F1 goes to Sky sports

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by brands

One change I don't like is the lack of 'on demand' watching of free practices, qually and the whole race that you could view online with iPlayer. After a day at work or at a race circuit it was nice to return home and watch the action as live.

Am i stating the obvious here, but surely if you have Sky's version, you can record the sessions and just watch them off your hard drive.(as good as on demand) Ok, it's not online on demand, but its not like you don't have another alternative (your Sky HD box)

[csirl]

Originally Posted by MagnetON

Is it actually the "BBC" feed with the BBC commentary or is it the "Global" video feed with Setanta's commentary team?

Yes, its the full BBC feed with BBC commentary and analysis. Setanta stopped using their own commentary and analysis at the end of the 2010 season and started importing the direct BBC feed complete with BBC graphics, logo, the works.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by m1fcf

My one gripe, is that the Sky F1 website extras (timing screens, live streaming, extra cameras etc) seems to block me out as a non Sky Sports User, but otherwise, no problems.

That's bad if true. I don't have Sky Sports because I'm not interested in having the other sports channels, but want the in-depth F1 stuff. An own goal by Sky there? (to use terminology from a sport I don't watch). Or an opportunity to make more money?

[brands]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Am i stating the obvious here, but surely if you have Sky's version, you can record the sessions and just watch them off your hard drive.(as good as on demand) Ok, it's not online on demand, but its not like you don't have another alternative (your Sky HD box)

I don't have Sky+ and therefore no hard drive box.

[chunder]

So let me get this straight.

There is now no way to watch the F1 free praccy stuff on BBC, it is never going to be on?

You can watch qually and races delayed obviously.

[mattt]

Originally Posted by chunder

So let me get this straight.

There is now no way to watch the F1 free praccy stuff on BBC, it is never going to be on?

You can watch qually and races delayed obviously.

Apparently according to Jake Humphrey's twitter highlights of free practice will be on the website for non-BBC live weekends

And im sure i read somewhere that for BBC weekends it will be as last year

[Hamness]

Sky on their dedicated F1 channel will be showing all sessions at all races live. No ads during the race (so they say). Also some sort of magazine type progs and coverage of GP2 and 3 although have not seen any definite details of those.

The Beeb are showing 10 races live (incl. the qually) with practice sessions on the red button, what we had last year but only at these 10 races - China, Spain, Monaco, European, GB, Belgium, Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.
All the other races will have same day extended highlights on BBC 1 (incl. Sat qually). According to their website, the Beeb will show 90 min race day highlights at 1700 for European time zone races and 120 min highlights at 1400 for the other early morning races. Qually highlights will be shown on Sat afternoons.

Hope that makes some sort of sense.

[Knowlesy]

The F1 Show is just agonisingly bad. Slightly better than an episode of Inside Grand Prix I suppose, but then so is slamming your head in a car door.

Natalie Pinkham should just give up now, typical fluff that so many motorsport broadcasts insist on filling in the bits inbetween the main action. The Perez interview, koala bars, "sniffing yer foot woss-goin'-on-there?!?" hilarious stuff. Literally every interview started with "pleased with your day?" Louise Goodman has trained her well.

We then had the dream linkup between Lenny Kravitz and Ted Kravitz, I'm sure it seemed like an amazing idea at the time. It really wasn't. You get a dedicated channel and bury it with this celebrity landfill.

The Ferrari bit was alright, although I am baffled as to why they have a Rubens Barrichello F2000 in their world champions display.

F1 Buzz, well, what can one say to justify that?

Crofty and Ant were fine obviously. It is something of an outer body experience actually seeing Croft on screen, a rather misshapen lump, but what a natural. If you can't get Ben Edwards, he's your man. Ant continues to be better at punditry than actual racing success, even if he did seem completely lost at the end, throwing to Georgie with a baffled "...absolutely!"

Georgie, with her tiny body and gigantic hands, is exceptional at reading an autocue.

Erm..the iPad gloves are a big hit with me. That's it really. The actual race coverage is exactly the same as before, in fact everything is the same only dragged out much longer and, therefore, becomes quite wearisome. I much preferred the free service.

[JeremySmith]

I can not be there, and see the same things or hear the same claptrap.. but as always David you are brilliant with your description...

I listened to Five Live this evening..James Allen I like your blog, stick to that...

[Kai]

How much does Sky Sports cost for people in the UK?

I've been watching a stream of Sky Sports (and switching over to Speed's HD picture when it's available) and I think it's pretty good so far. I like how they have free practice set up with Martin doing interviews, and Ant & Crofty are of course great. I like the new presenter guy as well, Simon I think...

All in all everything is perfectly fine, except the commercials are terrible.

[Tourer]

First event of the year of course so I'm hoping that the commentary team settle in as the year unfolds.

Know that a lot of you on here like David Croft but he was a shrieker in the Q session - really crap. He just needs to calm down a bit and he'll be fine - hopefully getting past the first one of the year will help with that. Martin could get excited with the moment without going the shriek and the difference between them was therefore really noticeable.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Inside Grand Prix

Argh, the guy who does the voiceover is awful. A complete lack of emotion and varied intonation in his voice.

[safc_fan89]

I've watched Sky's coverage for the first time.

Main points:

- Aside from Crofty's giggling at nearly everything that Brundle said (trying too hard to act like they have gelled or was he always like that during quali and the race for 5 Live?), the "race" team was fine. As you'd expect as it was all from the BBC's 2011 team so they know what they are doing.

- Simon Lazenby...I can't remember what Jake Humphrey was like when he first started presenting F1, but Lazenby seems nervous and could almost rival Raikkonen for personality. He's so dull. He doesn't strike me as a very good anchor. Steve Rider has always annoyed me a bit because he seems a bit smug, but he's good as the anchor. He'd have been a better choice, especially if he's being employed by Sky elsewhere, but maybe he's a bit too old for them.

- "Sky Pad"? There's not really any need for a cheap-looking touch screen where you can speed up or slow down the footage. That can be done off-screen and would look more professional and less ITV. You could also do away with Georgie Thompson, but she's a bit of a Sky favourite so that won't happen.

So overall...as all I ever intend to do is watch the global feed (rather than messing around with onboard footage and so on), the race coverage itself isn't all that impressive. I didn't see any of their pre-quali stuff but that's just added extras. What should matter most is the actual qualifying and race coverage. Make that good and work from there. Maybe it will improve with time though. Aspects of the BBC's first shows weren't great but it got better.

[brands]

Jake took several GPs before he looked comfortable on screen.

Croft and Ant during practice were great, Croft and Brundle seemed slightly strained but that should ease in time.
The Skypad is poor, no need for GT or hand held microphones but it's the Sky way.

So far the only bonus of Sky is no EJ.

I believe when the BBC have a live GP then free practice will be on iPlayer.

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by Kai

How much does Sky Sports cost for people in the UK?

I've been watching a stream of Sky Sports (and switching over to Speed's HD picture when it's available) and I think it's pretty good so far. I like how they have free practice set up with Martin doing interviews, and Ant & Crofty are of course great. I like the new presenter guy as well, Simon I think...

All in all everything is perfectly fine, except the commercials are terrible.

Simon Lazenby.

This extra F1 Programme (inc Sky Sports) added to my existing SKY TV Package of £25 per month, was an extra £10.25 per month. ($1 = £1.57) when I signed up for Hi-Definition.
Most Brits brought up on State Health Care and BBC Radio & TV are whinging that SKY a Commercial Organisation actually charge them money to view!

[Pingguest]

For the first time in three years I had to watch Formula 1 on Dutch television again and I did not like it. The Dutch commentary is, particularly compared to last year's BBC Grand Prix' commentary, very poor. Too much shouting, too inconsistent, without intellect and recorded from a studio in Hilversum instead from Melbourne. I tried to follow the German commentary at RTL+, but I was not in the right mood for that in the early morning - after James Morrison's concert in Amsterdam last night it was quite late when I came home. In other words: I do miss BBC Grand Prix.
Having said that, it is time for another cup of coffee.

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Rennen

Simon Lazenby.

This extra F1 Programme (inc Sky Sports) added to my existing SKY TV Package of £25 per month, was an extra £10.25 per month. ($1 = £1.57) when I signed up for Hi-Definition.
Most Brits brought up on State Health Care and BBC Radio & TV are whinging that SKY a Commercial Organisation actually charge them money to view!

If only we all had rich racing drivers to pay our way!

[Super Hans]

I enjoyed the coverage. Ant must be pleased to be working alongside Georgie Thompson - she makes him look really tall!

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Rennen

Most Brits brought up on State Health Care and BBC Radio & TV are whinging that SKY a Commercial Organisation actually charge them money to view!

Hey Rennen I resemble that remark!

Seriously, I think you'll find that we are all mostly proud of our NHS and BBC, things some Americans consider "communist", and have no wish to contribute our hard earned income on encouraging the growth of a media empire built by allegedly the most corrupt and disreputable company ever to grace Fleet Street. Let alone sell off the NHS......

When the Murdochs are eventually forced to divest their interests in Sky I'm sure some people might rethink the situation.

[Super Hans]

Re: Simon Lazenby. I'd never heard of him before, but he seems alright to me. He has the same sort of easy-going likeability of Jake Humphrey, without the occasional Tim Lovejoy-esque laddishness that the BBC man used to descend into.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

If only we all had rich racing drivers to pay our way!

Pay back for financing Ant's junior career!

[Adam43]

Simon was good, and I am already a fan from his previous anchor work. The team works well together, but will need time to gell. That was the real good aspect of the beeb team by the end, although if you were being picky you'd say that the relationship was being to jump the shark with EJ.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

Re: Simon Lazenby. I'd never heard of him before, but he seems alright to me. He has the same sort of easy-going likeability of Jake Humphrey

I thought he was fine. And he even also wears pink shirts!

They could have done with an onboard of Grosjean's lap after qually was over though.

Originally Posted by Adam43

The team works well together, but will need time to gell. That was the real good aspect of the beeb team by the end, although if you were being picky you'd say that the relationship was being to jump the shark with EJ.

They've fallen into that trap Top Gear did (which it might have got out of really) of trying to deliver the same incidental banter which sometimes happens due to their chemistry, but forcing it, which is seen in the way the reference to EJ's shirts can get out of hand at times and a few similar things. Some of the intros for example with the three of them are a bit 'let's be a bit idiotic' Top Gear-esque. They're damn good, but they shouldn't force it quite so much.

There's a programme on the F1 Channel now with Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Murray Walker sitting round chatting about the past in a studio that resembles a living room a bit. Oddly, there's a cafetiere half-filled with coffee, but no-ones yet pushed the plunger down and it's been 15 or 20 minutes. Is it an artificial prop?

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by Super Hans

I enjoyed the coverage. Ant must be pleased to be working alongside Georgie Thompson - she makes him look really tall!

Good one!

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

I thought he was fine. And he even also wears pink shirts!

They could have done with an onboard of Grosjean's lap after qually was over though.

They've fallen into that trap Top Gear did (which it might have got out of really) of trying to deliver the same incidental banter which sometimes happens due to their chemistry, but forcing it, which is seen in the way the reference to EJ's shirts can get out of hand at times and a few similar things. Some of the intros for example with the three of them are a bit 'let's be a bit idiotic' Top Gear-esque. They're damn good, but they shouldn't force it quite so much.

There's a programme on the F1 Channel now with Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Murray Walker sitting round chatting about the past in a studio that resembles a living room a bit. Oddly, there's a cafetiere half-filled with coffee, but no-ones yet pushed the plunger down and it's been 15 or 20 minutes. Is it an artificial prop?

Don't forget the bowl of Apples! Props aside doesn't 'our Nige' tell a great story! And I rate Damon's assement of why Schumi deprieved him of the 94 title...sounded sound to me!