uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[wnut]

Originally Posted by djinvicta

I thought Ted did very well last year...Shame. I used to enjoy his Notebook before and after.

I did too, will miss his Notebook!

[VIVA GT]

Well, that was the first weekend of the Channel 4 highlights shows which I enjoyed watching.
I did feel that at times they tried too hard to inject something (excitement? interest?) into it, but on the whole, I'm pleased to say it was better than I expected. The two new team members, Billy and Stefano seemed to do OK, but looked a bit startled at times, hopefully they will improve with experience. I did think it felt a little 'flat' which may have been due to the race, but it could have been due to the restricted access Sky has allowed them in the deal. (I did like the large on-screen banner they used to try to hide the Sky microphone during the drivers interviews though!)

[TrapezeArtist]

I recorded the Ch4 coverage and watched it a little later. I did notice the Sky advert as I was fast-forwarding through the adverts but obviously didn't catch any detail. I took it as a sign that Sky is losing the battle and getting desperate.

I have mixed feelings on the changes to the presenting team. Although I had felt that the number of presenters and pundits was getting out of hand, I missed one or two of them. I'm sad to see Suzi Wolfe go, and also Karun Chandok. I won't miss the Scottish woman whose name escapes me and Eddie Jordan was beginning to grate a bit. I thought Billy Whizz did quite well and I think he might grow into the role. I was less enthused by Stefano Whatsit, though I always thought he was good when he was at Ferrari and being interviewed. It must be hard in a foreign language.

The gridwalk had passed it's sell-by date to I'm glad they skipped that. And no fawning interviews with "slebs": great! We didn't even have to see them in the pit garages preening themselves.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

I have mixed feelings on the changes to the presenting team. Although I had felt that the number of presenters and pundits was getting out of hand, I missed one or two of them. I'm sad to see Suzi Wolfe go, and also Karun Chandok. I won't miss the Scottish woman whose name escapes me and Eddie Jordan was beginning to grate a bit. I thought Billy Whizz did quite well and I think he might grow into the role. I was less enthused by Stefano Whatsit, though I always thought he was good when he was at Ferrari and being interviewed. It must be hard in a foreign language.

Interesting - whilst I agree that the presenting team was too large I wouldn't agree about who is a loss. Suzi Wolff for me was very poor whilst Lee McKenzie (the Scottish woman ) I thought was quite good (certainly knows her stuff). Karun will be a big miss whilst Eddie was only ever an occasional presenter anyway and I like how he is prepared to just grab hold of people and ask the awkward questions. I don't see what Webber adds to the mix - you don't need him there if you've got Coulthard.

As far as the new presenters are concerned I though Billy wasn't great - but then again he's not a presenter and he's not had the depth of experience of the other members of the team in front of camera. Stefano I thought was pretty good - although you can tell he's the new boy - I suspect he'll improve as he gels with the others.

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

The gridwalk had passed it's sell-by date to I'm glad they skipped that. And no fawning interviews with "slebs": great! We didn't even have to see them in the pit garages preening themselves.

I quite liked the gridwalk when they got hold of drivers and spoke to them - the slebs I can definitely live without. The whole "it's my first GP" thing always grated - they don't care about the sport, they're not interested - that spot on the grid could be used by someone that actually gives a ****. There are some notable exceptions (Rowan Atkinson and Jay Kay are two that spring to mind - they're petrol heads through and through so I don't begrudge them being there).

[S griffin]

I think C4 wanted to make it big, but now there is no need to. Susie I thought was quite good, whilst Lee has been around a while. Karun of course is an excellent ex-driver turned broadcaster, while Eddie Jordan seems a bit past it.

Billy added an interesting side to it, I thought he did quite well. Stefano was a curious choice, but he fitted in quite well.

The grid walk is not needed, although you’ll always get interesting celebrities who are there for some reason. Of course there are lifelong celebrity fans, but you hardly see those

[Mike Bell]

Personally, I used to find most grid walks cringe-worthy, so definitely not missing them! No offence to SW or EJ, but I didn’t miss their input either. I think young Billy needs to be cut a bit of slack, it’s one thing answering questions as a driver, but obviously a different one having to ask them as a presenter. Was relieved to hear that he was having to leave early during the Sunday coverage to get back for F3 testing at Spa. Suggests that is still his main priority!

Few people have mentioned plugs and ads for Sky during C4 coverage. TBH didn’t notice any of them. Obviously wasted on me.....

[S griffin]

Grid walks are alright, if they are done the right way, which is not always. I think Susie did alright, but Eddie seemed to have lost it. For me having Billy on the team was not a bad move, although maybe keep him more as a pundit than an interviewer. Of course racing is still his priority, he’s not retiring yet!

Wonder how much Sky are secretly paying C4 to mention their coverage

[bjohnsonsmith]

I noticed in TV commercial for Sky F1, that they've pinched Fleetwood Mac's ''The Chain'' from C4.

[S griffin]

Yeah, but they are only using that for promotion. Obviously C4 saw it didn’t fit anymore. If only it was still on the BBC

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Wonder how much Sky are secretly paying C4 to mention their coverage

I don’t think there is anything secret here. It’s just the nature of the deal.

[S griffin]

I’m not so sure. Then again Sky aren’t exactly going low key this year

[ScotsBrutesFan]

I'd guess that it's contractural.

It may even be a FOM requirement to publicise where the live coverage is to the viewers of the highlights package. In the same way as in the US you sometimes see in the NFL final week of the season, where for example the commentators indicate the wild card games, and which channels are covering them.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Yeah, but they are only using that for promotion. Obviously C4 saw it didn’t fit anymore. If only it was still on the BBC

Of course it's promotional and that's why Sky have it and C4 doesn't; it's iconic.

[S griffin]

Well Sky are trying to big everything up this season, leaving C4 high and dry. But the BBC is where it belongs

[S griffin]

Will Sky survive much longer though, same with C4? Could be that the broadcasters change hands again

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Will Sky survive much longer though, same with C4? Could be that the broadcasters change hands again

You will have to ask Liberty.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Well Sky are trying to big everything up this season, leaving C4 high and dry. But the BBC is where it belongs

That's not going to happen in a hurry.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Will Sky survive much longer though, same with C4? Could be that the broadcasters change hands again

The channel 4 deal is currently for this season only.

Sky have a contract with FOM until 2024, given how much Sky paid for the exclusive live rights, they'd be looking for a lot of that back again if FOM/Liberty tried to take it off them.

[Adam43]

Channel 4 announcing the deal in September:

https://f1.channel4.com/news/channel...one-deal-2019/

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Channel 4 announcing the deal in September:

https://f1.channel4.com/news/channel...one-deal-2019/

So this deal is really about sharing drama content, like Tin Star and No Offence.

[Adam43]

Swapping no drama for drama.

Nothing is simple. They got it because sky let them and at a cost that is good for them. In addition sky get F1 on FTA to advertise F1 and if you want to watch it live...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Swapping no drama for drama.

Nothing is simple. They got it because sky let them and at a cost that is good for them. In addition sky get F1 on FTA to advertise F1 and if you want to watch it live...

And you watch it live, at a premium. Will casual fans buy into that, when it used to be FTA on C4? I don't think so.

[Peter Mallett]

Many long standing fans won't buy into it either. Hence the ads for Now TV and Sky F1. It's no longer an imperative for many/most(?). The Sunday afternoon snooze can be had without Martin B's assistance.

I believe C4's figures for live GPs last year outscored Sky's by quite some margin (worth checking). If so then all this has done is alienated the long standing fans to the point that BTCC and WEC, which are readily available live, will take over.

This is pure speculation but IMO SKY is plugging F1 too much. An entire weekend of punditry with the odd race/qually is actually more than you get if you attend a GP. In other words F1 overload, which may be another reason why there aren't that many takers.

On another point, does anyone else think that Will Buxton is an overblown self important twonk? He has the look of a frightened rabbit in the headlights. I don't think he's on Sky though.

[midgetman]

I read that C4 was getting around 2.4 million live viewers, Sky around 800k during 2018. Now that's not a business model that justifies the spend! (Allow for selective statistics of course)

F1 just isn't exciting enough to warrant paying Sky for me. Any "oh wow" moments will be streamed shortly afterwards or I can watch the highlights, and the 5 Live commentary means I can keep an ear on proceedings whilst not eating into my day. I also rely on Autosport live update service which is neat while I'm at work. If I happened to have a Sunday off I used to watch it, then instantly regret the time wasted when I could have been out in the garden etc.

I used to really enjoy going to Silverstone to watch the testing, I'm fascinated by the cars and can sit and watch them for hours. But the whole TV programming is set around the personalities and that's not what I watch for. Plus they think we're all impressed by a camera that can see through the visor and up the driver's nose, when you really need a much wider shot to get an impression of how fast the car is going.

These machines are masterpieces of engineering. 1000 bhp (in round figures) from an engine smaller than the average family car, and I think all TV coverage is ill-equipped to do them justice. Which is why Sky, C4, BBC, doesn't matter which channel but for me the coverage falls short.



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[Greem]

Originally Posted by midgetman

These machines are masterpieces of engineering. 1000 bhp (in round figures) from an engine smaller than the average family car, and I think all TV coverage is ill-equipped to do them justice. Which is why Sky, C4, BBC, doesn't matter which channel but for me the coverage falls short.

That's a fairly general problem: as I've said in other threads, most of the cars (even the 'slow' ones) are pretty well close to perfection, producing ludicrous amounts of power from ever-diminishing amounts of fuel - and Liberty/F1/the broadcasters/motorsport media as a whole seem to just ignore that fact most of the time.

It's a difficult selling point, I'll grant that, but it's something that should be made far more of.

Using my kids as an example, who are only peripherally interested in F1, last year when I mentioned the difference in fuel consumption between the current cars and the last generation, they both uttered a 'whoa' and went straight to read about it. They still don't watch races though!