F1 To Be Split Between BBC 1 and Sky Sports from 2012

[Ataxia]

Glad I have the channel; means I get to see GP2 and GP3 in addition to the F1 coverage.

[pasta_maldonado]

Adding to what others have said, I was quite impressed by Sky's coverage. Of course, it'll never be as good as the BBC's was, nothing can replace Eddie Jordan, Coulthard and Humphry.

Oh, and still, I can't remember Sky's Jake Humphrey-style person's name

[rachel1990]

Personally having contrasted both Coverage's- the BBC wins hands down. I was never a real fan of Brundle and Edwards is an excellent commentator. DC has grown on me (in a good way), EJ is amazing, Lee McKenzie can do a great interview and Gary Anderson is brilliant. He adds new depth to the show. Sky for me just tried to copy the BBC format and fails.

However there is ONE downside. When the excellent James Allen is away for radio 5 live they have the AWFUL Jonathan Legard commentating on the race. Bad idea BBC!

[Barbazza]

Now that the season is over, can we discuss the opinions of the British viewers towards the Sky Sports coverage?
I have the Sky F1 channel and I have watched some races on it, although invariably only the ones that weren't live on the BBC. The coverage is extensive and well-produced but I just seem to enjoy the BBC coverage more. I find the pre- and post-race stuff more enjoyable on BBC but I prefer the race commentary on Sky.
The Sky race commentators, Crofty and Brundle, are obviously top notch and so is all of the analysis with Anthony Davidson and Ted Kravitz. I find Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert boring to listen to and Georgie Thompson is just utterly pointless. Natalie Pinkham is ok but Simon Lazenby is a twat and needs to go now.
There isn't much content yet to account for the rest of the channel schedule, but it does seem to be getting better. The Legends interviews are very good and I hope more are on the way. The sort-of-behind-the-scenes programs with Caterham and Marussia were good and again, I hope to see more of these.

I got Sky F1 part-way through the season and there is no way I would go back to the BBC now.

Crofty and Brundle aren't perfect and do make silly mistakes more often than you'd expect but are a team, which Ben Edwards (PLEASE come back to BTCC instead, Ben!) and Coulthard are not.

Anthony Davidson is excellent - the races where Damon Hill wasn't there and he was out and about were MUCH better. Damon is just annoying and struggles to hold back his old prejudices and Johnny Herbert is...OK I guess. None of them are as annoying as Eddie Jordan so I can live with them. I agree that Georgie Thompson adds nothing unless you count her arse which she sticks out at every opprtunity (does nothing for me, I have to say..)

Simon Lazenby isn't very good, I must agree. He's somehow not as downright annoying as Jake though - I cannot believe that he's written his autobiography, he now thinks so much of himself that he thinks people want to read that?!

Ted Kravitz rules, of course.

The actual channel could do with some more programmes that aren't endless repeats, though I know it must be difficult to find new material. The legends interviews are good - I loved the one with Jody Scheckter wandering round his farm and the typically forthright Alan Jones one.

[James1978]

I did start out with the intention of watching the ones which BBC didn't have live on Sky, and the ones the BBC did have on there. I watched China, Spain, Monaco and Britain on BBC (Britain was a necessity as I was on holiday and didn't have Sky at the place I was staying) - but the 2nd half of the season I watched every one on Sky apart from sometimes qualifying on iplayer if I was out when it was on live!

And yes, "Tooned" was a facotr in that choice!

[Gerudo Dragon]

Personally having contrasted both Coverage's- the BBC wins hands down. I was never a real fan of Brundle and Edwards is an excellent commentator. DC has grown on me (in a good way), EJ is amazing, Lee McKenzie can do a great interview and Gary Anderson is brilliant. He adds new depth to the show. Sky for me just tried to copy the BBC format and fails.

However there is ONE downside. When the excellent James Allen is away for radio 5 live they have the AWFUL Jonathan Legard commentating on the race. Bad idea BBC!

Pretty much this.

[Shizuka]

From 2013 also in Italy you've to pay for see all F1 races.

Andrea, I have a few questions in this topic:
- Which Rai channel has had F1? Rai 1?
- Is Ivan Capelli still there as lead commentator?
- Did the races have ad breaks?

And now for the Hungarian situation.
We had all races live on m1HD (Hungarian national channel), but had some ad breaks split screen. Not all qualis were shown live. No FPs were shown with the ONLY exception of the Hungarian GP's Friday FPs. The lead commentator Dániel Mezei has ridiculously low quality, I got fed up with him and had to resort to... you guessed it, Sky Sports F1 on the internet...

[SuperAguri]

I should change my location as I am currently in Budapest in Hungary at the moment, did see a little bit of a race in a bar once but the ad breaks got annoying so I gave up and went home to bed.

I er got the Sky HD broadcast several hours if not days after they were broadcast by high tech means. I did see both the BBC and SKY, I still prefer Bundles gridwalk and his commentry ios great and David Croft is okay. Although I tended to fast forward past every McLaren / Red Bull interview they had whilst waiting for the race. Hill and Herbert are not too great, they should replace them with another member of the Rat Pack, and I do not mean Julian Bailey. Anthony Davidson is intresting in the Sky pad where as Allan McNish is dull as dishwater. Ted Kravitz, especially in his notepad is great. Lets face it, Georgie Thompson is there for eye candy and not much else, Natalie Pinkham would ask better questions if she was replaced by someone who knew what they were doing. There are times when I want someone to punch Simon Lazenby in the face.

The BBC coverage is meh, the title tune is what F1 should be about.

[Shizuka]

I should change my location as I am currently in Budapest in Hungary at the moment, did see a little bit of a race in a bar once but the ad breaks got annoying so I gave up and went home to bed.

Welcome to HWNSNBM land
Ad breaks are really annoying on m1HD, right? Thankfully you couldn't understand a single word of the commentators.

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

From 2013 also in Italy you've to pay for see all F1 races.

Andrea, I have a few questions in this topic:
- Which Rai channel has had F1? Rai 1?
- Is Ivan Capelli still there as lead commentator?
- Did the races have ad breaks?

I'm Italian too and I can answer to your questions.

About the channel it can be a little different from European races to others. European races are broadcasted on Rai 1 (races), but qualifying is on Rai 2. Some of the Asian races which are broadcasted when here in Italy is morning, are broadcasted on Rai 2.
Sometimes in the morning the beginning is broadcasted on a channel and later on another one. I remember that Malaysian grand prix who lasted more than it should, started on Rai 1. After an hour it continued on Rai 2 in order to let the broadcasting of scheduled programs on Rai 1. After another hour and half F1 passed from Rai 2 to Rai 3.
One of the two present commentators on Rai is still Ivan Capelli.
During the race there are some advertising breaks, but every break doesn't last more than 20 or 30 seconds (just a spot or at least to every break). There are longer breaks before the formation lap and after the finish of the race and the podium cerimony.

Next season F1 will be broadcasted by Sky, but nine grand prix will be broadcasted live on free TV too (it's still unclear if the broadcasting will be on Rai or on "Cielo", a free channel owned by Sky). Other ten grand prix will be shown on free tv postponed by four of five hours.

[CoopsII]

After a year of it I can safely say Im happy with the BBC. Not finding out the result before the replay is less of a problem then I first thought. I cant speak for the thickos that go on the internet and are dismayed to find out the winner early, you just cant help some people. As for all the fluff Sky appear to surround their coverage with, although I know why they do it, I really dont feel like Im missing anything. As with any of that bumf, and I include the BBCs in this, it can be kinda cringe-worthy. Also, Brundles much-vaunted (by himself) 'tech pieces' are pointless to me. Again, I understand the need for them to educate the new-comers or soccer fans, but I personally never learn anything from them.

I hope the Sky fans are still as happy with their purchase when the prices begin to increase...

[FullMetalJack]

I agree that Georgie Thompson adds nothing unless you count her arse which she sticks out at every opprtunity (does nothing for me, I have to say..)

Does a hell of a lot for me. Let her take every opportunity.

[DemocalypseNow]

Next season F1 will be broadcasted by Sky, but nine grand prix will be broadcasted live on free TV too (it's still unclear if the broadcasting will be on Rai or on "Cielo", a free channel owned by Sky). Other ten grand prix will be shown on free tv postponed by four of five hours.

In other words, switching to the British system...and here was me hoping it would fail to catch on.

[Faustus]

Suzi Perry replaces Jake Humphrey in he BBC coverage:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104913

Personally I think she is an irritating cow.

(Edit)
Also discussed elsewhere:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4736&start=160

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

Next season F1 will be broadcasted by Sky, but nine grand prix will be broadcasted live on free TV too (it's still unclear if the broadcasting will be on Rai or on "Cielo", a free channel owned by Sky). Other ten grand prix will be shown on free tv postponed by four of five hours.

In other words, switching to the British system...and here was me hoping it would fail to catch on.

I think it's the same system of Britain, right.

[14 Hundred Hours]

Next season F1 will be broadcasted by Sky, but nine grand prix will be broadcasted live on free TV too (it's still unclear if the broadcasting will be on Rai or on "Cielo", a free channel owned by Sky). Other ten grand prix will be shown on free tv postponed by four of five hours.

In other words, switching to the British system...and here was me hoping it would fail to catch on.

I think it's the same system of Britain, right.

I normally like things from Britain catching on... but this one sucks.

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

I normally like things from Britain catching on... but this one sucks.

I agree. It's a shame that only pay tv will broadcast live some grand prix...

[pasta_maldonado]

In other words, switching to the British system...and here was me hoping it would fail to catch on.

I think it's the same system of Britain, right.

I normally like things from Britain catching on... but this one sucks.

What links all of the above? They're all British. And they all didn't work.

British things, in the end, just don't work.

[DemocalypseNow]

[What links all of the above? They're all British. And they all didn't work.

British things, in the end, just don't work.

More proof the above statement is true