F1 goes to Sky sports

[speedy jon]

Let me get this right. You have to PAY to watch the sky show and then you get adverts in the pre/post race show segments?

Sky has had your pants down.

I'll stick to the bbc

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by speedy jon

Let me get this right. You have to PAY to watch the sky show and then you get adverts in the pre/post race show segments?

Sky has had your pants down.

I'll stick to the bbc

No different to Sky's showing of football either. Depends what your happy with. I'm happy to pay for Sky and not get any adverts during the race as oppossed to wait until 2pm to watch it on the BBC, that to me, screws your day entirely, especially if you want to watch the race "as live" !

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by safc_fan89

I think David Croft did a good job in the race today. He wasn't as shouty as I remember him being the last time I listened to his 5 Live race commentary.

Not convinced about Mr Croft. He treated the coverage as if we couldnt see it.. describing the pictures... Why??

Even Murray Walker knew when to talk, when to shut up.. And when to pray!

[MonkeyDeath]

Originally Posted by speedy jon

Let me get this right. You have to PAY to watch the sky show and then you get adverts in the pre/post race show segments?

Sky has had your pants down.

I'll stick to the bbc

[pedantic mode]

No you are paying for either Sky HD package or Sky Sports package and you get Sky F1 HD Channel for free, there is no additional subscription for Sky F1 HD channel

[/pedantic mode]

i agree with you thouhg, and if i didnt have the option of watching SkyGo via my new XBOX360 then i would be waiting for BBC to replay it.

[maximus]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Not convinced about Mr Croft. He treated the coverage as if we couldnt see it.. describing the pictures... Why??

Because he is used to Radio commentary, I'm sure he'll get out of it.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Not convinced about Mr Croft. He treated the coverage as if we couldnt see it.. describing the pictures... Why??

Even Murray Walker knew when to talk, when to shut up.. And when to pray!

He was shrieking like a schoolgirl in Qual yesterday and was a bit like that at the start of the race but by lap 5 or so he seemed to be calming down.

No doubt that he suffers from the idea of needing to speak all the time - that'll be his radio background no doubt.

Hopefully he calms down a bit as the races unfold - right now he's all wound up on a new gig and making some basic errors but I guess that the only way is up so hopefully that's where he heads.

[Sodemo]

I think ive seen that Georgie Thompson girl on some obscure karting safety video briefing somewhere...?

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by speedy jon

Let me get this right. You have to PAY to watch the sky show and then you get adverts in the pre/post race show segments?

Sky has had your pants down.

I'll stick to the bbc

A bit of perspective: the Beeb has spent your money on a completely unnecessary relocation and a new series of Miranda.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

A bit of perspective: the Beeb has spent your money on a completely unnecessary relocation and a new series of Miranda.

It wouldn't be the first time they've wasted your money, .

[mikestow]

What a great pity!!The Team was a load of crap compared to what we had last year.But loads of nice technical stuff in the Free Pracrice sessions from Antony Davidson and "Georgie" who improved the looks stakes,but the race totally marred by the dreadful presenting alongside Martin Brundle and Crofty,who must be biting their lips.I bit the bullet and got Sky HD on a 3 month trial!I will be binning it in favour of Freeview I reckon,unless the next races improve substantially in content from this new Team.This Simon Lazenby just has to go-really terrible.

[rocketcar]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

At this stage of the season, I don't watch the bits either side

My main bugbear was that the coverage doesn't fit onto my screen. The graphics on left hand side are only partially disclosed, so I can't see the drivers' names.

I accept there's probably some basic function on my remote that'll fix this.

Even if you have a 4:3 screen there is usally an option in the picture settings to force letterbox aspect ration. but will mean that part of your screen becomes wasted.

[Knowlesy]

Lazenby is strange, I thought he seemed alright in the season preview but he lagged on the live stuff. He needs time of course. He's a typical Sky Sports presenter, slick and professional, but you sometimes want more than that.

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by speedy jon

Let me get this right. You have to PAY to watch the sky show and then you get adverts in the pre/post race show segments?

Sky has had your pants down.

I'll stick to the bbc

I pay for Speed TV and we get several add breaks during the race broadcast..

[rocketcar]

To sum up Sky F1.... well a bit of a disapointment.

Overall the buildup to the weekend and practice sessions certainly got my hopes up with the quality of coverage. However qualifying proved to be a slight disapointment with a few bugs anoying me, however the race day show (excluding the actual race and commentary by brundle and croft) was awful, and was no better than what the bbc had been doing last year and if anything a little worse.

The main issues were:

• Simon Lazyey (or what ever his name is) - he did get better over the weekend, but still not confident enough to get drivers over and nor does he sound like he knows his stuff that well.
• The links between pieces/ feaures were poor, often using ad breaks or 10 second montages to hide their poor continuity.
• Georgie Tompson... well after watching nearly all their coverage for this weekend I have no idea what she does or why she is there...if someone could tell me I would be greatfull!
• The Skypad - it is good, but when analysising the start, even on a 40" inch tv I cannot see in detail the cars when Sky insist on having the two presenters in shot at the same time.
• Ant should just be in the directors gallery doing the skypad from there with just the "skypad" screen being shown to the viewer. Apart from him doing commentary for practice this role could easily be done from London. BUT the post race analsysis which was advertised as "getting to the heart of the story" was awfull, they anaysed 2 bits the start and the lotus. I had been hopping for indepth analsysis of the chaotic ending, or maldernados crash, or schumachers... but was left disapointed.
• I can't help feel in the post race forum bit they need a EJ type of character who barges in gets the driver and gets a good interview. Brundle attempted this but he just looked a bit akward.
• And I think their show length after the race was less than the BBC usually gave.

In summary to anyone looking at these comments to decide whether they missed out on sky f1... they didnt. If I hadnt already got the f1 channel as a result of the subscription I already had I wouldnt rush to get it on the back of this!!!! (well dependent on how good/bad bbcs highlights are.. but on the back of their quallifying output I remain optimistic!).

[safc_fan89]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I did.

Me too. Although I like being able to watch sport on streams, surely more needs to be done to stop it. There are some sites that I have been using for years and haven't been closed down yet. They just keep registering under a new address and continuing as before.

Regarding Lazenby, in a way he reminds me of Jim Rosenthal. Not really any enthusiasm. Maybe it's just his tone of voice. I've never seen anything he has presented before, presumably it has all been studio-based, so maybe he just needs time to adapt.

[karting]

Originally Posted by mikestow

What a great pity!!The Team was a load of crap compared to what we had last year.But loads of nice technical stuff in the Free Pracrice sessions from Antony Davidson and "Georgie" who improved the looks stakes,but the race totally marred by the dreadful presenting alongside Martin Brundle and Crofty,who must be biting their lips.I bit the bullet and got Sky HD on a 3 month trial!I will be binning it in favour of Freeview I reckon,unless the next races improve substantially in content from this new Team.This Simon Lazenby just has to go-really terrible.

People have to remember that this is the first race presenting together and everything will take time to 'gel'

I thought it was good, bit long winded but good

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by safc_fan89

Me too. Although I like being able to watch sport on streams, surely more needs to be done to stop it. There are some sites that I have been using for years and haven't been closed down yet. They just keep registering under a new address and continuing as before.

Don't say that!

[Born Racer]

I also found the Friday stuff had my hopes higher for the weekend. I will be watching live BBC races where possible, I think.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by rocketcar

To sum up Sky F1.... well a bit of a disapointment.

Overall the buildup to the weekend and practice sessions certainly got my hopes up with the quality of coverage. However qualifying proved to be a slight disapointment with a few bugs anoying me, however the race day show (excluding the actual race and commentary by brundle and croft) was awful, and was no better than what the bbc had been doing last year and if anything a little worse.

The main issues were:

• Simon Lazyey (or what ever his name is) - he did get better over the weekend, but still not confident enough to get drivers over and nor does he sound like he knows his stuff that well.
• The links between pieces/ feaures were poor, often using ad breaks or 10 second montages to hide their poor continuity.
• Georgie Tompson... well after watching nearly all their coverage for this weekend I have no idea what she does or why she is there...if someone could tell me I would be greatfull!
• The Skypad - it is good, but when analysising the start, even on a 40" inch tv I cannot see in detail the cars when Sky insist on having the two presenters in shot at the same time.
• Ant should just be in the directors gallery doing the skypad from there with just the "skypad" screen being shown to the viewer. Apart from him doing commentary for practice this role could easily be done from London. BUT the post race analsysis which was advertised as "getting to the heart of the story" was awfull, they anaysed 2 bits the start and the lotus. I had been hopping for indepth analsysis of the chaotic ending, or maldernados crash, or schumachers... but was left disapointed.
• I can't help feel in the post race forum bit they need a EJ type of character who barges in gets the driver and gets a good interview. Brundle attempted this but he just looked a bit akward.
• And I think their show length after the race was less than the BBC usually gave.

In summary to anyone looking at these comments to decide whether they missed out on sky f1... they didnt. If I hadnt already got the f1 channel as a result of the subscription I already had I wouldnt rush to get it on the back of this!!!! (well dependent on how good/bad bbcs highlights are.. but on the back of their quallifying output I remain optimistic!).

Of the main issues...

Are you one of the people that pulled the same trick of deliberately misspelling the presenters name as many did with Jake when he started - simply because he wasn't Steve Rider?
It's unnecessary but your not the only one.

This was Simon's first live pre-race and first Live post-race, that's a lot of pressure. Especially given that he's been given even longer to fill pre-race than Jake ever did.
The pre-race was fine, features that were allowed to run for more than 2 minutes. Port race was hectic not helped by the fact that the teams were litterally packing up around them...not something that Lazenby is used to as they don't dismantle the rugby stadium around them whilst still on air.

Overall I'd say that it was no worse than the first BBC show with Jake.

I'll give you the montages into commercials looks a bit naff, I'd much rather they just say after the break...

Georgie Thompson ... see my previous posts, surplus to requirements.

Sky Pad, well by removing GT, there would be no need for the 2 person shot, resulting in better use of the full screen shot. Perhaps if on his own, they could go to a "final Word" version of the Sky pad that was used on the football coverage where he's sitting at a desk with a camera above and behind so you see only his hands on the controls merging into full-screen and back again.

As for analysis of incidents... Do they have any other footage that hasn't already been show?
The final lap for instance was all midfield/lower half runners - sadly not every car has an on-board camera which would have allowed it to be fully analysed.

As for the post race needing an EJ to go grab people...remember that it's pretty much a new team that Sky have put together. The assistant producers or whomever that scurry around getting the interviews aren't as well know as the BBC ones...many of whom went from ITV to BBC.

For me to summarise...
Sky are taking the BBC model as a base point, and will expand and improve on that...I wouldn't judge on just the first race. Probably not even the first couple.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by safc_fan89

Me too. Although I like being able to watch sport on streams, surely more needs to be done to stop it. There are some sites that I have been using for years and haven't been closed down yet. They just keep registering under a new address and continuing as before.

Regarding Lazenby, in a way he reminds me of Jim Rosenthal. Not really any enthusiasm. Maybe it's just his tone of voice. I've never seen anything he has presented before, presumably it has all been studio-based, so maybe he just needs time to adapt.

As I like to watch races live, rather than recorded, I had to choose whether I pay a lot for Sky, which I was loath to do or follow the race on a live stream for free, so I did the math. As it is I had to watch the BBC recording to for post race driver interviews and synopsis, which on Sky was sadly lacking.

Unfortunately I can see this being the pattern for the rest of the season, every time a race is shown on Sky.

[safc_fan89]

"As for analysis of incidents... Do they have any other footage that hasn't already been show?
The final lap for instance was all midfield/lower half runners - sadly not every car has an on-board camera which would have allowed it to be fully analysed."

The BBC managed to...they showed some onboard footage from the start, and enough replays of the last lap incident to let the viewer see exactly what happened.

"As for the post race needing an EJ to go grab people...remember that it's pretty much a new team that Sky have put together. The assistant producers or whomever that scurry around getting the interviews aren't as well know as the BBC ones...many of whom went from ITV to BBC."

I don't buy that, drivers and teams would hardly reject an interview because it was Sky who was asking rather than the BBC. Sky are giving them more money, after all.

"For me to summarise...
Sky are taking the BBC model as a base point, and will expand and improve on that...I wouldn't judge on just the first race. Probably not even the first couple."

Considering they said they were going to give it the "Sky treatment", they need to do a hell of a lot more than that. If people are now having to pay for the product, they are going to want something better than the BBC did last year.

[alesi95]

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the BBC's show.
They seemed to cut away the fat.
Sky's coverage was mainly needless fluff. Totally over the top CGI. meaningless interviews, Skypad?, Georgie Thomson? and did Sky not learn from their 2002 coverage that Damon Hill is not a good tv expert.

Plus side. They had Brundle.... but then BBC have got Edwards now.

[Mal]

A top commentary from Edwards. It is great to see him get the break and he really could be the BBC's trump card. It kept me entertained even though I had already watched the Sky version.

[Adam43]

Haven't seen it, but I'm glad Ben had a good race.

[Moneyseeker]

Slightly OT, but how was James Allen on BBC R5L and the rest of the team?