uk f1 tv coverage - sky, bbc and ch4

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Yes let's face it, without Red Bull and C4 we would be deprived of a lot of access to the background of F1, but it comes at a cost, which is the promotion of Red Bull.

True - and it has to be considered that part of C4's agreement with Sky for FTA coverage of the British GP is that they were restricted access to the 'pen' and drivers' areas at most events. Linking up with Red Bull is a way to get some of the other background access.

I think I'm right in saying that a lot of C4's F1 coverage is produced by Whisper - a company that Coulthard was a founder of?

[EastonNeston]

We just have to accept that the C4 coverage is not editorially independent or impartial.

It really should be classed as a paid advertorial for Red Bull.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

We just have to accept that the C4 coverage is not editorially independent or impartial.

It really should be classed as a paid advertorial for Red Bull.

I don't think it's as bad as that. I hadn't watched C4's live coverage since last year's British GP and I thought the overall package was good. Yes, there are two former RBR drivers presenting the show and through their combined experience in F1, they give an excellent insight. They do go to Horner, to get his perspective as a team principle but they were doing that last year. It's a format they use and I think it works.

[VIVA GT]

Yes, but really Red Bull isn't really a Race Car manufacturer, it's not even a fizzy drinks manufacturer, a highly successful promotions company that through this has earned a fortune in selling a product in a can for far more than it costs to produce & distribute. These strengths are behind everything it does & gets involved with.
A few seasons ago often different team bosses were given the 'TV Microphone' so that they could add their own direct input into the coverage (as an aside, my mate's wife thought Ross Brawn sounded like an Airline Pilot talking to the passengers as they flew on holiday!). More recently it only seems to be Christian Horner who is given this access. Is this because the other teams aren't so theatrical and want to concentrate on their 'real job' on the day or is it just because of the connection between DC & MW?

[BertMk2]

They can't really give live air time to Gunter ****ing Steiner as it's too risky

[EastonNeston]

Sky have had live feeds with all the team prinicpals, not just this season.
It's very informative, even Gunther, who can peak without asterisks :-)

For one broadcaster to always use the same person, does, justifiably, raise questions about their editorial independence, especially if a director of the production company still has contractual links to Red Bull.

[crmalcolm]

If you only broadcast one live race a season, and you have a team principle in that live feed - does that mean the principle is considered to have a monopoly?

[EastonNeston]

If it's the same person every year, by definition yes.

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

They can't really give live air time to Gunter ****ing Steiner as it's too risky

We won't mention a certain Irishman who has been part of the C4 team on occasion who is well known for colourfull language.

[Derwent]

Well I refure to buy Sky as it's owned by a very dubious bunch. C4 is good and I switch on just be fore the start and off five minutes after the finish. No need for all the pundits as I have better things to do!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Derwent

Well I refure to buy Sky as it's owned by a very dubious bunch. C4 is good and I switch on just be fore the start and off five minutes after the finish. No need for all the pundits as I have better things to do!

To be fair, Sky is no longer owned by it's previous owners and is now part of Comcast. However, I refuse to be bullied into paying a ridiculous premium to watch it on the Sky platform, so I have cut my own nose off to spite my face by not watching it at all since it was announced that the rights had been purchased by Sky.

[P38 in workshop]

I have a slightly different view in that I don't really want to spend a nice summer's afternoon in front of the television and am happy to watch the highlights-there have been all too few real highlights in the last few years.Consequently I'm happy with the Channel 4 coverage usually. However on Sunday as much as I tried to avoid the news of the race,I also didn't really want to wait until 11.30 for the highlights to be broadcast.so I tried to watch the coverage on the All4 catch up service,only to find that the only race on offer was Saturday's sprint race.I did enjoy the sight of cars racing flat out but found it a bit sad that the programme covering the whole race wasn't on offer.Thanks Liberty.

[john ruston]

Interesting take on TV coverage
I understand the coverage is masterminded on all races except Monaco by the same production company based at Biggin Hill and still probably owned by Mr E.
Sky and everyone else gets their feed from them
Channel 4’s team are all Red Bull stalwarts so you would expect them to take a RB stance
Sky have Karaun and Ant who are more or less impartial except Ant occasionally wares his Merc Hat . The rest colour commentators
Channel 4 is only allowed to show one race live as it’s one of the few golden sports events left where terrestrial get rights by law. Idiot governments have dedicated the rest such as Test cricket.

[VIVA GT]

Just wanted to say how interesting I found Alan McNish to be this weekend (where was David Coulthard?). His comments seemed very inciteful, his Team Manager experience in Formula E obviously helped.

[Akrapovic]

I feel we need to talk about the fake crowd noises. There was a suggestion (assumption) that the crowd noises were simply microphone level adjustments. However, Hungary proved this to be completely false. We had canned crowd noises on a soundboard being played at points where there were no spectators. Hungary used this soundboard several times to react to things with cheers which wouldn't normally be cheers.

So with that in mind, we should highlight that people were complaining about the British fans cheering the Max Verstappen accident. But the video evidence from trackside doesn't look like that - only the live coverage did. So...did the British fans actually cheer the Max accident? Or did this ridiculous soundboard system make it seem like it?

The canned fan noises need to go.

[S griffin]

What fake crowd noises? I can't see any evidence that they are. Just normal crowd noises now that the crowd is back. Nothing untoward there. And I think it was more gasping that cheering in the Verstappen accident really. So that was probably exaggerated by others. Again no evidence of canned noises. It doesn't exist for me

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by S griffin

What fake crowd noises? I can't see any evidence that they are. Just normal crowd noises now that the crowd is back. Nothing untoward there. And I think it was more gasping that cheering in the Verstappen accident really. So that was probably exaggerated by others. Again no evidence of canned noises. It doesn't exist for me

Normal crowd noises? When has F1 EVER sounded like that? They have massive cheers and gasps at everything now. It's very clearly a soundboard.

The POKERSTAR ads at the side of the track stand out even more. These are completely CGI and actually disappear from certain camera views.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

They have massive cheers and gasps at everything now. It's very clearly a soundboard.

It did seem strange that every time Hamilton made a pass, it was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, considering how anti-Hamilton they were otherwise.
If that was a canned reaction, it makes sense now.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

What fake crowd noises? I can't see any evidence that they are. Just normal crowd noises now that the crowd is back. Nothing untoward there. And I think it was more gasping that cheering in the Verstappen accident really. So that was probably exaggerated by others. Again no evidence of canned noises. It doesn't exist for me

There were some very exaggerated crowd noises, during yesterday's race. Whether it was canned or not, was hard to tell but I've never watched a televised race before that had these exaggerated crowd noises and I've watched plenty of races over the years.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Just wanted to say how interesting I found Allan McNish to be this weekend (where was David Coulthard?). His comments seemed very inciteful, his Team Manager experience in Formula E obviously helped.

I enjoyed McNish's input too. Nice to have a change. And if DC and MW's absence had even the slightest thing to do with not having wall to wall Horner then can we keep him for the rest of the season please?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It did seem strange that every time Hamilton made a pass, it was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, considering how anti-Hamilton they were otherwise.
If that was a canned reaction, it makes sense now.

Yes, agreed.

[Adam43]

I thought that too, although it didn’t cross my mind it was fake at the time.

Some exaggeration or canned effect would make sense. It also didn’t quite seem right, always sounded the same. Potentially the same as at Silverstone? Hmmm.

They have got used to doing crowd noise at sporting events over the last year or so.

[Akrapovic]

It's completely fake. Hungary had massive crowd cheers happening in sections of the circuit that have no fans. It's _exactly_ what happened at Silverstone and why the crowd noises didn't match the fan videos from amateur cameras in the crowd itself.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

It's completely fake. Hungary had massive crowd cheers happening in sections of the circuit that have no fans. It's _exactly_ what happened at Silverstone and why the crowd noises didn't match the fan videos from amateur cameras in the crowd itself.

I noticed the crowd noise at Silverstone, though I put that down to a very large crowd, the stands were packed and a partisan crowd. Hungary seemed quite different.

[Richard C]

Fake crowd noise with cheering. Well... it is "entertainment", so why not! Maybe it should occasionally have a laugh track as well. You know how they have those photos (videos?) of each driver that they sometimes show. I would joke with my son that they should have a selection of them. So they can then show emotions when something happens. Pose with happy face, angry face, sad face, etc. Someone goes off track, or gets passed. Then show sad face.

Richard