laps of the race. Roone Arledge (RIP) launched his career from that show (I think) but its kind of funny that ABC doesn't do a much better job with motorsports since then.

 

Ah yes - and playing that ski jump crash for the thousandth time during the credits. Poor guy.

But I do remember that in those days the R & T coverage of the races was really first class - authors like Manney, E. S. Young, Rob Walker, and so on. And, there were even specialist magazines that went further than R & T, like Sports Car Graphic. And races WORTH WATCHING (or reading about)...

I don't recall who put them on, but I do remember color TV coverage of the Can-Am on Saturday afternoons back in the day - and getting to see the Chapparel wing cars for the very first time.

 

abc...... the general motors of television journalism!!

(actually the bbc worldfeed on shortwave was my salvation)

 

I remember that I was glad to get even that meager coverage but that doesn't mean that I don't expect more now. Would you accept the same level of technology now as we had then? The same rate of pay you were making then?

 

I remember this too - Can Am from Riverside seems familiar. I'm not sure if it was ABC WWoS or not. Imagine that there actually WAS a time when we were totally satisfied with R&T's "two months too late" coverage of F1!

 

That's stunning.

Countless times on here I got flak from Aussies over my negative comments regarding Webber or Michael's (the technical director at Williams).

Seems like you're on a hell of a nice trip. Good for you!

 

Disagree.
Although the opening with that voice over guy had me thinking oh no I was pleased to hear Hobbo, Matchet and Varsha were doing the show. They did a good job of explaining things for the newcomers.
Granted no pre race coverage but at least they had the podium ceremony. I tuned out after that . Post race interviews??
As far as getting NASCAR fans to cross over; until the drivers have names that can be pronounced with a mouthful of chew I say no. But then again Toyota has gained acceptance so perhaps there is hope amongst the Americentric roundy round fans.

 

Ever since I realized I can watch the BBC F1 coverage I haven't watched SPEED.

BBC has an hour before Qualifying and Race of various interviews, etc. Plus, the race is 2 hours without commercials.

 

Same here. The Fox coverage was the worst I'd ever seen. Seemed best to just turn it off and download some proper coverage from BBC Sport for later. I can't imagine how these networks will stay afloat with people like us refusing to watch commercials anymore. Does anyone under 35 watch old-fashioned TV like that anymore?

 

thank god for the internet. i'll never watch a race on speed or fox. speed's coverage actually is pretty decent the guys are knowledgeable about the sport, there's just too many commercials.

 

Amen. I don't have an ounce of patience for commercials on F1 anymore. American TV is bent on killing itself with massive commercial overload (and young people have begun abandoning the medium altogether at alarming rates). Downloading BBC coverage online may not be technically legit but until Speed/FOM/BBC etc. catch a clue and offer it online for a nominal fee -- which I'm happy to pay -- I'll have to play bandit.

Sadly, free coverage undermines the value proposition of F1 much the way the music & media business has seen theirs evaporate. I think F1 will see a media/sponsor/consumer "reformation" ahead.

Regardless, you old-timers can keep Sophia Loren and commercial interruptions! LOL! ; )