Speed TV drops F1 coverage

[Ray]

I don't mean that the Speed crew is the best of all, I really like Brundle as well. But saying they sucks because they aren't at the track isn't a criticism of their abilities, it's irrelevant. They do the best with what they are given, and comparing them to a British broadcaster with cameras and people on the ground is an unfair comparison. Speed gets what they can from the FOM in a market where Formula 1 doesn't get as many eyeballs as NASCAR. The Speed crew are very knowledgeable and more than qualified to commentate, that's all I'm saying.

[SeijaKessen]

I don't mean that the Speed crew is the best of all, I really like Brundle as well. But saying they sucks because they aren't at the track isn't a criticism of their abilities, it's irrelevant. They do the best with what they are given, and comparing them to a British broadcaster with cameras and people on the ground is an unfair comparison. Speed gets what they can from the FOM in a market where Formula 1 doesn't get as many eyeballs as NASCAR. The Speed crew are very knowledgeable and more than qualified to commentate, that's all I'm saying.

I don't think they suck because they do what they can with what they are given.

What I would say, and have said to a few people in conversation, is that the biggest problem with having them in a studio commentating is that they come across as being reactive rather than proactive in many cases. I don't recall ever getting that feeling when listening to Brundle who is extremely proactive in his commentating. He'll discuss what a driver wants to, or should do before they have actually done it. That makes for a much more engaging broadcast for me anyhow.

Although I'm not sure if they were at the races in person, there would be all that much of a difference.

Varsha and Hobbs are huge Senna fans and it shows in every broadcast they do because they are always high on Bruno Senna. They were quick to point out at Monaco that it was the first time since 1993 that a Senna scored points at that circuit. I've since gotten off that bandwagon personally since I have run out of excuses to make for him now. But that's another subject altogether.

Anyhow, I wish all 3 would just be a bit more proactive in their broadcasting, although it probably won't much matter any longer. Then again, maybe not because Varsha and Hobbs did the commentating for ESPN another lifetime ago, so they may be able to keep themselves attached to the broadcasts somehow. For US F1 viewers, those two are pretty much synonymous with F1 TV broadcasts in the way Vin Scully is synonymous with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's important to note that one should not take that to be a comparison of skill on my end.

[Ray]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Being stuck in a studio does diminish their coverage, but I think they do alright.

[donskar]

Varsha not only has a whiny voice, he, just like the master hypster john gruden on monday night football, hypes every race as "the one every driver wants to win" or "the most historic" or "crucial" or "the turning point." after listening to him since he started with speed, i've never heard him say "the drivers think this is a mickey mouse circuit."

Actually, he does say things like that. You just haven't listened to it enough, or at all, to hear him say that. No surprise really given everything else you say is wrong with him. He's much less worse (and better) than every British TV crew fawning over Lewis, and I couldn't stand listening to anything that James Allan was involved in. Even his website is full of that crap. After Kimi stopped being the front runner, he quit gobbing that knob and went over to Lewis. Every third word out of his mouth was "Lewis" and it was so annoying I wanted to reach through the TV and slap him.

Hobbs is just too old. when did he last drive, if ever, in f1? 1960? before the big ground effect era? how can he professionally comment on driving a modern f1 car? brundle and coulthard and herbert and ant and hill have much, much better knowledge. and they don't rave on and on and on about the "klag" rubber buildup.

McLaren had him very high up on his list of best drivers they've ever employed, so I think he's very relevant. Besides, he's got more F1 (driving) experience than some of the BBC/Sky crew so I think his opinion is very valid. How many race cars have Kravitz, Thompson, Pinkham, Humphries and others driven? None. Not at that level anyway. By your logic about half of the BBC/Sky crews have no valid opinion either. Having a racer, no matter what age, is good for the fans because even though they may not be current, they at least have an understanding of what it takes to race them. His klag thing is a schtick that brings a little humor into the broadcast, I don't mind it because he's not annoying by being unfunny.

Matchett is too geeky and he's not really an engineer. wasn't he a mechanic? he keeps going on and on about the sector times and guesses about car problems instead of getting facts.

I never thought I'd see someone say that having too much knowledge about a sport would be a bad thing. I've never watched any English broadcast that didn't have the commentators talking about sector times and the goings on of other drivers the entire time. That point has zero validity. He never claims (and never has claimed) to be an engineer, but I dare say unlike you he's on a first name basis with the vast majority of them in the pit lane. He knows what the cars are doing, what they are capable of, and what they are doing to make them work better. He's got more than enough reason to talk like he does, because he was lead mechanic for a WCC winning team, he's got no reason to back off talking about anything he does, he knows the ins and outs of those cars far better than you or I do.

Compared to the sky on-site support guys (except for the lisping know-nothing woman) ant, herbert, hill, etc., will buxton sounds like the xyz generation version of the village idiot/talking head know nothing newshound/text phone surfer dude.

Will Buxton has been in the F1 paddock, and lower series, for many years. He's also the GP2 official commentator I think, he's not just some Joe Blow moron with a broadcasting degree brought in to fill a seat. He's not just some commentator that was switched from another sport within the Speed/Fox conglomerate. He knows what the hell he is talking about, and he's very good friends with quite a few of the drivers. Those friendships give him an inside look at the paddock, so I don't know where you get the idea he's just some "bro" with a microphone.

and hobbs, varsha, and matchett aren't even at the track!!! are they even in the same studio in atlanta or do they each watch at home?

No, they aren't. Speed can't afford to send them all to each race to cover a sport that doesn't have a ton of commercial viability in the US that is broadcast at all hours of the night. They are all in the same studio in Charlotte NC. This has nothing to do with their knowledge of the sport, or their usefulness to broadcast the races in the US. Holding the fact they aren't sent to the races against them makes no sense, they do best with what they are given.

i'm with pup: good riddance to them all. and if they don't leave, i still have the mute button. and yes, i know somebody here will quip back "and they will mute YOU!"

Personal preferences aside, the fact that you that don't like the Speed crew shows that you don't know a damn thing about any of them. You are just as ignorant of their credentials as Pup is, and they do a very good job with the limited budget and resources they are given. If you don't like them as people that's your prerogative, but calling them crap isn't justified with the reasons you give. They have far more experience in Formula 1 than you or I will likely ever have. Their professional credentials aren't in question at all.

GREAT post, Ray, BTW, Adweek reports that Fox is paying mucho Billion$ for the right to Major League Baseball.

[mx_tifoso]

http://twitpic.com/b4in2a



Really NBC?

Wow

[zmiles2]

IMO, the Speed crew did a solid job other than Varsha..he really got on my nerves the way he talked about the sport like he was talking to a first grade kid. Matchett and Hobbs were always a little bit entertaining and always had good things to say.

The highlight of the coverage was always Will Buxton. Very entertaining, funny, and always had a personal relationship with the drivers which made his one on one interviews with them fun to watch and never awkward. I REALLY hope NBC locks him up for their coverage because I feel like he can bring a big spark to the coverage whether he is in the paddock like he is on Speed or in the booth like he does for GP2 and GP3.
Unfortunately after reading his tweets it seems like he might be making a move to Indycar though.

[raymondu999]

So do we know yet who actually will form their team, or actually a deadline by when they will announce their team?

[Pup]

Not yet. I think Varsha is the only one who's indicated that he's under contract with Speed for some time.

[dren]

Maybe NBC will outsource to Scarbs for tech pieces

I just looked, I get NBC Sports HD already, so I'm happy! I watch for the race anyway, not the commentary. I'm just happy to actually get F1 in HD in the States. I actually didn't mind Speed's line-up though. Varsha was the only one of the three that I would swap out. Will Buxton is an idiot. He may know his ---, but a lot of the times it seemed he was more keen on fueling the F1 rumor mill than reporting on anything of substance. Peter Windsor was a lot of fun when he was doing it. It was sad to see him go.

[hyde and zeek]

Hoping COTA goes well and that give's the incentive to do better next year w/ coverage on NBC Sports. The Indy coverage was bearable. But if the give it the "Olympics" treatment, then it will be a shame.

F1 really needs a streaming subscription web site option.

[seinfeld]

I've had the pleasure of watching sky racing. Its the best coverage!. they should just allow people to subsribe from anywhere in the world for 50 a year, and you can watch it online.

[PlatinumZealot]

Sky has good coverage but I prefer the BBC crew. More life in them than the sky robots. The Speed crew are also better than the Sky people. Only Brundle and Davidson saves them.

[Intego]

You guys have never watched German "RTL". Moderator Florian König can't say anything that is rich in content (because he's not payed for), Niki Lauda can only say "you can't make it better", commentator Heiko Waßer is always thinking that three quarters of the spectators are new to the sport and therefore is explaining the tyre rules for at least (non-exaggerated) 10 times and "pundit" Christian Danner's (whose best result was ... well, you know) service is to halfly correct the rubbish of Waßer. So, yeah, that's mass media.
You think that can't be topped? HA! RTL consequently manages to miss the crucial part of the race while showing advertising for a required IQ to the amount of the best sector times. E.g. in Abu Dhabi they broadcasted the whole first safety car period and directly after it – ADS!

But if in the USA won't be any live coverage (or just for enjoying BBC or SKY sports) feel free to PM me.

PS: Did I forget the praising of Vettel?

[McMrocks]

You guys have never watched German "RTL". Moderator Florian König can't say anything that is rich in content (because he's not payed for), Niki Lauda can only say "you can't make it better", commentator Heiko Waßer is always thinking that three quarters of the spectators are new to the sport and therefore is explaining the tyre rules for at least (non-exaggerated) 10 times and "pundit" Christian Danner's (whose best result was ... well, you know) service is to halfly correct the rubbish of Waßer. So, yeah, that's mass media.
You think that can't be topped? HA! RTL consequently manages to miss the crucial part of the race while showing advertising for a required IQ of the best sector times. E.g. in Abu Dhabi they broadcasted the whole first safety car period and directly after it – ADS!

But if in the USA won't be any live coverage (or just for enjoying BBC or SKY sports) feel free to PM me.

PS: Did I forget the praising of Vettel?

Hey! I love König because he talks about the evenings program while something important is happening on the track. Sometimes I wonder if there are other drivers than Vettel. Lauda is changing his opinion 5 times in 5 minutes. And they can't stop to tell how often Ferrari made a Teamorder. But they never say any word about Silverstone 2011/2010.
I can't understand why Waßer isn't fired. He is the worst moderator I know.
(ist echt unerträglich)

I have watched many times the Sky Sports F1 coverage while the practices. It is 4 times as good as RTL

[Intego]

I have watched many times the Sky Sports F1 coverage while the practices. It is 4 times as good as RTL

You can't multiplicate ZERO properly!
Should we add that König and Waßer also present a cooking competition?