Formula 1 TV Coverage discussions

dulpit

Hey all,

There was quite a bit of chatter in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix chat about the coverage of the race from a TV (mainly Sky) point of view, so thought it might be useful to have some place to discuss the general tv coverage of the sport.

To start us off, I am trying to think if any other sport is as well covered when compared to the F1. Assuming most here are Irish based, you do need to pony up for Sky Sports F1, but ignoring that fact, the actual level of coverage and access is great. We get to see practice sessions, a lot of the paddock and pit lane, we get really good access to most drivers, it's great. Sky and F1 themselves put up really good highlights and other stuff onto their youtube channels also. What do people think? Are there other sports that would be comparable?

Longing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058239396/formula-1-tv-coverage-discussions

Are you a rep for Sky.

There coverage is excellent but that's it. Really poor at presenting and comms.

Last Q. Golf.

RAKM

Been followin F1 for 42 years. Have seen every race in that time either as highlights or live. Currently C4 coverage does me just fine.

kirving

Extended highlights are great to be fair, but avoiding all media during the day is painful.

Even radio presenters will say "And Lewis Hamilton has won..." rather than "In the Saudia Arabia Grand Prix which has just ended...." to give you two second to mute.

Coverage is good for a few reasons (money, etc), but atmosphere aside, the truth is F1 is much better to watch on TV than at the track. I spent 2 hours in Singapore, in an good seats near a screen, with little clue what was happening.

PsychoPete

F1 should be a streaming service here like other countries around the world and shouldn't be tied up with sky. If you just follow f1, paying for sky sports just for that is ridiculous and stupidly expensive. The now TV deals come in very handy for watching sport, working out a lot cheaper

banjostring

I’ve e loved the F1 since I was a young lad and even more so over the last 10 years. I watch it on SKY and infuriates me paying them so much money considering it’s the only sporting event I won’t miss. I think the coverage on SKY is fantastic. Can’t argue with the quality of their pre race and post race coverage but the cost is prohibitive and extortionate.

AMKC

Sky is currently 20 euros a month now for Sky Sports which is not bad but still annoying when it is only one sports channel you want and that is Sky Sports F1. I really could not care about any of the other sports channels or sports. When can they not just sell that one channel for even 10 Euros a month or 5 Euro would be even better?

FlubberJones

Sky coverage in Ultra HD is class, it is expensive but I also watch a ton of other sport and to me its worth it.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118853386#Comment_118853386

Not at all, I just think the overall F1 package is good. I don't mind most of their presenters, and some are excellent (I really enjoy Martin Brundle, Jenson Button was decent in Saudi, Naomi Schiff was a good addition). Some are awful mind (don't enjoy Anthony Davidson and really don't like Johnny Herbert).

Longing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118855470#Comment_118855470

Yes Naomi Schiff was very good. I think they should really go after Rosberg but I know he is with German TV. Need to drop Herbert like a stone.

Breezer

The level of coverage is fantastic, albeit slightly overwhelming. I don’t mind the €20 a month I’m currently paying for Now TV. If I were into the football it’d be a very good deal. Unfortunately for me the rugby is on BT, but sure lookit.

The presenters are a mixed bunch. Brundle is obviously great. Jenson ok and Naomi Schiff is a great addition. But I last seriously followed F1 when it was on ITV, and I’d happily trade “Crofty”, Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill for Murray Walker! I appreciate the lack of ad breaks though!

I don’t know whether the crap presenters are par for the course with Sky? The last time I had Sky Sports it was for the Lions and the commentators were equally dreadful.

dulpit

Do Sky get extra access compared to other broadcasters I wonder? They seem to be able to talk to drivers and team principals an awful lot, even just before they get into cars (I'm not talking about the grid walk itself). If they have similar levels of access as other country's broadcasters it must be an awful lot of pressure on the drivers and teams as a whole...

Cookie_Monster

Sky is quantity over quality, the actual coverage is for the most part inane tabloidy junk.

I dunno if anyone is famialiar with Aus Supercars coverage but the degree of technical info presented in clear, concise, relatable manner is infinitly superior to anything F1 does, access to drivers and team owners is superior, the amount of coverage is better as you get all the support races fully broadcast as part of it etc.

quokula

Sky is complete and utter thrash. Channel 4's presenters are 1000 times better. They have a better grasp of facts, they're more informative, they're more impartial, and they're far better to listen to without exception. Coulthard and Webber both have a very strong understanding of what's going on, to the extent that they predict things so well I sometimes wonder if the commentary is recorded post race, but then they do make incorrect predictions too so I'm pretty sure they don't. The Welsh guy (can't remember his name) makes a good anchor, knows his role and moves things along nicely. Lee McKenzie is a good interviewer and asks the right questions. I was a long term fan of Ben Edwards since his Eurosport days with John Watson but Alex Jacques has slotted in and replaced him quite comfortably.

Meanwhile on Sky the only people who ever come across as actually knowing what they're talking about are Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, but they only make occasional appearances when the clowns like Hill or Herbert take a weekend off, presumably so they can focus all their minute brain power for a week to coming up with their next inane xenophobic conspiracy theory.

Crofty is annoying as hell and seems completely incapable of following what's happening in a race. Di Resta has an amazing knack for droning on endlessly without actually saying anything at all. Davidson has a fair grasp of what's happening but they usually cut him off and talk over him when he has the cheek of analysing facts and not going along with the tabloid narrative of the day that they're trying to push. Rachel Brooks seems to think she's there to cheer up the drivers rather than interview them. Brundle does have a sharp wit but he's also increasingly bitter as he gets older, always going on about his bugbears and getting on his high horse, in addition to making it very clear from his tone which teams and drivers he does and doesn't like and allowing it to colour his commentary significantly. And Simon Lazenby fronts it all while never failing to hide the fact he'd rather be talking about football.

And due to Sky's exclusivity deal, our only other legal option is the C4 highlights after the fact. We're locked out of the F1TV streaming service that the rest of the world gets and which costs a fraction of what Sky charge for the privilege of listening to their garbage.

This is it

I've said it in the race threads, they've made a right balls of the graphics and need to fix it. Tiny writing, colours clashing, etc. Hard to make out names, times, tyre compound, etc. Disaster.

Charlie-Bravo

When they do the on-board graphic in the driver list, the image is too small. And they cut away to replays, as said before, they need to keep a second picture in picture or side by side.

I would like an F1 world feed option for audio. I've had enough of Croft. Bring back Allen!

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118883725#Comment_118883725

I wouldn't go that far back. James

Ben Edwards is probably one of the best commentators on F1 over the past 10 odd years, he's working for the F1TV service for 10 races this year, did his first race in Bahrain. He retired from Channel 4 because he doesn't want to travel anymore. He'll be doing his races from the F1TV Base in London.

waynescales1

C4 is good, but can't stand the Welsh lad at all. He belongs on a day time TV show, or maybe even kids TV show. His manner is too juvenile.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118883500#Comment_118883500

I'd think the opposite, think looks really good and an improvement on last year. I've no issues making out names, times etc

dulpit

I watched a bit of 2019's Australian grand prix the other morning, the graphics were definitely better than than what we have now.

Although bring back the mid-90s look for me..

lertsnim

The F1 TV coverage is pretty good. Will Buxton, Sam Collins and Jolyon Palmer on commentary is infinitely more enjoyable than the always shouting "crofty"

dulpit

Some observations from today's race:

1) some networking company that sponsor Aston Martin were running ads comparing themselves to an Aston Martin F1 car. Not sure they will want to keep that campaign going...

2) Ted at least once acknowledged irish viewers, which was nice. Crofty only ever referred to viewers in the UK...

3) With Leclerc leading the championship, it would do sky well to pronounce him name correctly. Johnny Herbert in particular with his English pronunciation of Charles and the hard c at end of Leclerc needs to cop on...

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118906862#Comment_118906862

Actually, in Monaco the French language does have stronger hard syllables so either "Le Clare" or "Le Clerk" is fine

waynescales1

For anyone who needs highlights to watch online. You can get C4's highlights on All4 after the race. The highlights can't be watched live, because C4's live TV is geo-locked to the UK, but their catch up service is available in ROI.

afatbollix

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118859538#Comment_118859538

Sky is effectively the world feed for the English countries. Australia, USA, and South Africa all take the Sky UK feed.

Sky also have Sky Germany & Sky Italia on site so they have a huge presents on site so all the drivers/team bosses know who to go to first.

But each team boss would know who to go to first.

Merc/Red bull - Sky UK first

Ferrari - Sky Italia's first

Max would do Netherlands TV first.

Then it's off to the press pen to do the rest.

It's a pretty slick operation to be honest.

dulpit

A few people in the Imola race thread pointed out that sky's commentary seems to be slightly out of sync with the pictures (the audio is ahead, they commentate on something and then it happens). Their YouTube videos have same issue and there's comments there too with same issue.

Just wondering if anyone here watches other broadcasters and whether they have same issue or not? Very irritating...

sam t smith

Sounds like a glitch in the matrix. Or the commentator saying something is making what he said happen.

Schorpio

I watch F1TV - didn't notice it during any of the on-track action, but during the post-quali interviews (i.e. when you can actually see the people speaking) the audio was definitely out of sync. Not by a lot, but noticeable. I had just put it down to my own equipment though.

flazio

I mute Sky Sports and sync up with BBC radio. They're working remotely from London this weekend so they're watching the same pictures as us so once the background audio matches up, the commentary is fine.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118964536#Comment_118964536

I was looking for BBC radio coverage of the sprint, couldn't spot it. What station was it on? Or was it?

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118966152#Comment_118966152

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Xtra. Will only show up on the Sounds app if you are "in the UK"

The info graphics are **** dreadful still. So little information being shown. For over 10 laps they were missing the little purple thing for fastest lap while Gasly, Leclerc and then a couple more were trading fastest laps. Made it pretty hard to follow.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119132286#Comment_119132286

They also said the Red Bulls and Bottas were on inters when they weren't. I don't know how they can get the basics so wrong.

dulpit

Probably a limitation of Monaco, but some of the camera shots were odd in that you'd see the cars going into a corner, but then they'd jump to the next corner, without showing them actually going through the corner.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119133123#Comment_119133123

Do you mean with switching from on-board to off-board?

There's a ridiculous lag between the on-board and off-board cameras. It's probably a good second. Been going on a couple of years, think they tried to handwave it away by blaming covid and relocated production. It happens every race but is more obvious in Monaco because of the street furniture and short distances involved. Also it's less noticeable when they cut to a wide shot instead, telling the difference between 100m of straight at the far end of Monza won't show much obvious disparity for example.

afatbollix

Monaco has it in the contract that they do the TV production each year. So it's a local who directs it and it's mostly people who do the local news and whatnot.

FOM provide the in car cameras but it's then sent off to a truck that's not normally used for F1.

Years ago it didn't matter as most races were done by a local team who focused on the local driver or team and now we are used to the FOM feed being pretty good. (It's not perfect!!) But its a hell of a lot better than years ago.

I watched a youtube video recently that said they are looking to upgrade the in-car cameras soon. Something about a 360 camera? Your always going to have latency it's on a car going 200Mph around a 6km circuit even fiber takes time. Remember the time when it went under a bridge and it dropped out? Ah they were the days.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119213689#Comment_119213689

There wasn't that kind of latency til a couple of years ago though. The lag between the on-board and off-board wasn't a Monaco issue.

I do miss the switching when they'd go into the tunnel. :D Though if you look at clips even from the 90s you'll see the cuts are pretty much perfect.

For all the tech in F1 they really do love to make things as awkward and difficult as possible. The DRS system was meant to be a first iteration, they'd get rid of the backmarker bug soon right? 360 cameras have been in IndyCar for well over a decade now.

dulpit

I hate the onboard cameras you see in American series where they can turn the camera when the director wants. I get that they want to swivel to view a crash or whatever, but I find it very disconcerting

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214377#Comment_119214377

I remember years ago getting home after midnight and the Texas race was on. This was when it was 220mph 3-wide pack-racing and they'd go onboard. I never felt so nauseous for so long. Though for me not because of the angle but because of how bloody terrifying it was to see how close they got in every direction to disaster.

greenspurs

What about Skys fixation with Christian Horner ??? 🙄

I think their commentary team and presenters are excellent.

Croft - hes fine, knows his stuff.

Brundle - absolute class, knowledgeable, and a bit of sarcasm when he wants.

Button - really good, relaxed and of course knows his stuff also..

Chandhok - very good also, also understands whats he explains ..

Patrick - hmmm, a bit 'excitable' for me ... says a lot, but doesnt really say anything ...

DiResta - very good.

Davidson - very good explaining the details.

But their love in with Horner every weekend is very annoying to me, and i like Red Bull.. !

Theres other teams in the pits !!!

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119233390#Comment_119233390

I think Horner loves the limelight, I thought that they would go to Horner because he will talk to them during a race while the other team principals probably won't

They'll go to who they can. Jordan/Midland/Force India/Racing Point/Aston Martin has pretty much always been the go-to team for access. Regularly remember Mike Gascoyne being on coverage, was it Toyota he was with as well? Or one of the **** 20140 (Jesus time flies) teams actually. The Alpine crowd somewhat similarly. It's a good way to get out-sized coverage so it's usually the mid-to-lower teams who do it. Red Bull being the exception because it's the whole point of all of their projects to get as much coverage as possible.

dulpit

Looks like Sky (based on their youtube output so far anyway) are going to be insufferable this weekend. The usual Hamilton coverage, Britain is unreal, etc.

The gap between the onboard and offboard shots kinda ruined Hamilton/Leclerc into Copse.

Burkie1203

The constant replays after the SC restart while it was all kicking off was shambolic

dulpit

No Simon Lazenby this weekend with Sky's coverage, which is a good thing in my mind. Although Johnny Herbert is there, so swings and roundabouts...

TheDriver

The F1 TV Pro is excellent, get to select camera angles, in car, different commentart. Vpn required but it's a proper paid sub

Idleater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119312832#Comment_119312832

Agreed on the coverage, though I didn't have much success activating via a VPN. I ended up signing up legitimately while visiting the Netherlands.

TheDriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119312849#Comment_119312849

The sign up can be difficult (I have a Turkish Google account for these purposes) but you need a VPN to watch, any country that has pro available.

Idleater

I haven't had to activate the VPN to watch yet, and back in Ireland after watching Monaco away.

Maybe once after login, or even (thinking back) it wouldn't log into the tv app because the VPN was active. (That was the issue for me signing up via VPN - i followed the steps on the bargain alerts thread but it didn't work out)

chicorytip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118906862#Comment_118906862

Brundle seems to have difficulty with the letter "T" , or at least the pronunciation of words that end with it. "Ow (out) and abow (about)".