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Well that pretty much ENDS F1 in the US. If you want to completely screw up race broadcasts, let the guys as Disney pick the commentary team. They make the NBC Nascar team seem electrifying and great. Combine that with ESPN's idea of paying nothing for new commentators and now firing them before they become stars, and we get ZERO chance they will think NBCSN and Speed had a great thing with Hobbs/Matchett. I'm guessing we'll end up with Eddie Cheever, Scott Speed, or some other ex-F1 US driver and the high point of likely bringing Buxton across for trackside access and interviews if he is willing to take their probably terrible pay. Not sure who they'd try to sign as play-by-play since they need to replace Bestwick after firing him after Indy 500. Was really hoping this meant they had lost the 500 and their few Indy races but sounds like we're stuck with them again for a few races more. Just go to the Indy side of the forum to hear how bad the coverage really is, even the series writers can't find anything good, or even neutral, to say above it other than it has to end soon.
This will be a dumpster fire for Liberty as many things they've touched have turned into lately, see Braves 2015-2017 without signs of actual improvement despite the cash influx from dragging the team out of town to a strip mall they call a stadium. Improving the wrapper just hides the pet waste inside and I think that's their idea of improvement. Don't view the actual product, how do people perceive it TODAY and calculate value this second. Late season numbers show fans really didn't care about the Battery when the team is bad. But their radio station runs non-stop ads and in-programming faked commentator testimonial about how great it is as a fan experience. And given that ESPN charges between 9 and 18 dollars per month per subscriber to full service cable, going with the number one reason people cut the cord is a bad idea. ESPN constantly fights 'a la carte' cable programming because they know they are a money pit after overbidding for college sports, NBA and NFL games. Can get NBCSN, and FS1/2, with an a la carte digital provider but ESPN increases costs and decreases access so guess I'm back to zero F1 coverage again.
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