ITV Crew on BBC

[roost89]

Earlier this week I read a small news article, which I've subsequently forgotten where it is, saying that the ITV F1 Crew all hope to be passed on to the BBC over the winter season. I really can not see most of them getting on to the BBC without a few lessons on impartiallity! MotoGP, on the BBC, even though they are obviously pro-Toseland manage to put out a show which covers most of the racers and the new news.
Do you think they'll get on and sort their act out? Or not make it at all?

Also, I ask myself, How on Earth did ITV F1 win a BAFTA for last years coverage of F1 (The Lewis Hamilton Show)? It was the worst coverage of a motosport season I've yet seen! In my honest opinion it should be taken off them. What are your opinions?

[ginsu]

Well, I'm an American and I really do like the ITV broadcasts even if they are very pro-British. No, of course, I don't like James Allen (does anybody?), but I really do like Martin Brundle and I really like Louise Goodman, while not the prettiest girl, she has a quick wit and that's what really matters in a commentator, especially when encountering the very chauvinistic David Coulthard. I would really like these two to make the transition, but all the others are not so important.

They had some really cheesy segment with Tamara Ecclestone a few weeks ago and I was so surprised that such a rich person could be so incredibly dumb and uninteresting, I really hope they don't use her again, but obviously Bernie will not allow that to happen.

Please, BBC don't dumb down the broadcasts to appeal to a wider range of audiences. F1 just doesn't appeal to everybody, and you can't make it so.

I watch the Eurosport coverage of MotoGP (even though it's not widescreen, which sucks) just because the BBC has some really boring and uninteresting commentators. I'd rather watch a bald Randy Mamola, than the idiotic, but attractive biker girl they have on BBC.

Leave the hot chicks for the pornos, I'm sick of attractive women being on TV just because they look good. Chances are, if the woman is really attractive she's more obsessed with her hair than whatever she's actually supposed to be commentating on.

[Ciro Pabón]

Please, BBC don't dumb down the broadcasts to appeal to a wider range of audiences. F1 just doesn't appeal to everybody, and you can't make it so.

I've read TV ratings of 57% in Spain, 31% in France. In UK ratings reached 72%. In Italy there was no more watched event than Bahrain 2007 (except the final at Brazil 2006) with 11 million viewers, more than the 80% ratings they got in 2004. In that same year, in Finland the number of TV turned on that were tuned to F1 reached an incredible 94%! That numbers are huge.

Some Hollywood producers would kill their moms for that kind of figures: Daytona was the most watched american race in 2007 with a rating of 20% (that is, a mere 17 million viewers). Indy got a pale 14%. Perhaps is not just a problem of F1 in the states, ehem. Japan got 5% ratings, China less than 1% (even if that translated into a huge audience), but put together, both countries reached only 7 million viewers, less than in any european country.

A ghost goes over into Europe: the ghost of F1 craze.

http://motorsportsreporter.com/2007/04/ ... -pathetic/

So, no wonder they have to dumb down the comments. I'm all in for beautiful dumb girls commenting, instead of the dumb old ugly guys we have nowadays. Besides, for dumb comments, you can count on me.

The ITV crew is delusional. I would audition Danica Patrick, Katherine Legge, Melanie Troxel, Erin Crocker, Sarah Fisher, Milka Duno, Ashley Force, Erica Enders, Leilani Munter AND Liz Halliday, but only in swimsuits.

James Allen would retire himself on that audition: they know more than him and they look way better. They wouldn't be gaga about any current driver, or if they do, at least we would know who's hot and who's not. I would keep Louise Goodman only, of course.

[JiMbO]

Also, I ask myself, How on Earth did ITV F1 win a BAFTA for last years coverage of F1 (The Lewis Hamilton Show)? It was the worst coverage of a motosport season I've yet seen! In my honest opinion it should be taken off them. What are your opinions?

i do agree about the impartionality of the itv coverage it annoys the hell outta me does anybody watch the coverage on setanta sports?? they have gary anderson as one of their commentators who was technical director at jordon and then midland so i find there coverage is more technical

[Moanlower]

Also, I ask myself, How on Earth did ITV F1 win a BAFTA for last years coverage of F1 (The Lewis Hamilton Show)? It was the worst coverage of a motosport season I've yet seen! In my honest opinion it should be taken off them. What are your opinions?

i do agree about the impartionality of the itv coverage it annoys the hell outta me does anybody watch the coverage on setanta sports?? they have gary anderson as one of their commentators who was technical director at jordon and then midland so i find there coverage is more technical

It's understandable to some extend but what annoyed me the most is how Martin Brundle in Bahrein immediately insinuated on ITV that Alonso brake-tested or lifted his gas when Hamilton jumped into his rear wing.

[roost89]

So, no wonder they have to dumb down the comments. I'm all in for beautiful dumb girls commenting, instead of the dumb old ugly guys we have nowadays. Besides, for dumb comments, you can count on me.

The ITV crew is delusional. I would audition Danica Patrick, Katherine Legge, Melanie Troxel, Erin Crocker, Sarah Fisher, Milka Duno, Ashley Force, Erica Enders, Leilani Munter AND Liz Halliday, but only in swimsuits.

That's a pretty wide ranging choice of presenters for the BBC to audition I agree with you completely on preffering some dumb girl rather than a dumb guy.

Who would you, realistically , have to present the show? (Louise Goodman would be kept as she does do some proper work)

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Also, I ask myself, How on Earth did ITV F1 win a BAFTA for last years coverage of F1 (The Lewis Hamilton Show)? It was the worst coverage of a motosport season I've yet seen! In my honest opinion it should be taken off them. What are your opinions?

Obviously ITV's coverage is pro-british. That being said for most of last season we heard a lot of comments about Jenson Button's disasterous year at Honda - but the Lewis bashers don't want to mention that - it detracts from their argument, in fact I heard quite a bit about Jenson so far this year also, and DC to boot, maybe some people have selective hearing, they hear the name lewis as cry "Oh here we go again" as if we ddn't gop through something similar when Schumi was given a good car at Benetton.

Besides, is the Spanish coverage pro-Alonso? You bet, last time I watched Spanish F1 coverage was of the british GP in 2003, so yes a long time ago, when Alonso was winning his first GP's & Poles, and even then every 5th word was "Alonso". I'd hazard a guess that since then he's gotten almost "Demi-God" status

So Boo-Hoo that ITV's coverage is pro-british, why on earth should it not be?! BBC's coverage was pro-Damon and massively Pro-Mansell before then.

The reason that ITV got a BAFTA for its coverage is because their coverage is some of the best sporting coverage I've seen on TV in this country. Their pre-race build up is simply astonishing with features that uber-fans & newbies to the sport alike can enjoy, and insights provides by Martin Brundle are better than the insights you get from Alan Hansen on BBC's footie coverage. And their coverage of the sport extends beyond a simple TV program.

Put it this way: In the 12 years (13 at the end of this year) since F1 was shown on the BBC how far has the coverage come. Looking at it that way it really is astonishing. It's up there with the hawk-eye system being used in cricket.

[Miguel]

Besides, is the Spanish coverage pro-Alonso? You bet, last time I watched Spanish F1 coverage was of the british GP in 2003, so yes a long time ago, when Alonso was winning his first GP's & Poles, and even then every 5th word was "Alonso". I'd hazard a guess that since then he's gotten almost "Demi-God" status

Spanish coverage has changed a lot since 2003. But before you read the full story, yes, it is very pro-Alonso. Current commentators include Antonio Lobato¹, Gonzalo Serrano², Pedro Martinez de la Rosa (yes, the test driver) and Victor Seara.

Serrano has lots of experience but, IMHO, he is resented and knows no limits to glorify Alonso and destroy his rivals. In the film, he'd be "the bad". Victor Seara plays the role of Louise Goodman, from what I've heard. He's on the pits trying to get interviews from people during races. Lobato started as a neophite but very vocal supporter of Alonso but has gained a lot of insight and, while he does support Alonso, he also says many positive things about other drivers... including Nemesis Hamilton. It seems he has gotten the grips of F1 and that he likes it a lot. I have nothing but good things to say about Pedro. He is well mannered, has witty and wisfull comments, is outspoken and he is a passionate of motorsports.

If he has to replace Heikki in Turkey, we'll lose *the* comentator in Spain, but I'll be very glad for him. I'd bet 99% of the viewers here would also support him. He is extremely appreciated here in spain, regardless of Stepneygate, McLaren, driving talent or whatever. More than Alonso.

Finally, regarding the coverage, we've gone from flag-to-flag coverage (even in 2003) to a 30~45min prologue + race + podium + press conference. This is huge compared to not having F1 broadcast at all (1997 & 2002) being broadcast alongside porn (late night) or suffering all kind of delays. So, I'm sorry, but I don't mind some Alonso adoration in order to get decent coverage³.

MotoGP is somewhat different, because it's extremely popular here. Both Nieto (12+1 times WDC) and Alex Crivillé (WDC too) comment well. Although they support the spanish drivers, you feel their respect and affinity towards good drivers like Rossi. I suppose this is the ideal case, with commentators that support the local guys but appreciate the sport enough to see talent in other drivers.

PS: In Catalunya, motorsport (in cars) has always been popular and they get (or used to get) their own broadcast via TV3. They had the knowledge, but rumour says they weren't the most passionate journalists out there. I haven't heard them, though.


¹ If you have heard the news regarding the "official Alonso supporter" some joke Lobato is already one.

² Serrano is ironically called in the internet as "Jabba the Fett".

³ As the UK, broadcast is also changing next year to the fairly new channel "La Sexta".

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Thanks for clarifying what the Spanish coverage is like Miguel. Like I said, its been a long time since I'd watched coverage of F1 in Spain so any insight I had/have on what its like is purely speculation.

btw, when you reffered to Lewis as "Nemisis Hamilton", I'm curious to know what the general concensus on Hamilton is like. I ask this because of two things:
1. When watching the Spainish GP on ITV, James Allen made a comment that Alonso is a hero in Spain (for obvious reasons) to the extent that coverage in Spain is almost (and I quote James Allen here...not myself) "Alonso versus 21 other idiots." Funny as that line maybe I found it hard to believe that was the case. But Alonso is the only really successful Spanish driver in F1 so I guess things would lean towards Alonso being a real hero for the people.

and

2. During the race James Allen also made a remark that during the drivers Parade Lap Alonso & Hamilton where standing together chatting amicably. Now I find this interesting because I've always had a feeling / got the impression, that Alonso himself has never REALLY had a problem with Hamilton (apart from a competitive one) and we've been told the same that Hamilton has no problem with Alonso. BUT Alonso's issue is with mclaren (Quite obviously because - regardless of what the truth may or may not be - Alonso honestly feels like Mclaren misteated him.) Basically what I'm asking is, here from my point of view Alonso is now getting happy at Renault again - as such he's becoming a much more likeable guy again (I'm finding I can like him again which is great because I was such a HUGE fan of his from 2001-2006, and most of 2007 also), it also appears that the British press aren't quite so anti-Alonso now...but is this trend showing in Spain also? Or is the view that Hamilton is the "bad-guy" the general concensus?

I've always had a feeling the Hamilton - Alonso "war" was mostly sturred up by the press. Sure there were difficulties between them, but I feel the press both in Spain & In the UK where the ones that really conjured it all up.

[Miguel]

1. When watching the Spainish GP on ITV, James Allen made a comment that Alonso is a hero in Spain (for obvious reasons) to the extent that coverage in Spain is almost (and I quote James Allen here...not myself) "Alonso versus 21 other idiots." Funny as that line maybe I found it hard to believe that was the case. But Alonso is the only really successful Spanish driver in F1 so I guess things would lean towards Alonso being a real hero for the people.

Alonso is indeed a hero in spain. A (small) few older F1 followers can't stand him for "globalising" F1 here, and his speeches don't help. Comments in 2003 (I don't remember comentaries from further back) were bad and boring. 2004 was extremely pro-Alonso, but not anti-others. 2005 was particularly bad, with god-Alonso against Kimi "Breakonen" (commentary was that harsh on Kimi). 2006 was similar, but Schumacher recieved more respect. 2007 was plain awful and polarised to the extreme, as you can imagine. 2008 is more balanced, although I'm not sure if it's because Fernando has basically no chance of even getting a podium.

In any case, yes, Gonzalo Serrano fits the "Alonso versus 21 monkeys" bill perfectly.

BUT Alonso's issue is with mclaren (Quite obviously because - regardless of what the truth may or may not be - Alonso honestly feels like Mclaren misteated him.) Basically what I'm asking is, here from my point of view Alonso is now getting happy at Renault again - as such he's becoming a much more likeable guy again (I'm finding I can like him again which is great because I was such a HUGE fan of his from 2001-2006, and most of 2007 also), it also appears that the British press aren't quite so anti-Alonso now...but is this trend showing in Spain also? Or is the view that Hamilton is the "bad-guy" the general concensus?

I suppose the general consensus here is similar, with previous feelings cooling slooowly, very slowly, with time. You will see the ocassional burst of hate, though, especially in the internet. Thankfully, Lobato has reiterated live how good Lews Hamilton is, as well as saying that Alonso has no issues with him. I suppose that "backstabber" and "crane-boy" will follow these two for a while, though. In any case, for true F1 fans, it's difficult not to appreciate the driving of these two guys, regardless of love or hate. I know, it happened to me a few years ago with Schumacher.

I've always had a feeling the Hamilton - Alonso "war" was mostly sturred up by the press. Sure there were difficulties between them, but I feel the press both in Spain & In the UK where the ones that really conjured it all up.

I fully agree here.

PS: Last race Pedro de la Rosa showed bits of telemetry round Montmelo comparing himself to Hamilton. Brilliant stuff.

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Thanks for clearing that up Miguel.

Its nice to actually here what things are like from somebody who watches the coverage in Spain - not from some "news report" in some crappy tabloid paper trying to make Alonso seem like some monster.

Cheers for that!

[kekekeke]

PS: Last race Pedro de la Rosa showed bits of telemetry round Montmelo comparing himself to Hamilton. Brilliant stuff.

Is this available somewhere? I would love to watch this.

[Miguel]

PS: Last race Pedro de la Rosa showed bits of telemetry round Montmelo comparing himself to Hamilton. Brilliant stuff.

Is this available somewhere? I would love to watch this.

If you understand spanish, you can watch it here: http://www.telecinco.es/informativos/fo ... cia/34966/ It's not the best of the videos, and fullscreen doesn't seem to work in the crappy port Adobe have made of their flash player for Linux.

[RacingManiac]

I think the problem with ITV crews' pro-Hamilton bias vs Spain's F1 coverage is that ITV is the official worldfeed for F1 for the countries without their own commentators. And for those of us in non-UK English speaking countries watching the ITV feed it just makes it very hard to listen to James Allen's on-air orgasm when Lewis does anything and everything. Where as we will not be exposed to the Pro-Alonso, anti-everyone else treatment the Spanish TV is providing(and I am sure the same can be said for the Italian coverage regarding Ferrari). I think knowing that being the worldfeed they could perhaps tone it down a bit, but then it is a UK broadcast aimed for UK audience.....I mean coming from a Canadian viewer we get our own pre-race and post-race bits from the local idiots rambling about JV and whatnot I guess its the same for everyone and everywhere. I am quite interested in how BBC will run their show, and wondering if that is going tobe the world standard feed for other countries like current ITV....

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Thats a really good point about the ITV's coverage being used for places without their own "home-made" coverage.

Still though, whatever the BBC do, they just HAVE to keep Brundle, he appears to be regarded quite highly by those in the padock, he's straight talking (maybe harking back to the BBC's days of James Hunt commentating - although more PC lol!), he's not afriad to tell it like it is, and not only was he good at the sport whilst participating in it, but also very good at talking about it. Oh and lest we forget he's more accurate than James Allen who seems to suffer from a case of the "incidentally's" from time to time. "Incidentally last time this race was run here, a man living in turkmenistan won a local rally." (great...can we get back to the racing now James?)

Personally I'd like to see Steve Rider come across also...I think he's a pretty good link man, and he's an old BBC F1 man too. That being said I doubt he'd do so...as he's contracted to ITV for their football coverage also.